Last season may have brought Liverpool Ladies’ first FA Women’s Super League title but boss Matt Beard is eyeing more silverware this term – at home and abroad.
The Reds lifted the WSL crown for the first time in their history in 2013, and in doing so they will embark of a debut campaign in the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Their European adventure won’t start until August, though, and Beard – keen to continue the club’s rapid rise to the top – wants to focus on matters closer to home first.
Liverpool had finished bottom of the pile in the WSL for two seasons prior to winning the tite and former Chelsea manager Beard, who moved to the red half of Merseyside in August 2012, wants to retain the title.
“Next year will be the most difficult, you’ve got Manchester City buying good players coming into the division and you’ve got Notts County who were formerly Lincoln Ladies, Arsenal who will regroup and Bristol will get stronger as well,” said Beard.
Matt Beard celebrates winning the WSL
“It will be the toughest and most competitive division for a while and we’ve got a European campaign that we’re looking forward to in 2014, so from our point of view we’ll all keep our feet on the ground and try as hard as we can to win more trophies.
“The Champions League is good because it prolongs the season for myself and the players and it gives us another competition to focus on apart from the domestic league.
“But the Champions League doesn’t start for us until our domestic league finishes so at the moment we are concentrating on getting the set-up right for next year.
“We’re trying to bring players in to strengthen the side and the squad and obviously as soon as it’s January we can start planning on defending our title next season.”
Beard has already moved quickly to sign United States U23 goalkeeper Libby Stout from German club BV Cloppenburg.
“The important thing for us is that we stay grounded and we don’t get carried away”
Matt Beard Liverpool Ladies manager
She joins defender Martha Harris and forward Gemma Davison who have also linked up with the Reds during pre-season, from Notts County and Arsenal respectively.
Beard intimates he hasn’t finished there, but he’s also keen to keep his players’ focus in check.
“The important thing for us is that we stay grounded and we don’t get carried away with the success that we had last year,” added Beard.
“If we do that then we are just putting ourselves up for a fall.
“So for us it’s about keeping the players grounded so for us that’s going to be one of the biggest challenges for me as a manager.
“I’m confident that if we can bring the players in that we want that we’ll have a stronger eleven with strength and depth as well which will give us the best opportunity to be successful again."
