The basics Liverpool are “lacking” that handed Manchester United victory, according to Gareth Taylor | OneFootball

Gareth Taylor (Liverpoolfc.com)

Head coach Gareth Taylor said Liverpool handed victory to Manchester United in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.

His team went in 2-0 down at half-time thanks to goals from Hinata Miyazawa and Ella Toone, and that was also the final score.

It leaves the Reds second from bottom of the WSL table having lost all three matches they have played so far.

And speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Taylor said he thought their second-half performance was much improved.

But he pointed out that it was almost too late by then as the game was already running away from them by that point.

“When you look at chances alone, I think we created a lot, probably more than United did, but of course we were already chasing the game then,” he said.

“We need to look at the first half, which for us is not acceptable if we want to try and do something at this club.

“We always talk about having to earn the right, and we just didn’t earn the right at all in the first half. We effectively handed the game to United with our flatness in our play.

“It improved in the second period, and that’s what we’ve got to go after. We were pressing better, we were using the ball better, and we created good chances.”

Gareth Taylor: Liverpool were lacking the basics of football

And Taylor went into more detail about what he thought his team’s first-half performance was missing – adding that he thought that it was not a problem with understanding the required tactics, but a more fundamental issue.

“From us, lacking was the basics of football,” he said. “We talk tactically about the game a lot but I think we’re talking about the basics there, really pressing with intent, stopping one-twos, the energy in our pressing, the retention of the ball when we got the ball.

“Physically we need to improve, we know that, that takes a bit of time, especially when we want to achieve our objectives of being a really, really top pressing team.

“Second half, we did that, but we need at this moment in time to put two halves of football together.”

Liverpool can also take some heart from the fact that they have played one fewer game than most of the other WSL teams, having had one match postponed, with their game against Aston Villa to be rearranged.

Liverpool’s next WSL match is a trip to London City Lionesses, on Sunday, 5th October.