Interview

‘These are the games that decide leagues’



Beth Mead says Sunday’s win over Liverpool could be key in the race for the Women’s Super League title.

A strong defensive performance saw us control the 1-0 victory against the Reds, as Vivianne Miedema netted her 16th goal in all competitions so far this season.

We spoke to Mead after the match and this is what she said:

on the fluidity of the front three…

I think we just want to change things up and not become too predictable as a team. Me and Danielle (van de Donk) can play either side so I think it worked quite well. We’re a free flowing front three so Viv(Miedema) can sometimes end up on the wing too.

on the importance of three points…

These types of games are very important games because these teams can be hard to play against. Liverpool set up quite defensively today and we had to break them down. We probably could have scored more goals today, myself included, but these are the types of games that can decide leagues and we need to keep putting pressure on the likes of Man City and Chelsea at the top.

on breaking down strong defences…

Being defensive is just another game plan and if teams stay in games long enough and frustrate they can hit on the counter attack so we have to stay professional and disciplined in the way we defend and set up. We knew that Liverpool don’t concede many goals so to even win by one goal and the three points today is very important.

on the strong form at home and against teams outside the top three…

When we say that this is our home, this is our fortress and when teams come here we want it to be hard. We’re not really dropping many points at home and it’s a good stat to have.

on the goals throughout the squad…

We have a belief throughout the team that anyone on the pitch can make something happen and score at any moment. We were one-nil up and in control so we didn’t need to apply anymore pressure on ourselves, we just needed to keep playing football. I’ll admit our first half performance was better than our second but that sometimes happens in football but we still came out with a win.