‘I don’t fear them,’ Everton manager Brian Sorensen said ahead of the Brighton match.
This weekend, the Blues face the Seagulls in Women’s Super League action at Walton Hall Park.
Everton manager Brian Sorensen feels his team has nothing to fear as they prepare to play Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
Last season, the Blues finished sixth in Sorensen’s first season in charge, finishing ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and local rivals Liverpool. They will be trying to improve on that finish in the next season after making some smart purchases during the summer transfer window.
Everton will return to Premier League action on Sunday when they visit the Seagulls, who finished 11th in the WSL last season, at Walton Hall Park. Melissa Phillips’ squad has also added some top-tier talent during the summer, but Sorensen feels his team has what it takes to win this weekend.
“When you bring a lot of names in, it can go either way,” he stated. “I think Brighton did well when Melissa came in and they began to play a better type of football, but with such a large turnover, you still need to play those players together.” It’s been difficult to analyze them since we don’t know how they work.
“(The new players) need to be bedded in and need to be on the same page so hopefully we have a head start there. We haven’t done so much business, we’ve more been adding on. I’m excited to see how it goes. I don’t fear them. I think we have a team that overall will more play together than where (Brighton) are right now but we’ll see how the season goes.”
The arrival of former Liverpool defender Megan Campbell on Friday means Everton have made eight additions to their squad since the end of last season. And Sorensen admits he’s delighted with the club’s transfer business, despite losing England international
“We are really happy,” the Dane said. “We planned it very early. I know (transfer news) was first coming out in the summer but it was business done well before the summer.”
On George’s exit, Sorensen added: “I don’t know if I was surprised because I know that United have the funds to do it. When they came and asked, they said they wouldn’t (sign her) but they changed their mind and they did. That’s football.
Sara Holmgaard, Elise Stenevik – who’s been phenomenal this preseason – and Katrin Veje, so it’s not like we were lacking top left-sided players. Now we’ve got Megan Campbell in also so we’re more than covered.”
The Everton boss confirmed his squad is in good shape ahead of Sunday’s clash, with forward Katja Snoeijs the only absentee after sustaining a hand injury while away on international duty with the Netherlands. Reflecting on the club’s ambitions for this season, Sorensen said: “Last year it was more about building that foundation and believing that we’re there to play in a certain way.
“This year it’s more learning about the league and where we need to be stronger and hurt teams. The principles of how we play are the same but we’re going to be a bit different because we have different attributes that can help us hurt teams a bit easier this year.”
