Reds will need lift if they’re to keep up with City – Beard
DEPARTING BOSS SAYS EXTR
USA-BOUND manager Matt Beard has left Liverpool with a fond farewell, but also a warning for the club: invest in the women’s team or get left behind in the WSL.
Beard, now in charge of NWSL team Boston Breakers, has every confidence that new Reds boss Scott Rogers – his assistant for the last three years – will do a good job for what he describes as a great club.
But, following a seventh-place WSL finish to an admittedly injuryhit 2015 – after leading his team to the title in both 2013 and 2014 – Beard is concerned the Reds are being overtaken by the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
“If you can’t compete financially with other clubs, it will become more difficult to compete with them on the pitch,” said Beard, who returns to Massachusetts tomorrow after a couple of weeks back home in England.
“I would have liked to take Liverpool further but I wasn’t given the opportunity,” added the former Chelsea manager.
Frustrating
“This year, I lost four top players, Lucy Bronze, Gemma Davison, Nicole Rolser and Amanda da Costa. All four of them would get into any WSL team.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t the money to replace them. It was frustrating because I wasn’t able to improve the team as I wanted to.
“In terms of budget this year, I was maybe a victim of my own success
after we won the league two seasons in a row. That was a great achieve ment for everyone involved after the club had finished bottom in the pre vious two seasons. “But, if you don’t continue to move with the Manchester Citys, the Chelseas and the Arsenals, you’re going to struggle to keep up. “City and Chelsea have put a lot of money into their women’s teams in the last couple of years, and Arsenal have done the same in the last six months. “And it’s not just those three clubs – the likes of Notts County and Sun derland have also shown they're prepared to invest in their women’s teams, so the WSL is likely to go on getting more competitive by the year.” Budgetary restrictions this year meant that, at times, Beard’s wife, Debbie, was washing the kit of the Liverpool players. Not that the exmanager makes a big deal of that. “We were happy to muck in,” he said. Since Beard’s departure, several players have signed new contracts at Liverpool, but four more have left the club.
One of the four to leave, American goalkeeper Libby Stout, has been snapped up by Beard as he begins to build his Boston squad ahead of the 2016 campaign.
Confident
“Libby’s a tremendous goalkeeper and I’m delighted I’ve been able to bring her to the Breakers,” said the 37-year-old manager.
“I’ve signed a number of other players as well and I’m confident that we’ll have a good, competitive team in the NWSL next season.
“It’s going to be a really exciting time for me and a great new chalare lenge, managing in a league with some of the world’s best players and coaches. After 13 years coaching in England I saw this job as the perfect opportunity to stretch myself in a new and really testing environment.
“Next year will be a transitional season for me and I won’t put too much pressure on myself, but I truly believe I can be a success in America.”
As he looks to produce a Boston team to compete at the top end of the NWSL, Beard will also keep an eye on the progress of his previous club in England. He predicts it will not be Liverpool who win the WSL next year but Manchester City – and he makes his prediction quite firmly.
“I don’t think City will lose a domestic game in 2016,” he said, “although they might not go all the way in the (Uefa) Champions League.
“They do everything right, including getting people through the doors to watch their home matches, and they taking the women’s game to a new level.
“Hopefully, Liverpool will be able to keep up, but to do that they’ll have to give Scott some decent backing to help him and the team. He’s a very good coach and he’ll become a good manager as well.
Resources
“I had him round my place to dinner last week to say thanks for all the help he’s given me over the last three years and to wish him all the best as manager.
“He’s got some top people behind the scenes at a great club that I thoroughly enjoyed working for and wish all the best for the future.
“But the powers-that-be have got to give Scott the resources he’s going to need if the club are to keep progressing and competing for trophies.”