Liverpool Women have this week gone into the transfer market and made a big splash with a trio of signings in a bid to keep their Women’s Super League season alive and stave off relegation.
The club sits bottom of the WSL table after 12 games, and has just 4 points, which is 4 from safety as two teams face the drop this season. For a club of Liverpool’s size and status in English football, it would be a shock to see them fall away from the top flight. They have been out of the top tier recently. Just three seasons ago, they fought back into the main league after two seasons, but to drop so suddenly would be a huge setback.
So, with this in mind, and not much time left to rally the club, they made the important steps to try and keep climbing the table in the coming weeks. Manager Gareth Taylor, a former Wales international, joined the Reds in August last year, after a successful time in charge at Manchester City Women. It was hoped that his style could transfer to his new team, but as results have shown, his influence has yet to pay dividends.
Triple Swoop
Martha Thomas was the first to join this past week. The Scotland star has joined from Tottenham Hotspur on loan until the end of this season. The striker could be the perfect answer to their scoring issues. With 21 goals in 52 appearances for Scotland, this may also be the best move for her at this time:
“It means a lot. It’s a really exciting time for me, and I’m really excited to be here. I think it’s the right fit, right now in my career. Even though it’s a short loan, I’m really looking forward to being here and helping this team climb the table where they deserve to be.”
Irish midfielder Denise O’Sullivan was the next to put pen to paper. The 31-year-old has a huge amount of experience and has 129 caps for the Republic of Ireland. She has a sack full of honours with Glasgow City, before gaining more with the North Carolina Courage, the team where she has been permanently signed from. Talking to their website, she said:
“It means a lot. It’s a very proud moment for me and also for my family, who are now only a 40-minute flight away. Liverpool is a massive club, and I think when you join a club as big as Liverpool, it comes with massive responsibility, and I can’t wait to get to work and to give 100 per cent every day.”
Lastly, at least for now, was the third signing in as many days. Aurelie Csillag is another striker and shows the new intent of Taylor’s thinking to get the club out of trouble. The attacker turns 24 next week and joins after a short time at SC Freiburg, this after making her name with FC Basel. The Swiss international has a dozen caps, with one goal for her country, and this move is definitely one for the future.
“For me, the [Barclays Women’s] Super League was always a dream. When I was a little child, I always wanted to play in the Super League. And then when I heard from Liverpool, it was a nice city, a nice club, a lot of tradition and history, I didn’t have any doubts to join this winter.”
Time To Prove Worth
No one has a crystal ball and therefore cannot see if this trio will save Liverpool from the drop. What we do know is that they will add an enormous amount of firepower to a side that has been lacking in goals (although they did just win the FA Cup match at London Bees 6-0), with just 8 goals in the 12 played so far in the WSL.
Both Thomas and O’Sullivan starred and scored in that 6-0 Cup triumph, and the club will now play Everton in the next round. Before that the real task begins with a WSL home match against fourth placed Tottenham this Sunday. Three points from that game and the faith will already start to be paid back.