‘We just have to be ready for the next one’ – Sørensen reacts to Everton’s opening day defeat | OneFootball

Everton manager Brian Sørensen said that his side have to move on following their 4-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at Broadfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues suffered a difficult afternoon in Sussex as they fell to a heavy defeat whilst losing the services of midfielder Aurora Galli to injury in the process.

When speaking to the media following the match, Sørensen felt that luck was against his side once they fell behind to The Seagulls.

“We didn’t know what to expect from them because we haven’t seen them much, that’s why we were not so aggressive in the way that we normally press,” Sørensen said.

“I didn’t feel they were causing us big trouble [early on]. They had the ball a lot, but they were not playing through us. I think just the goal with their first shot on target [changed the game] and then I just feel everything went against us.”

Sørensen went on to discuss the impact of the new players in his squad. While there were some positives to take, Sørensen noted that due to injury and unfamiliarity with the league, some players may take time to adapt.

He said “Unfortunately, Melissa Lawley got a fracture in her elbow in the Liverpool game and is out for three, four weeks maybe, so we were missing her today.

“I think in Inma [Gabarro] and Toni [Payne], of course, they have to get used to this league and the intensity that it’s played in and so on but they’ve been good, working really hard.

“I think when we put Honoka [Hayashi] and Karoline [Olesen] on, we also saw a bit of an energy boost that actually started to turn the game around a little but then they get a penalty and it was game over.”

Towards the end of the match, midfielder Galli was taken off injured and Sørensen was able to provide an initial update on the player.

He said “She is on crutches. It looked like one of the bad ones, unfortunately. It just sums up the day. It is probably too early to go to hospital because of the swelling, they won’t be able to see anything but it does not look good, that is for sure.”

Everton must quickly pick themselves up from their opening day defeat but Sørensen has full belief that his squad will pull together again.

He said “We have a good group, they will galvanise and pull together. We saw that last year with all of the injuries we had, so I’m sure they’ll do that again.

“There’s no easy task in this league and we just have to be ready for the next one.”

Everton return to Barclays Women’s Super League action next Sunday when they host Manchester United.