Scott Phelan calls for immediate response after WSL derby setback
Scott Phelan Everton Women manager wants an instant response from his players after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool Women at Anfield, Everton’s first loss in a WSL Merseyside derby there. Liverpool scored in each half to end a six-game losing run against the Blues in Anfield derbies, a result that will sting given the form Everton had built.
The loss ended a three-match winning run for Everton. They had beaten Birmingham City in the Conti Cup in midweek before following it up with back-to-back league wins. Sunday’s setback, detailed further in our WSL derby preview, arrived at the worst possible moment against their fiercest rivals.
Phelan knows there is no time to dwell on it. Everton host Birmingham again next week, and he wants a reaction before the squad breaks up for the upcoming international break. He said as much when asked what comes next.
“Heading into Birmingham next week, hopefully we can finish positively before the international break.”
Scott Phelan transcript: Early set-piece blow and belief deficit detailed
Beata Olsson’s early header from a corner set the tone, and the belief Phelan wanted did not follow. Everton had prepared specifically for Liverpool’s set-piece threat, but conceded from exactly that source inside the opening minutes.
“Conceding an early goal didn’t help, which is disappointing. We know this Liverpool team are a threat from set-pieces and it’s something that we planned for and prepared for, but to concede so early had an impact on our belief, because I think in the first half we did lack a bit of belief, which was unexpected.”
That lack of belief surprised Phelan more than the goal itself. Everton had arrived full of confidence after three straight wins, and he felt the response fell short of what the run had suggested.
“We were obviously coming off the back of some decent form so for us not to show that belief was the biggest disappointment in the first half.”
Everton improved after the break, and Phelan credited a spell of roughly twenty minutes where the game became more even. As Everton chased the result late on, gaps opened at the back.
“I thought we showed a response for 20 minutes or so of the second half, the game became a little bit more even, and then the last part was a little bit messy – we were chasing the game and spaces appeared.”
Gareth Taylor transcript: Liverpool boss reflects on breaking Anfield hoodoo
Gareth Taylor had waited a long time for this result. Liverpool had not beaten Everton in six previous WSL derby meetings at Anfield, and their manager explained how his side adjusted through the match to keep control.
“We were good value in the first half. We changed a couple of things at half-time and then Everton changed so we had to change back to what was getting us success.”
Taylor felt Liverpool lost some of their pressing sharpness after the interval, even if the scoreline never looked in doubt. He pointed to Natalia Ramos as the standout performer of the afternoon.
“I felt in the second period we didn’t get to grips with the movement of Everton as well as we did in the first half, certainly in our pressing, therefore we didn’t necessarily lose opportunities for them to attack our goal but certainly territory. But still we created a lot of opportunities – I think Natalia [Ramos] could have had four goals today, certainly a hat-trick!”
Ending the run mattered to everyone connected with the club, and Taylor made sure to credit both his squad and the Anfield crowd.
“Fantastic for the girls because they really deserved that, the confidence that goes with winning a derby [and] we get rid of the so-called ‘Anfield hoodoo’ against Everton.”
“But I’m just really proud of the performance and the way that the players stuck at it – and we needed the supporters today, I thought the supporters were fantastic.”
Anfield derby context: Everton’s goal drought and set-piece vulnerability
The defeat exposed a problem that has followed Scott Phelan Everton Women all season. The Blues did not score a league goal of their own in any of their four WSL matches so far. Their two league wins, over Charlton Athletic and West Ham United, both came via own goals rather than a strike from an Everton player.
Phelan is well aware finishing needs to improve, and he pointed to more promising buildup play without the end product to match.
“We’re getting into some decent moments. I think they’re not very memorable at the moment because the final action is not as decisive as it used to be, and that’s something that we need to improve on and work on, which we’ve already spoken about and we’ll just continue to work on that.”
Set-pieces compounded the issue at Anfield. Olsson’s header arrived from exactly the kind of delivery Everton had trained to stop, and it undid weeks of preparation inside a couple of minutes. Until Everton solve both problems, scoring themselves and defending dead balls, derby days like this one will keep testing Phelan’s message about belief. Further detail on the afternoon appears in the Liverpool Echo post-match report.
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