Ceri Holland has spoken of her regret at the fact her Liverpool side failed to show who they are against Everton and believes a solution to their slow starts to games must be found.
Returning to Anfield in the WSL for the first time since 2019, the Reds were simply second best against their Merseyside rivals, who claimed a comprehensive 3-0 victory in front of a women’s record crowd.
Megan Finnigan gave Everton an early lead when she sent a header past Rachael Laws before the excellent Jess Park made it 2-0 with a composed finish in front of the Kop 12 minutes before the interval. Substitute Hanna Bennison then added a third late on.
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The game was played out in front of 27,574, a record crowd for a WSL game at Anfield. And Holland admitted post-match that those who turned up to support her side had seen them be outclassed by Brian Sorensen’s team.
“It is difficult to take, especially as it was such a massive occasion. It is a Merseyside derby at Anfield, we have got nearly 30,000 people come out to see us,” she said.
“On the day we just weren't good enough and fair dues to Everton, they turned up in the first-half and we didn’t play our game and weren’t ourselves.
“We will go back, look at it, learn from it and take the positives from what we did and did not do this week and move on.”
Holland then added: “It was just difficult. Fair dues to Everton they outran us and outworked us in the first-half, and that is not who we are.
“We didn’t turn up, I think is the honest truth. It hurts right now, it is a Merseyside derby and they have got the bragging rights. It is difficult to take right now, we need to go away, we need to learn from it and we need to bounce back from it next week.”
Two second-half penalties from Katie Stengel earned Liverpool a shock 2-1 win over title holders Chelsea on their WSL return in front of a record-breaking crowd at Prenton Park last weekend. But the Reds had to come from behind to beat Emma Hayes’ side and speaking post-match, Reds boss Matt Beard admitted he was alarmed by the way his side have been starting games.
And Holland believes starting games second best has become a recurring theme for her side, who need to find a solution to start games on the front foot.
“Sadly it has become a bit of a theme for us. I think it is something we need to work on and we need to figure out why it is happening,” she said.
“We need to find a solution because today we have started slowly and we have come in 2-0 down and that is a difficult position to be in, especially in a Merseyside derby.
“So yeah, it is something we need to work on. We need to focus on that and we need to start on the front foot more.”
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