WATCH NOW: Smerud’s first interview as Palace Women manager
Leif Smerud says he is hoping to ‘create something strong’ in his new role as Crystal Palace Women’s manager.
Speaking to Palace TV in his first interview as manager – ahead of Sunday’s match against Liverpool at the VBS Community Stadium (14:00 GMT kick-off), which you can watch LIVE here – the Norwegian, who has vast experience playing and managing at the top level across both women’s and men’s football, has spelt out his hopes for the side.
With Palace currently four points adrift in the relegation zone of the Women’s Super League, Sunday’s match marks the first of eight matches in which the Eagles will be bidding to retain their hard-fought top-flight status.
Smerud smiled: “I’m really honoured, I’m proud and I’m very happy to join Crystal Palace, a club with a long history in football.
“It's a club that's no stranger to hard work and punching above its weight. It's an honour to connect with a club like that, and the people I've met in the process are also brilliant people. I really look forward to representing the club and all that it stands for.
“I'm very aware of what kind of situation I'm coming into. It's a tough league, it's a tough situation, but I'm not here to sit back and hope for something, I'm here to create something strong, to create something that can last and create something that's really competitive.
“The focus will be on bringing people together and competing really hard. We're not here focused on surviving, we're here on competing and fighting and I think that's going to be really, really important.
“I've been impressed with what I hear about the club. It's an innovative spirit, I think. There's something unselfish about it, it's sort of an unselfish pioneer that really, really tries to build and create something over time in the right way, I feel.
“That's really connected with me and resonated with me, so that's important for a coach to feel that connection and to represent something bigger.”
In terms of what Palace fans can expect from a Leif Smerud side, the manager explained: “I think my teams, you will see it's one group, it's one unit. I prefer to hunt, I prefer to hunt the breakthroughs and hunt the opponent and hunt the ball.
“I don't think I have a team that is quitting, I think that's important as well. And then it's about organisation, which I'm also very keen on.
“For formations and systems I’m quite flexible, I think you need to be pragmatic and find what suits the material and the players that you have.
“But we're going to hunt and not be hunted.”
As for a final message to the Palace fans, Smerud smiled: “I'm really excited and happy and proud to be joining this fantastic club with a long history, and I intend to do everything I can to turn this around now and to have some games where we really, really compete and fight.
“I hope the Palace fans will get behind us and support us in that.”