Taylor says he was ‘true to role’ during argument with Lioness Kelly

Liverpool manager Gareth Taylor says he “stayed true to his role” when dealing with disagreements with England forward Chloe Kelly in his previous job.

Taylor, who joined Liverpool in August, spent five years at Manchester City where he managed Kelly before her dramatic move to Arsenal, originally on loan in January.

Kelly pushed for a move away from the club, referencing “negative behaviour” towards her and saying she “wanted to be happy again” in a social media post, and later criticised City for attempting to “assassinate her character” on transfer deadline day.

She went on to win the Women’s Champions League with Arsenal in May before scoring the winning penalty as England beat Spain in a shootout in July’s Euro 2025 final.

Taylor says there are “always things you will look at” when asked if he would do anything differently now, but insists both parties have “moved on”.

Reflecting on the situation, he told BBC Sport: “You understand as a head coach that you are not going to make everyone happy in your team. That’s normal.

“Players want to play. I understand that. I had it many times myself when I was a professional and I was out of the team – I had my beef with it as well.

“I just always tried to remain as professional as possible. Now, on the other side of it as a head coach, my job is to select what I think is the team that gives us the best opportunity. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong.

Taylor now takes on a fresh opportunity at Liverpool, who finished seventh in the Women’s Super League last season.

There is work to do, he acknowledges, having taken a few months to get his appointment over the line because of contractual issues from his previous post at City.

During that time, Liverpool’s star player Olivia Smith was sold to Arsenal for a world record £1m fee, joining vice-captain Taylor Hinds, who ended her five-year stint with the Reds.

“Those players go with our best wishes. You never want to retain a player that probably has her eye on a move and we understand that completely,” said Taylor.

“There is work to do, for sure. We don’t want to lose top players like those two but it makes the challenge a little bit more difficult.

“Ideally [myself and my staff] would have been here a little bit earlier but it is what it is. In the days we have been here, we have seen big strides.

“The engagement from the players has been fantastic. They are a really good group of girls. The people here are incredible. The club is top class in that sense.”

Liverpool are rebuilding to try to close the gap between themselves and the WSL’s top four.

“The challenges here will be different to any other club. But what we have here is a very good opportunity to start to build something,” said Taylor.

“The environment at Melwood is incredible. The girls are really hungry to learn and to create an identity. That’s the key thing. That process is not a quick one.

Liverpool, back-to-back WSL champions in 2013 and 2014, have ambitions to return to the top in the long-term.

And Taylor arrives with Champions League experience, leading City to the quarter-finals in 2020-21.

“[There is a] huge history. A fantastic club that has fantastic support. The connection with the supporters was one of the huge reasons why I came. It’s pretty unparalleled,” said Taylor.

“But everyone wants to be in the Champions League. Everyone wants to win the league. There’s only one team who can win. The challenges are really tough.

“There is always an expectation. We won’t be competing for the title this season but in a few years we want to be challenging for the Champions League spots.”

Taylor’s biggest job is to instill his style of play at Liverpool.

He has long favoured a possession-based game and wants his players to build out from the back.

“It’s a game model that is simple. That’s not to say it is simple to execute. Players need to make errors while doing it to see progression,” said Taylor.

“It’s adapting so players don’t feel it is completely different to what they were doing previously. That identity is really important.