Pre-season is all about implementing new ideas and getting minutes in the tank.
For Lisa Evans, there are obvious signs that West Ham United Women are taking small steps of progress under the leadership of new manager Rehanne Skinner, both from a physical and tactical perspective.
The Hammers took on Lewes in their second pre-season fixture ahead of the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League season, coming away from Sunday’s game at Dripping Pan with a 2-1 victory.
Evans notched the game’s opening goal on 23 minutes after a strong start from Skinner’s side. Republic of Ireland international Izzy Atkinson looked like she was going to find the net herself, but the loose ball eventually found its way to Evans who made no mistake from inside the area.
The Scotland international could have arguably had a hat-trick before the Hammers notched their second. A wayward cross almost caught out Lewes goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, whilst her replacement, former Hammer Emily Moore, had to be alert to push away a swerving effort from range.
Then, the winger was played in behind by Keira Flannery, and her cross struck the hand of a covering defender inside the penalty area. Mel Filis dispatched from the spot to give the Irons a two-goal lead.
Just before the 80th minute, Evans and other senior players were replaced as Skinner and her coaching team managed their minutes as pre-season continues to ramp up. The home side were able to grab a consolation through Anna Grey, with her wicked strike from outside the area giving Kate O’Hanlon no chance.
A pleasing showing from the Hammers, and Evans believes that the team will continue to move forward in a positive way with more matches under their belt, more time working with Skinner on the grass, plus the return of the six internationals who have starred at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Lisa, a good workout and more minutes in the tank! How are you feeling after that one?
“I’m feeling positive! All in all I think it was a definite improvement in comparison to last week against Charlton. I think we kept the ball all lot better and really looked after it today.
“The stuff we’ve been trying to implement out on the training pitch is slowly but surely coming to fruition, and we need to make sure we continue building on that in training and in our pre-season fixtures to come.”
You were facing a Lewes side that are further along the road physically than we were, so did that show the levels that we were able to reach in order to come away with the win?
“I think it does. We’re coming up against a team from the division below, so the expectation is for us to go out there and get the win. But in terms of their preparation, they’re a lot further ahead of us because of their league season starting next week.
“I feel like we’re just starting to get to grips with how Rehanne [Skinner] wants us to play, and I think over the next couple of weeks you will see that continue to build up and hopefully that will mean that performances continue to improve as well.”
That was your first week of working with Rehanne out on the training pitch. What has that been like?
“It's been really good. The style of play is a little bit different to what we’ve played here during my previous two seasons. I think the possession-based style suits a lot of the players who are here at the Club, and it’s a way that we enjoy playing football.
“I’m looking forward to having the international players back in, then I think we will be able to really get to work as a team on making sure we go into the start of the season in the best possible place. We have some world-class players at this Football Club, so it will be good to have everyone back together! I’ve missed them all!”
Looking at your own performance, you had a number of good chances today, whilst also scoring and helping to win the penalty…
“I was really happy to score, but I thought I was quite wasteful when I did get into good areas at times, whether that be shooting or crossing positions. I’ll definitely be working on that this week as we probably should have had a couple more goals from the game today. We certainly made the chances to do so.”
Purchase a Season Ticket and watch our returning World Cup stars in action in 2023/24! Click on the graphic below to get yours today!
