Everton manager Brian Sorensen refused to accept compliments for his Everton team after their 3-1 loss to Chelsea as he bemoaned his side’s lack of composure and decision-making as the differences between his Toffees and the top teams in the Women's Super League.
Everton suffered their second loss of the season when they welcomed the reigning champions to Walton Hall Park on Sunday, putting an end to their promising run of back-to-back league wins against Liverpool and Leicester City.
The hosts put Chelsea under pressure in the opening stages and did well to equalise through Kadeisha Buchanan's second-half own goal after going a goal down from Pernille Harder's first-half opener. Yet a failure to be more clinical cut Everton's players dejected as Harder’s brace and Niamh Charles’s injury-time goal took the gloss off an encouraging performance.
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For Sorensen, a maiden clash with one of the league's top sides provided an opportunity to pull out the measuring stick and plainly take stock of Everton’s evolution since his arrival in April. Held up against the reverse fixture in March, Everton look like a team transformed.
However, Sorensen believed his side’s best moments on Sunday were disappointingly patchworked and lamented the lack of composure and mettle to stop Chelsea from taking control.
“We started really well, and in the second half, but I don't think we've finished both halves very well,” Sorensen said afterwards. “I just said that to the girls. I'm actually super disappointed because I think we can do better. I think we give too many transitions away because we force our play a bit too much.”
Sorensen spoke positively regarding the shrinking gap between the league’s best and the best of the rest earlier in the week but on Sunday, he reiterated that the prospect of Everton bridging that gap more hinges on his side raising their standards for success.
“That's the thing, if we want to compete with them, we have to be better than that,” he said. “I think our pressing was good in long periods of time. It's more about the ball, the decision-making, the preparation before you receive the ball. Where's your next pass and how can you prepare early so you're not receiving the ball under pressure? Those things, we need to be better at. It's a Chelsea side that are super strong, everybody knows that, but I'm actually disappointed.”
