It was September 2021 and things were looking rosy for Everton Women. Backed by a strong pre-season under the tutelage of Willy Kirk, which included dominant wins over fellow Women’s Super League [WSL] side Brighton & Hove Albion and future Scottish Women’s Premier League champions Rangers, optimism was abounds ahead of the new WSL season.
However, 22 miserable games, and two sacked managers later, it was not Everton’s year. Long-serving manager Kirk was fired in October after winning two and losing three of their opening five WSL games, albeit the three defeats were against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal - the WSL’s three dominant sides.
Champions League-winning manager Jean-Luc Vasseur and his impressive CV came and went within just six WSL games with players reportedly unhappy with his training methods. Chris Roberts and Claire Ditchburn were appointed as interim managers until the end of the campaign and navigated the Blues to 10th place and survival.
READ MORE: Memphis Depay links emerge but Everton set to 'miss out' on 14-goal Ligue 1 ace
READ MORE: Frank Lampard left waiting as Everton continue trend under Farhad Moshiri
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After taking over the club when they were bottom of the WSL in December 2018, Kirk had steered his side to safety and then led the Blues to impressive fifth and sixth placed finishes over the subsequent two seasons. They had also reached the 2020 FA Cup final, before they lost 3-1 to Man City.
The pre-season hype around the Blues last summer included pushing to challenge for the top three and Europe with Kirk backed in the transfer market. The club broke their transfer record to sign Swedish international Hanna Bennison, while Everton favourite Toni Duggan returned to the club as two of nine new faces.
Now, almost a year on, and with the WSL fixtures released on Tuesday, Everton are on the brink of a fresh dawn. With new manager Brian Sorensen now in place after officially being appointed in April, the Dane has plenty to ponder.
The 42-year-old is highly rated and comes with an impressive CV as a three-time winner of the Danish Women’s Cup and twice winning the Elitedivisionen in his homeland during spells in charge of Fortuna Hjorring. He also established Fortuna Hjorring as regulars in the knockout stages of the Champions League, while he had stints in charge of IK Skovbakken and FC Nordsjaelland.
After agreeing to take over the Blues Sorensen outlined his determination to deal with the challenge of the WSL. Speaking to evertonfc.com in April , the Dane said: “I’m extremely excited to join Everton. It is one of the historic clubs in women’s football and our backgrounds fit nicely, with common values, work ethic and ambitions. Having studied the squad in depth during this process, I feel there is massive potential, with players capable of making an impact on the biggest stages.”
Everton Women managing director Alan McTavish, who worked with director of football Kevin Thelwell on the recruitment of Sorensen, believes he is the man to rebuild the Blues after a turbulent year. “Brian was the outstanding candidate from a very strong field,” McTavish also told evertonfc.com. “And he is a proven winner. His vision for the team, along with his ambition and drive to move Everton Women forward, impressed us throughout the interview process.”
There have been plenty of changes over the summer as Tavistock and Sorensen go about re-shaping the squad, and fans can expect to see plenty of new faces at their Walton Hall Park home this season.
The off-season has seen Claire Emslie, Poppy Pattinson, Valerie Gauvin, Cecilia Ran Runarsdottin, Simone Magill, Sandy MacIver and captain Danielle Turner all leave, captain Turner ending her 15-year association at the club. With no playing additions thus far, Blues can be soothed by the fact that their WSL season doesn’t begin until the weekend of the 10th-11th September when they host Leicester, with the squad having returned for pre-season on Monday.
They will also be buoyed by the news of Sorensen completing the make-up of his coaching staff, after the appointment of Stephen Neligan as an assistant. Neligan is reunited with Sorensen after the pair worked together in Denmark and will be complemented by assistant manager and former interim coach Roberts, along with goalkeeping coach Ian McCaldon.
Sorensen is renowned for building teams that play progressive and attractive football and he is optimistic he can implement a similar style with Everton.
In the Dane’s first official interview since his unveiling, Sorsensen told evertonfc.com in June: “We want to be aggressive and we want to be proactive – I think that is the key word – in everything we do. That is with the ball and without the ball.
“We want to have control over games, and you do that by keeping the ball. We need to make sure the players know what our identity is and implement that day in, day out. All the details matter. The key word is stability - we need to make sure we have that every single week.”
Despite the tricky past campaign for the Blues, there are plenty of reasons to be positive ahead of the new campaign. Their early WSL fixtures include a mouth-watering Merseyside derby, the first in more than two years, while it is easy to forget that before last season the club had been on an upward trajectory over the past few years.
Although multiple players have departed the club, this offers Sorensen an opportunity to put his own stamp on the side. The Dane comes highly-rated with trophy-winning pedigree and he will inherit some quality players and the basis of a strong squad.
Sorensen is confident better times will return and believes it won’t be long until the Blues are back on track. “I have had some really good talks with Alan [McTavish] about how we get back on track,” he told evertonfc.com.
“The previous years have been an upward line but this last year has not been the level that everybody expects. I am hoping to use the knowledge I have and put a structure in place, making sure the building blocks are there to get the team back where it belongs.
“To achieve that, it’s about setting the standards – making sure we have a squad that is balanced in mindset and skillset. ”
“We want to try and get up and challenge. Firstly can we be in the top six next year and then year two we start to look up and challenge the teams that are above us. We can do that if we get everything right, maybe in year three.
“The supporters have been incredible even though it’s been really tough this last year. We will give them good moments and victories. And I'm just looking forward to meeting all of the fans and showing them who I am.”
READ NEXT
Everton midfielder handed new contract after 16 months of injury hell
New Jordan Pickford contract revives memories of bold Everton move to stop transfer
Ten behind the scenes photos from Everton training match at Finch Farm
Michael Keane makes James Tarkowski Everton transfer admission
Everton free to spend in transfer market as Premier League dialogue continues
