Matt Beard says his West Ham United side need to learn quickly after suffering a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City Women.
The Irons found themselves 3-0 down after just 17 minutes at the Etihad Academy Stadium on Sunday and, although Esmee De Graaf was able to find the net, the Hammers were on the wrong end of a disappointing loss.
Having beaten Yeovil Town Ladies in the previous match, and given a strong account of themselves in fixtures against Reading FC Women and Arsenal, Beard was frustrated with how is team performed against City.
And the head coach hopes his side learn the necessary lessons from the loss.
“We didn’t stick to what we had worked on during the week,” Beard said. “In the second half for a 20-minute period, we played the way we had worked on all week, but we didn’t do that in the first half.
Today was frustrating, and a learning curve for all of us.
Matt Beard
“To be honest we looked in awe of them in the first half. We can’t keep giving away those sorts of goals that we’ve given away today. It’s frustrating and it’s a learning curve for all of us. If you put the ball at risk in silly areas then, against the top teams, you will get punished, as we did today.
“We need to cut out the errors. The second goal is a prime example. We’ve had an opportunity to clear it but instead we dropped it straight into Parris, who obviously got the goal. It’s one of those things. We need to tidy up that part of that game.”
West Ham lined up for Sunday’s fixture without either Lucienne Reichardt or Leanne Kiernan, with both missing due to knocks, and Beard admitted his side are feeling the effects of having some injuries at the moment.
He continued: “The injuries are hurting us at the moment. We didn’t have Leanne Kiernan today, Lucienne Reichardt wasn’t with us and Tessel Middag is still injured too.
“We’re struggling with a small squad and two or three that played today are also struggling with knocks, but they got through the game for us.”
With Beard’s former club, Liverpool, due to visit Rush green in the FA WSL next weekend, the head coach is eager to see a reaction from his side.
“We need to bounce back. We’ve got to make sure we show some character. We’ve been good at home, so it will be a good test for us.”