On Sunday Crystal Palace won their first home league match of the season beating Aston Villa 3-1. It was also the Eagles first win since Leif Smerud took charge of the Barclays Women’s Super League outfit. Suddenly survival looks possible for Smerud’s charges and The Halfway Line got the opportunity to speak with the victorious head coach from Norway after the match.
Palace performance ‘impressed’ Smerud
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After Palace took a two goal lead on Sunday momentum seemed to swing with Aston Villa suddenly in the ascendency as Palace defended in numbers. Despite conceding the Eagles held on and even added another, much to their manager’s delight. The Halfway Line asked Smerud for his assessment of the match, he reported:
“Yeah, it’s a high pressure game coming in to it like this. We knew we had to win to get connected [to the teams above]. The way the players dealt with that pressure, the way they stuck together and approached the game, impressed me, so I’m really happy with with that part.”
Smerud continued: “I think we naturally had to struggle a bit more in the second half, we had players who haven’t played for a long time. We had tired legs. We had a Villa that was desperate, so we knew we had to do the fighting inside the box, and we did. So I’m really happy, really impressed with the mentality, and I think that’s key for the coming games as well.”
Smerud offers Stengel assessment: ‘she was brilliant’
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Katie Stengel came into the Crystal Palace starting eleven against Aston Villa having been out injured for the start of Smerud’s tenure as head coach. The American’s introduction had the desired effect, her link up and hold up play stood out and it was her goal that settled matters on the day. The Halfway Line asked Smerud for his thoughts on the American striker:
“Katie’s been out a long time and came in played the 90 and scored in the 95th or something.” Smerud said with a smile.
He continued: “She’s done a remarkable job getting back, and she’s today linking up really well. I think teamwork is about putting people together in good ways, and she really showed her skill set, capabilities and characteristics in the game today, she was brilliant.”
‘I expect us to fight’ says bullish Smerud
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Crystal Palace have had all manner of difficulties with injuries this season, last weekend when facing Chelsea they were forced to bring on striker Elise Hughes at centre back after Fliss Gibbons, who was also playing out of position was forced off with an injury. Smerud talked us through the challenges at the moment, but reiterated his confidence in the team nonetheless:
“I’ve had confidence in this team, all the time. It’s just it takes some time, especially when you have 14 outfield players. That’s something we need to work on. We had very few in training this week, so the injury situation is, challenging, but I expect us to fight and do well in the last games so my confidence is high.”
‘I wouldn’t want to run against her!’ Smerud lauds Larisey
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Two of Crystal Palace’s most effective players on Sunday afternoon were Canadian Clarissa Larisey in attack and Jamaican Allyson Swaby in defence. Both players joined the Eagles in January and while they were of course not Smerud’s signings, he is delighted with their performances of late, he noted:
“Clarissa [Larisey] has extreme speed, so when we can learn to use it even better, I wouldn’t want to run against her!” Smerud laughed, “So it’s, it’s good players. We have have some more of them in the squad, so I look forward to getting more people back.”
Another player singled out for praise was the Crystal Palace stand in captain Allyson Swaby, who was stepping in with captain and vice-captain Aimee Everett and Hayley Nolan out injured. He waxed lyrical about the reggae girl:
“I think she’s calm and has confidence with her that I wanted, and also the captains were injured so, so I sort of had to make that decision on based on my intuition and what I knew, so I think it was not the wrong one, at least.”
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