Everton Women: Willie Kirk admits squad mental block against top four
Goodison News editor Elliott Cuff reporting from Friday’s pre-match press conference…
Everton Women manager Willie Kirk admits that his side need to mentally improve if they are to compete at the top of the Women’s Super League.
The Toffees have cemented their fifth place position in the WSL this season, with Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all significantly ahead of them in the table.
Everton have largely failed to compete with the top four this season, and their remaining WSL games against Arsenal and Manchester United present them with the opportunity to improve that record.
Goodison News attended Kirk’s pre-match press conference, where the manager accepted that his players have faced a mental block when facing a top team this season.
Kirk said: “I do think there is a little bit, and it shouldn’t be, but I do think there is a little bit of a mental block for the players in terms of actually believing they are as good as these teams [top four] and that they should be taking points off them.
“I keep referring back to that Chelsea game at Goodison Park, and how much belief we should have taken from that, and even the display at Wembley in the FA Cup final; we should have taken belief from that but it’s not really carried on into the season.
“So there is a little bit of a mental block and we understand how important it is to break that before we get to next season, but there’s probably three of four combinations of things that we’ll work at and chip away at one by one.”
Learning curve
Everton’s mental block is a common occurrence in football, particularly when a side is attempting to break into the upper echelons of which they previously was not a party to.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal are all huge clubs with deeper resources than Everton, so to compete with them consistently on the pitch does take some doing, especially with Everton not being completely bankrolled and flush with top talent from across Europe.
Instead it takes a more gradual approach, and thankfully under manager Willie Kirk we’ve seen that steady growth.
Kirk has repeatedly stressed in press conferences that his remit this season was to finish fifth, which to Everton was a clear sign of progression over the course of the campaign, and that is something that Kirk and his players were able to achieve.
Everton therefore have made clear progress, and though they aren’t yet able to square off against the top four with confidence that they can win, that will come in time as the team continues to come together.
In other Everton news, View: Ancelotti to give 29y/o ace full Blues PL debut – 3 things to look for in clash v Villa.
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