Liverpool’s Women brought the curtain down on a topsy-turvy season on Sunday with defeat at the hands of Arsenal at Anfield; however, the Reds had already retained their WSL status for next term and were still somewhat reeling off the back of FA Cup semi-final heartbreak.

Despite the disappointments, there is certainly cause for optimism heading into the summer, having seen the turn of the year and a host of new signings make a marked positive impact on Gareth Taylor’s side.

After the match, Husqvarna – a proud partners with Liverpool FC – held an event in the city centre to discuss the evolving landscape of women’s football and how it can continue to grow.

Lamine Camara To Liverpool?

Dan went along and spoke to LFC Women’s Technical Director Niamh Fahey and former Reds’ striker Emile Heskey to get their thoughts on the changing landscape, the season gone, and what’s next for Taylor’s side…

Emile said:

On the importance of visibility: “It’s massive! I’ve got two girls who play at school, and obviously they watch their brothers play, but it’s nice to go to some games and watch some people they idolise. I’m in the Cheshire area, so Bunny Shaw is one that they love, but being able to see it is great for them.”

On new ways of growing the audience: “It’s difficult to say, because again, there are different platforms that you can go on. I know in America they have used Twitch for a little while, but it depends on where the actual organisation wants to go. I know so many people who are very interested in watching the women’s game. The thing for me with the women’s game is the advertisement. So many times, I’m sitting at home, and there’s not much promotion of what’s actually on. It’s not until I see it come on my feed that I’m like, oh, the game’s on. So then I flick on to the game and watch it, especially when it comes to the national teams. I think there could be more out there to make us aware that that’s being played at that time. But apart from that, I think they’re going in the right way. Definitely for the younger generation of TikTok, I think that could be a way to go. There is short content like that that people really love to see. I think that could be a way.”

On LFCW needing to compete at the top: “They’ve won it twice under Matt Beard. So I think they should be up there with the best of them. But again, you take your time. As you mentioned, I was at Leicester. Liverpool were in the second division. So you’ve got to take your time to come up and then start growing again as a club. They’re now at the great Melwood. So they’ve probably got, arguably, the best facilities in the league. So it’s about taking those little steps to get to where they want to get to.”

Niamh said: 

On Gemma Bonner: “Club legend, record appearance holder, captain of the club, back-to-back titles, the list goes on, really, for her, but, yeah, sad to see Gemma go, but obviously wish her well going forward as well. She’s been a great teammate, great person to play with, and I think even when she came on, you could see the leadership that she provides and her quality on the ball, so great player, great person, so wishing her well in her next ventures.”

On her new role: “Yeah, a lot easier on the pitch to play and have everyone take care of everything off the pitch. Football is a mad world, even off the pitch, the hours and everything, but, to be honest, it’s been brilliant, really enjoying working at the club now as well, and just, yeah, learning, literally, for how a club runs, what’s best practice, and just soaking everything up, so in terms of learning and opportunity, I’m delighted with where I am and the opportunity.”

On the importance of growing grassroots: “I think a lot has been done, a lot of good stuff. Maybe it’s been focused on the higher professional level. I think the grassroots, you definitely can’t neglect that, and a lot more work needs to be done. A lot of good work has already happened. I think you see a lot of good stuff happening with the academies and now the professional contracts at the academies as well, just making that pathway easier for them to bridge the gap when they do become senior professional governors, so a lot of good stuff is happening. I’m excited for the future in that space as well.”

On the recent improvement on the pitch: “We obviously weren’t in a good place coming in after January, and then brought in a couple of extra bodies. I think you saw the lift up, lift in performance, a lot more competitive, picked up good results as well. And then the semi-final was such a tight game. I think fair play to Brighton, they probably edged it and deserved it on the day, but I mean, for us going forward, it shows where we are against Man City the week before, really unlucky in that game. A lot of good things have happened since January, and we need to kick on again, obviously, to get better as well over the summer. But I am excited, I think we’ve kind of got into a decent platform now, enough to push on.”

On having role models in a young squad: “It’s important, leadership, passing down experiences, especially in tough times. I think you can’t buy that when you’ve been there and done that, to help younger players. It’s exciting now with the likes of Zara Shaw as well coming through, Hannah Silcock, Lucy Parry, and Maizie Truman. So the future is really bright for young scousers as well, that’s what we need. So yeah, that leadership thing is huge. We have the likes of Grace Fisk in there as well, Fuka now as a senior player as well, so a nice blend and a nice mix.”

On what the future holds: “Ultimately, we want to win. We don’t want to be where we are right now, and make no bones about it. So we realise where we need to get to, and to get up there we do need to improve, but ultimately we are going in the direction where we need to be competitive, so we want that as well for the club, for the women’s side. We’ve had it in the past, the men’s have had it more recently, so that’s the aim now for the next longer-term project.”

Liverpool’s Women returned to action for the first time following the heartbreaking late defeat at the hands of Brighton in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend, with Gareth Taylor’s side looking to end the season in a positive manner as they welcomed Arsenal to Anfield. 

The Reds announced earlier in the week that the game would be the final one of Gemma Evans, who will leave the club at the expiration of her deal and club legend Gemma Bonner, who will also leave in the coming weeks as a free agent. 

Bonner leaves after her second spell, having captained Liverpool to successive Women’s Super League titles in 2013 and 2014, and the 34-year-old leaves as the club’s all-time record appearance holder in the WSL era, having played 186 games.

Lamine Camara To Liverpool?

After a relatively even opening 20 minutes, the breakthrough came when Alessia Russo delivered a ball into the area that somehow evaded Jen Falk in the Reds’ goal, who until that point had proved unbeatable, pulling off a string of impressive saves. 

Just after the half-hour mark, the lead was doubled when Mariona Caldentey found far too much room inside the penalty area, having had the ball worked to her from a short corner – once again Falk pulling off a superb save to force the corner – before firing home from a tight angle. 

Things went from bad to worse for the Reds when Russo got her second, this time finishing off a well-worked Arsenal move, firing into the top right-hand corner left-footed.

‘WE ARE A MESS!’ | ASTON VILLA 4-2 LIVERPOOL | DAN’S MATCH REACTION

Cornelia Kapocs replaced Mia Enderby at the break, but it was the introduction of Bonner on the hour mark that received the biggest reception of the afternoon, with the defender coming on for her 187th and final Liverpool appearance. 

Another substitute, Zara Shaw, pulled one back for Taylor’s side, volleying home on the turn in the area after a mimentary scramble following a corner. 

Both teams threatened to add to their tallies, but a combination of wasteful finishing, strong defending and quality goalkeeping meant it was to be just the four goals at Anfield on the final day of the season. 

Ultimately, a disappointing end to the campaign with FA Cup heartbreak and back-to-back league defeats; however, there is certainly cause for optimism heading into 26/27, given the dramatic upturn in form since the turn of the year. 

It was a day to forget for Arne Slot’s men, as the Reds fell short 4-2 away at Villa Park in their pursuit of Champions League football. An Ollie Watkins double, partnered with a couple of brilliant strikes from Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, sealed the victory for the home side. 

Coming into the game, a victory for either side would guarantee Champions League qualification, but with both parties coming off the back of disappointing results the previous weekend, it was set up to be an unpredictable matchup. 

With Mo Salah and Florian Wirtz training during the week, that meant they were both named on the bench. Alexander Isak was not included in the matchday squad; he was absent due to a “minor Issue”, while Jeremie Frimpong also missed out, but the pair are expected to be fit for the final game of the season against Brentford next weekend. 

The first half was not filled with much action, with both sides not creating plenty of chances. Rio Ngumoha was the brightest spark going forward for the Reds, causing Matty Cash plenty of problems down that left-hand side. Apart from the youngster, it was evident Liverpool were struggling in attacking positions, with not many of the senior forwards fit to start. 

The home side did find the breakthrough three minutes before half-time. A corner taken short caught Liverpool off-guard; Rogers collected the ball inside the box in plenty of space and curled the ball into the top-right-hand corner efficiently.

‘WE ARE A MESS!’ | ASTON VILLA 4-2 LIVERPOOL | DAN’S MATCH REACTION

The second half saw Liverpool get the equaliser seven minutes after the break with a set-piece of their own. Dominik Szoboszlai, with a brilliant whipped-in freekick from the right, found the captain Virgil van Dijk, who lost his man, and he headed it home past Martinez brilliantly. 

It looked like Liverpool had found their rhythm in the game, with minutes later Ngumoha dribbling his way into some space outside the box; his strike hit the post and Gakpo could not divert the rebound goalwards. 

Moments later, a slip from Szoboszlai inside his own half from a Milos Kerkez throw presented Aston Villa with an opportunity, which they capitalized on. Watkins, with a smart finish underneath the Georgian goalkeeper, put the hosts back in front against the run of play. 

The next 16 minutes involved a series of chances for Unai Emery’s side. Mamardashvili made a couple of good saves, but it was not enough to deny Aston Villa a third. Another corner conceded by Liverpool this season, the second of the match, saw Watkins, with his second of the game, tapping home the rebound. 

Arne Slot brought on some attacking substitutions to try and get a goal back, leaving his side at risk of conceding one more, which they did. McGinn, with the fourth, curled it into the top left corner, a similar position to Rogers’ goal earlier in the match. 

The Reds did get a consolation goal towards the end; once again, it was the Dutchmen with the finish from a Szoboszlai cross. A milestone goal for Van Djik, marking his highest-scoring Premier League season for Liverpool. 

A defeat that now means the Reds have not secured Champions League football for next season, with one game left. If results favour Arne Slot’s men, then there is a possibility 5th place has been secured before the final game of the season at home to Brentford. A loss does leave the door open, however, of Liverpool needing to pick up points on the final day, with Bournemouth and Brighton behind. 

It would not have been the way departing legends Mo Salah and Andy Robertson would have wanted their final away game to turn out, the Egyptian managing to get on for 20 minutes while Robertson did not see the pitch. 

Has Villa Defeat Ramped up the Pressure on Arne Slot!?

Arne Slot gave his post-match thoughts… 

On the game: “After 2-1 it went away from us. Before that I think we started well in the first 10 minutes of the second half, then we had control of the game without creating chances — but that is not the first time this season. At 1-1 we were close to going 2-1, and then conceding the goal at 2-1 the way we conceded the goal is something we haven’t had this season yet. We have conceded a lot of goals this season which you’d find hard to believe unless you live it, and that’s what we did today. Villa were the better team after that and the game went away from us.” 

On doubts from the supporters: “I can understand at this moment in time they don’t have confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season, but I think they are underestimating what a transfer window can do, what a new start can do… I think we know quite well what we have to improve. One of the things we have to improve is very, very obvious; I would prefer not to talk about it here.” 

On his future as manager: “It’s not about me, it’s about us being disappointed with the result. I spoke yesterday on it and that’s enough. Our focus is on the Brentford game and making sure we earn the support of the fans by starting the game aggressive and well. The culmination of the fan support and a good performance will lead us to what we want to achieve, and that is qualifying for the Champions League.”