Amber Whiteley speaks ahead of WSL clash away at Arsenal

Liverpool manager, Amber Whiteley, spoke to the media ahead of Sunday's WSL clash away at the Emirates. Here is what she had to say on...

Team confidence after a few strong wins, and on beating Manchester United at Anfield

Whiteley expresses her feelings that her team performance was very good on Friday at Anfield, the team are in a good place confidence-wise and are going into the Arsenal game in a good spot. The hard work has continued this week as they are prepared to meet an “improved Arsenal than what they met in the FA cup, so we’ve got to raise our game on Saturday”.

Whiteley shares that she doesn’t believe she has had time to fully reflect on the victory last week from her personal perspective, “so we enjoyed Friday night as a team and with the fans, but then the focus was straight back on Arsenal”.

Will the method to beating Arsenal stay the same or be changed up?

Again, expects an improved Arsenal from the FA Cup game as she acknowledges the disappointment her opponent must have felt with their performance. So she prepares her team to step up again, “I think it’s about refining and going into the real detail from what happened in that game, the good things and the things that need working on.”

The role of the home crowd at the Emirates

“Well I think they enjoy playing at the Emirates, it’s one that we’re looking forwards to” … “we want to play on the biggest stages, in the biggest stadiums. So we’ll look forwards to the Emirates on Saturday”

“I think we’ve had plenty of experience now, playing in big stadiums infront of big crowds to be well prepared on that side of things. I think it’s more about the confidence from the performance, the result, and the preparation going into the game.”

On Arsenal’s squad potentially being tired, will that be a factor going into the weekend?

Whiteley acknowledges how Arsenal have a big and talented squad, so they will still be able to prepare properly for the game on Saturday and overcome factors such as potential tiredness after playing on a below-standard pitch.

The gap between the top of the table and the rest

Whiteley believes that she has shown how her team is well able to compete with the top four teams in the league, but as she only picked her team up part way through the season it’s difficult to comment. “We’re in a place where we’re confident that we can cause any teams in the league problems”.

Training

“The effort and intensity of training has been great. We really want to try and replicate the levels of intensity that we’re facing in games, the same sort of problems and we’ve been in a much better place in that respect and I think that it’s made a huge difference going into the games because they are better prepared for them.”

On her role as Interim Manager so far

“Everyone has been absolutely brilliant, staff and players, the effort and the application has been so good. The support within this building and across the wider club has been fantastic too and I am so grateful for that support, it has made a real difference to me and it’s put me in the best position to lead this team forwards in the interim.”

The recruitment process for a permanent manager is ongoing, “but that goes to one side and you focus on the day-to-day and the next game”.

Would she like to be considered for a more permanent role?

“Yeah, I feel I’ve been quite open and honest about that from the get go, so I’ll put in for it. But the focus is very much on the day-to-day and that recruitment process has got to be put to one side”

In answer to a later question, Whiteley reflects on how she believes that a managerial position is in a future and is a role that she will step into some day.

She reflects on how she has worked so many different roles during her time at the club and believes this experience will help her massively, “I think it gives you a really good grounding, there is nothing that I would ask someone else to do that I wouldn’t do myself so I think that’s the biggest thing. And obviously it’s allowed me to build lots of relationships right the way across the club and I think that has stuck me in good sted too”

Olivia Smith

The way Olivia is being played now is a completely different role to before, and Whiteley believes this suits her well. She states how Smith is so talented that she could play anywhere across the forward line in any system.

“I think she’s been brilliant the last few weeks on the ball, causing opposition teams real problems going forward. But also she’s been so good off the ball too, her work rate and energy coming back to track has been great, so good in the duel. But off the pitch she is so humble and just wants to learn and get better. I think you could play any system and Olivia would make an impact to the game”

Squad news and selection for this weekend

The four players who were taken out of last week’s fixture due to a sickness bug were all back in training on Tuesday and are ready to play this weekend.

The sickness last weekend forced Amber into making a number of changes in what would have been an otherwise unchanged squad going into the game versus Manchester United. “But players have been knocking at the door, and the ones who came into the game on Friday were absolutely outstanding. Fuka, Jenna, Alex, they’ve given me a real problem for this weekend”.