Crystal Palace manager Laura Kaminski spoke frankly with the media after their second hefty defeat in their maiden Women’s Super League season. The Eagles conceded six goals during the second half of their first fixture at Selhurst Park, with reigning champions Chelsea running riot.
The passionate leader emphasised during her press conference: “I really feel like in terms of morale, in terms of team, in terms of building and progressing as a group, today’s given us a massive catalyst to move on and propel forward from this moment. And I’ve got no doubt in the quality of the people that I’ve got in that changing room to now knit together and push on.”
Faltering after a promising first half
Crystal Palace have conceded 11 goals in their first two WSL fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Kaminski said her side has come up against ‘world-class opposition’, which is ‘about as tough as it gets’ for a newly promoted side.
“By no means am I hiding and making any excuses in that sense. I thought the first half performance again was strong, as it was against Spurs. But we must be better at coming out after half-time. It’s as simple as that, and I think I’ve got a group that isn’t hiding from that. We know, we’ve looked at the metrics and statistics behind it, and we have to be better in our performances when we come out after half-time.
“There was a moment where we could have come inside at half-time at 1-1. We created some good chances and caused them some trouble inside their 18-yard box. And to do that against a world class side, I think shows a lot of promise and potential.”
Getting to grips with the topflight
Kaminski highlighted the immense difference between the Championship and the WSL. She cited the difficulties her side faced when simple mistakes led to devastating attacks from Chelsea.
“Last year in the Championship, we’ve had a high percentage of possession. And, on the turnover, if you gave the ball away in the Championship, you would not be punished so harshly.”
Kaminski also touched on the significance of the Crystal Palace taking late involvement in the summer transfer window.
“We’ve had players who were drafted in at the later back end of pre-season. So, the team is still knitting together. I’ve seen some promise, and positives, and strengths in the team. And now, it’s my job, my responsibility to figure out how to knit them together so that the team can sustain its performance for a longer period of time.”
‘The cream will rise to the top’
Praising her newly-promoted squad’s approach, the Palace boss expressed: “They deserve to play these games week in, week out, and that’s what we need to get used to.
“In house, we set a lot of benchmarks and targets that we know that we need to be better at, and we’ve just got to keep positive with that, with small steps, marginal gains, all the steps that we took to win a league Eventually, the cream will rise to the top. We know that that will work for us.”
Kaminiski affirmed her confidence moving further forward into this inaugural WSL season with Crystal Palace, never shying away from the importance of her leadership role and the significance of support for the players on match days and beyond. Crystal Palace will take on Leicester City in their next WSL fixture.
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