Build That Belief, Says Kirk

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Build That Belief, Says Kirk

LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture, but manager Willie Kirk is confident that his team will collect points from elsewhere.

2022-11-07T13:30:00.000Z

by Matthew Temple

Published

07 Nov, 2022

Build That Belief, Says Kirk

LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture, but manager Willie Kirk is confident that his team will collect points from elsewhere.

Matthew Temple

2022-11-07T13:30:00.000Z

Build That Belief, Says Kirk

LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture, but manager Willie Kirk is confident that his team will collect points from elsewhere.

Matthew Temple

2022-11-07T13:30:00.000Z

Build That Belief, Says Kirk

LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture, but manager Willie Kirk is confident that his team will collect points from elsewhere.

Matthew Temple

2022-11-07T13:30:00.000Z

Build That Belief, Says Kirk

LCFC Women were defeated by Arsenal in Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture, but manager Willie Kirk is confident that his team will collect points from elsewhere.

Matthew Temple

2022-11-07T13:30:00.000Z

- LCFC Women beaten 4-0 by Arsenal in Barclays Women’s Super League- Goals from Frida Maanum, Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Stina Blackstenius ensured the win for the Gunners- Willie Kirk believed his first game in charge at King Power Stadium was a free hit- It’s important to build that belief in the players going forward, Kirk said

Gameweek seven in the WSL saw the Foxes on the reverse of a 4-0 scoreline at King Power Stadium. First-half strikes from Frida Maanum, Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley settled the clash before Stina Blackstenius confirmed the Gunners' victory in the second-half.

Speaking to LCFC TV, Kirk gave his thoughts following the defeat: “If you could’ve picked your first game, you wouldn’t have chosen Arsenal. For me they’re the best team in Europe on current form. I think what they did to Lyon a few weeks ago probably puts things into perspective, and you’ve got to be realistic about that.

“It was a tough one, but we asked the players to go out and learn as much about themselves and each other as possible and I’m sure we’ve done that.

“I thought we did well with the ball, but we could’ve done a lot better. It’s about building that belief in the players and that little bit of confidence, and almost arrogance is what we need.

“At times we gave Arsenal a bit too much respect, and never backed ourselves. The ball retention could’ve been better, but certainly lots of positives.”

An improved second-half display featured several substitute performances which the manager was impressed with.

The manager continued: “I think Molly [Pike] came on and looked bright, her energy in midfield is always excellent and I know that having signed her at Everton.

“The three young ones [Carrie Jones, Shannon O’Brien, Missy Goodwin] that came on for the last 20 minutes were outstanding. I said to them that I wanted them to play like Arsenal players rather than Leicester because that’s the yardstick for us in terms of the league, and they came on and did fantastically well and made a real impact.

“Today for me was a free hit, nobody was expecting anything. They beat Lyon 5-1 so we’ve got no right thinking that we should be taking anything from this game, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try to take something from it.

“We knew we could go into this game with a little bit of freedom, knowing that the points we’ll collect to stay up will come from elsewhere.”

Despite not finding the Londoners' net, City did have chances to cause problems for last year’s runners-up in the final match before the international break.

“There's a big save at 2-0 (from CJ Bott's attempt) which potentially turns the game on its head, he added. "It was a good move, moving the ball from left to right to get CJ in behind and I would say it was a good save rather than a bad miss.

“We wish the players well on international duty, so this week is about improving the players that are still here and improving the performance with the view of taking points off West Ham.

“We’ll pick up points before Christmas I’m sure of it. We’ve got a really thought through and robust plan of where we’ll get the points from between now and the end of the season and I’m very confident the players and staff will deliver.”

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