In 2019, Liverpool’s Men’s team raced out of the blocks at the start of their Premier League campaign and left their rivals for dust. Having won 26 of their first 27 games, by the time the COVID lockdown was forced upon the world and the games put behind closed doors, the title was all but won, the remaining matches a mere formality to conclude one of the great Premier League campaigns. The lifting of the Premier League trophy was the peak of Jurgen Klopp’s time as Liverpool manager, the culmination of years of strong investment, player development and solid recruitment by the club. It was moment celebrated throughout the city of Liverpool, a moment of joy much needed at time when the world was on its knees.
But whilst the fans and players celebrated, one corner of Merseyside were left devastated. Liverpool Women, one of the founding members of the Women’s Super League and two-time winners, were left to contemplate the prospect of life in the Championship, having (controversially) been relegated on Points-Per-Game. In truth, this had been a result long in the post, a team that, since 2014, had been left to rot and decay as the club concentrated their attentions on restoring glory to their Men’s Team.
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Flash forward to the present, and there is a growing sense of history repeating itself. Under Arne Slot, Liverpool Men have only lost one of their first 15 matches. They look back to their imperious best, just as they were during the peak years of Klopp and are strong contenders for the Premier League once more. But over in St Helens, Matt Beard was left to pick over a fourth straight WSL defeat for his side, losing 1-0 at home to an undercooked Arsenal side still recovering from their European exertions.
Liverpool are already out of the League Cup, currently sit 8th in the table, level on points with Everton and Aston Villa, and only four points above the drop zone. Should they exit the FA Cup next year, it will be yet another season without a topflight trophy for the red half of Merseyside.
It’s a startling place for Liverpool to find themselves, considering that only 7 months ago, they had completed a brilliant WSL campaign to finish 4th, and saw Beard pick up his second WSL Manager of the Season Award. It was their best finish to a season since the 2017 Spring Series, and best in a full campaign since the title-winning campaign of 2014, during Matt Beard’s first spell in charge. It was a season where they had claimed impressive wins over Arsenal and Manchester United and perhaps, most memorably, a blockbuster 4-3 triumph over Chelsea which nearly derailed the Blues’ title challenge. Whilst they may have fallen short of the hallowed ground of European qualification, it looked to be a sign of a club who had at least learned from their mistakes and were set to challenge the higher order once more. It appears those hopes were in vain.
Beard was quick to stress the injury crisis his club has had to navigate since the start of the season after the match. Sofie Lundgaard remains out long-term following her ACL injury sustained against Tottenham Hotspur. Marie Höbinger picked up a groin strain whilst on international duty, and star striker Sophie Roman Haug remains absent from the match day squad. So short were Liverpool’s numbers against Arsenal, that three academy players made the bench.
“We’ve had 7 or 8 players missing, at most at one point was 9” Beard bemoaned in his post-match interview. “You take them out of a small squad as it is already, it’s going to have an effect.”
“We can look back on this, it will be a big learning curve, make sure that we don’t repeat the same injury issues that we’ve had and have a fully fit squad to choose from, because when we have fully fit squad to choose from, 9 times out of 10 we win games.”
Injury crisis and lack of investment
Injuries have no doubted impeded Beard’s ability to select the team he would prefer, but that is the nature of the beast when it comes to football management. You will not always have your ideal First XI available to you for every game of the season. The true test of management is finding ways to get results despite the setbacks, rather than use them as an excuse to explain your current plight. For Liverpool, whilst this onus does fall on Beard, the club’s lack of investment may be the shining villain.
In the 2022/23 season, despite suffering 4 ACLs in one season, Jonas Eidevall was able to adapt the team to compensate for the crucial absentees. Arsenal won a trophy, went on an incredible European run, and secured European football for the following season. Last season, Chelsea lost Sam Kerr to an ACL and yet were still able to claim a fourth successive WSL title.
Despite the success of these London giants, it is important to recognise the gap in the financial backing that they receive in comparison to their WSL counterparts. Emma Hayes wasn’t left alone to lick her wounds in the absence of Sam Kerr, as the club broke the bank to place a world-record bid in order to acquire Mayra Ramírez.
However, it’s not all straightforward when it comes to placing the responsibility. It is difficult to feel sympathy for Beard’s circumstance when earlier in the day last Sunday, Everton, whose own injury plights are well documented, played Manchester City off the park in the first half and claimed a well-deserved 2-1 win.
The issue here is not the injuries themselves, but rather, the size of the squad. Liverpool suffered a net loss of nine players in the summer, including the likes of Emma Koivisto, Shanice van de Sanden and Missy Bo Kearns. A mass exodus is always an alarm bell for the state of a club, but the failure to replace the departure of talent and squander the position of strength they found themselves in has been an invitation to disaster. The lack of depth in the squad has been brutally exposed and now the team are paying the price with the current string of results. Any hope of supplementing the numbers in January appears slim to none, as Beard stated after the game that there would be no money available in the winter window to purchase new players.
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Lacklustre support of the women’s game
To not support a manager in the window, especially given that the transfer market in the women’s game is nowhere near as inflated as the Men’s, is frankly unacceptable, and only adds greater credence to the notion that Women’s Football has dropped off the Liverpool radar of interest once again.
The relegation in 2020, and the outcry that followed, shocked the club into action. They brought back Matt Beard, the manager who had brought them WSL glory, who was able to get them promoted from the Championship in 2022. Former players, such as WSL winning captain Gemma Bonner, Van de Sanden, and Natasha Dowie, also returned to the club. In 2023, team were even given the men’s former training centre at Melwood to use, although only after the initial plan to build a series of houses and apartments on the site collapsed.
But now, having enjoyed such a strong season, the club, rather than invest big and kick on, have once again decided to slam on the brakes. Despite the money and resources Liverpool possess, they appear reluctant to open the purse strings and go for it. It is even more bizarre considering the brand of Liverpool is deeply embedded in success, although that is predominantly on the men’s side. Only once in 2013 did Liverpool truly take a punt on their Women’s team, investing big and building a formidable side containing Bonner and Dowie, but also Lucy Bronze, Gemma Davison, Fara Williams, Lucy Staniforth and Katie Zelem. The were rewarded with two WSL titles, but having climbed the mountain before, they now have no interest in returning there. Their fair-weather interest in women’s football is akin to a child discovering a long-lost toy under their bed, only to get bored of it and cast it aside once again.
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Too much weight being placed on Olivia Smith?
Liverpool will argue they are supporting their women’s team, having broken their transfer record to sign Olivia Smith for £210,000 in the summer. Smith is clearly a talent, and has excited at times this season, but to effectively pin the entire season on such a young, raw talent is a massive gamble that hasn’t paid off. Smith has only scored two WSL goals so far this season, her last coming in the 2-1 defeat at Anfield to Manchester City.
Liverpool haven’t scored in the WSL since the 3rd November. Against Arsenal, they had one shot on target in the entire match, an ambitious effort from range from Taylor Hinds that was an easy take for Daphne van Domselaar. The closest Smith came to affecting the game was when she intercepted the Dutch keeper’s pass out to Leah Williamson but couldn’t get to the loose ball before it was gratefully re-gathered by the Arsenal shot-stopper. Arsenal were there for the taking for Liverpool, but their lack of adventure and ambition on the pitch cost them the game, just as their club’s lack of adventure and ambition will cost them their season.
It should be said, unless something catastrophic happens, Liverpool will almost certainly stay up this season. Beard was confident in his post-match interview that after the Christmas break, everyone bar Faye Kirby and Sofie Lundgaard will be back and available. There is enough quality for them to ride this storm out, but for how long? Liverpool drifted in neutral for six years until the trapdoor inevitably opened beneath their feat. How long a reprieve will they get this time around? The league is a stronger, more ruthless beast now than it was then, and any club who chooses to stand still are quickly left behind. The same story is being written once again, and unless nothing changes, it will lead to the same ending.