Renée Slegers spoke about how we’ve been encouraging Olivia Smith to cut in from the left and get a shot away, as she did emphatically in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Our summer signing had to create the space for herself initially before firing into the bottom left corner from distance, and while many coaches prefer shots to be taken from close range, it’s hard to deny a player who has the ability to go for goal from so far out.
“We’ve been talking about what we want out of her on the left side versus when she’s on the right side,” our head coach explained. “Going inside and getting shots off is definitely one of the things we wanted to do on the left side. I think it was very far out.
“We normally aim to get closer to the box or in the box to get our shots off but that was very far out. There was so much quality and power in that shot.
“I’m happy she stayed at home [over the international break] and she got her medical issues resolved. She’s fully fit now, injury-free, pain-free and I think you could see that on the pitch today.
“She was moving freely and I think one of her first 90-plus minutes that she’s played for us in a competitive game. So that was a really good step and I think she showed the quality and the things that she brings to the team today. When she plays from the left, she can go inside and do these things like the goal.
“When she plays from the right, it’s more about 1v1s and going on the outside and crosses. She brings so many different things to the team. So I’m happy for her but happy for the squad in general that we got the three points because that was the most important thing today.”
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But, despite Smith’s stunner, we were pegged back when Beata Olsson equalised for Liverpool. Thankfully, it was Stina Blackstenius, on as a second-half substitute, who fired us into a 2-1 lead with a thunderous strike.
“I’m relieved after the game that we got the three points,” Renée added. “It was the first game back after international break. We had to get together again and get connected. Early kick-off today, so it all went really, really quick. Liverpool as an opponent, it’s been one goal difference.
“It was 1-1 against Chelsea, the game they played before us in the WSL. We knew it was going to be hard, but I think we make it unnecessarily hard for ourselves today because I think it’s more dependent on us than the opposition that we are struggling today and have to work so hard to get the win over the line, especially in the first half.
“Intensity is not as high as we want it to be, so how quickly we position and how fast we circulate the ball could have been better in the first half, which we all agreed upon.
“I think that was better in the first half and keeping them low in their half. I think if you look at stats and shots and shots on target, we played a good game and could have been more clinical. But if you look at the five players coming on for us, they all give us so much energy, such a quality injection as well.
“Stina is one of them. There was a lot of space behind their back line and Stina is really good at exploiting those spaces. She got the winner for us today, so I’m really happy for her.
“I think she created so much and so many chances before that. Always when Stina plays, it disrupts back lines because they have to think so much about defending the space in behind and create space for herself or for others.
“I think she did so many good things before the goal. There were a couple of chances we had before but she scored this amazing goal.”
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