‘He has done a fantastic job’ – Beard praises Vidošić ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Brighton | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Matt Beard has offered praise to Brighton & Hove Albion boss Dario Vidošić ahead of the two clubs’ meeting in St Helens on Friday evening.

Beard will go up against Vidošić for the first time since the former Australian international was appointed Brighton & Hove Albion’s new head coach in the summer. It promises to be a hard-fought contest with Liverpool looking to break back into the top half of the Barclays Women’s Super League table and Brighton & Hove Albion occupying fifth place.

Under Vidošić, Brighton & Hove Albion are enjoying a very successful season, something which hasn’t gone unnoticed by Liverpool boss Beard.

“They’re a completely different team [to last season] with a completely different style of play,” Beard said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “The new manager has come in from overseas and has done a fantastic job. Traditionally, a lot of [overseas] managers other than maybe Joe [Montemurro] and Sonia [Bompastor] have generally struggled.

“He has done a fantastic job. They’ve signed some very experienced players, they play good football and create a lot of chances. They take a lot of risks with that but I think he has done a fantastic job and if you look at the investment on the playing side, they are where they are with the investment.”

Going on to discuss Brighton’s performances, Beard recognises that The Seagulls have been competitive against all of the teams around them in the Barclays Women’s Super League table and he believes that two teams with differing styles could make for a fascinating game in St Helens.

He said “I think they’ve done really well against the teams in and around them and below them. Against the top sides, they’ve struggled a bit but even if you look at the Chelsea game, it was a great game of football.

“Things take time, so for him to come in and do what he has done in a short space of time, he’s done a fantastic job. They create a lot of chances and then on the flip side, with the way that they play, they do give up chances.

“It’s going to be an interesting game because you’ve got a team that likes to press and puts teams under pressure and you’ve got a team that likes to play out from the back. I know that we can mix it up, so it’s going to be an interesting game. It’ll be a good one for the neutral to watch.”

Liverpool collected just nine points in the first half of the season with injuries being a major factor in the lack of results. Beard now has a near-fully fit squad and says that his side are ready to kick on.

He said “It is [a fresh start], we needed that break desperately. The injuries that we have had in the first half of the season have been well-documented and we definitely can’t repeat that from a medical and sports science perspective.

“There have been a lot of lessons learned in that first half of the season. We’ve got a good group of players here, we’ve got a good group of people and we are excited to see what we can do in the second half of the season.”

Liverpool’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 7pm on Friday evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.