Scott Phelan says Everton Women have not been shaken too much by their 2-0 Merseyside Derby defeat to Liverpool, with the head coach insisting the focus has already moved on to Everton vs Birmingham City on Sunday.
It is a straightforward but important test for Everton Women, who have now lost to Liverpool three times in a row since February. Yet Phelan’s message after the Anfield setback was calm rather than alarmed: the mood remains positive, the process remains the same and the next challenge is already in view.
Phelan: the mood has not changed
Phelan said the squad were in good spirits despite the loss, pointing to the way Everton handled the immediate aftermath of the match. They had a rest day on Monday, returned to training on Tuesday and used that first session back to reflect before turning fully to Birmingham City.
“I don’t think the mood has been affected too much. The girls have been in good spirits,” he said. “We had a rest day on Monday after the game and returned on Tuesday so maybe that helped but we reflected on the game when we returned on our first day and then focused fully on the challenge ahead this week with Birmingham. So, I wouldn’t suggest that the mood has been affected too much.”
That approach fits the way Phelan says he wants his side to operate. Win or lose, the reaction is meant to stay measured, with no over-celebrating after victories and no self-destruction after defeats.
“It works both ways. When we win, we don’t over-celebrate and when we lose, we don’t batter ourselves too much and get down in the dumps,” he said. “There is always a process to follow, win or lose, and we’ve followed it throughout this week and that seems to have worked so far this season so there’s no reason to move too far away from that.”
Why Birmingham still matters
Everton have already seen Birmingham City once this season, and the meeting at Goodison Park about a week and a half before the Liverpool game ended in a 2-0 win in a Women’s Players Cup group stage match. Phelan was careful not to read too much into that result, though.
“I think both teams made quite a few changes that night,” he said. “We were pleased with how we performed and two of our players did score on that night so that was nice.”
Even so, he stressed that the cup result should not be treated as a guarantee of anything this weekend. “Listen, we’d be foolish to take any certainties from the cup game,” he said. “We can take confidence of course and maybe some information about how the opponent plays but we won’t be counting our chickens.”
That is the right level of caution. Everton may have already beaten Birmingham, but Sunday is a different game and Phelan knows his side will have to work for every point.
Encouragement with one obvious issue
There is reason for optimism if Everton can turn the performance level into another result. A win on Sunday would mean four wins out of the six games they would have played across all competitions, which Phelan described as a decent start and something to build on.
“We want to win games of football. Whether that’s at the start, the middle or the end of the season,” he said. “If we do win on Sunday that would be four wins out of the six games we’d have played, including the cup, so that would be a decent enough start and definitely something to build on moving forward.”
One area remains in the background, too. The only Women’s Super League goal by an Everton player so far this season came from Yuka Momiki at West Ham United on September 20, and Phelan accepted that finishing is part of the work still to be done. “It’s not a concern but it’s an area we’re working on,” he said, before adding: “We have managed to win games which is ultimately the most important stat.”
For Everton, then, the reaction to the derby loss is not panic but perspective. The mood is still steady, the process is intact and Birmingham City now provide the next test of whether that balance can keep producing results.
