Missy Bo Kearns says increased competition at Liverpool is a good thing
Among Anfield’s extensive assortment of football-related murals – nestled somewhere between artistic odes to Ian Rush and Mohamed Salah – is a 30ft likeness of Missy Bo Kearns.
The Allerton-born midfielder became the first Liverpool Women’s player to be given the honour last May. And the spectacular piece of art – painted by local artist Paul Curtis – is a physical encapsulation of what Kearns has come to mean to the club, and to the city.
She joined Liverpool at the age of eight and has been an integral part of the Reds’ transformation from relegation fodder to Women’s Super League (WSL) mainstays. Now 22, Kearns can still scarcely fathom that gets the opportunity to represent the club she has supported all her life on the biggest stage.
“Sometimes it doesn’t hit me,” she says, sat in the bustling canteen at the AXA Melwood Training Centre. “I could only have ever dreamed all of this could happen. I’m only 22 years old, and I have so much more I can do, so I just want to keep progressing and getting better. That’s my scouse attitude I suppose. I’m so early in my career and so sometimes I think people forget how young I am. I still have so much to learn.”
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One thing Kearns has had to learn this season is how to deal with competition. She started 17 of Liverpool’s 22 league games last term but, with the Reds having bolstered their midfield ranks with the additions of Fuka Nagano and Marie Hobinger over the past 13 months, a starting berth in the middle of the park is no longer a foregone conclusion.
“It’s great having competition,” she says. “You don’t want to be too comfortable and I think it’s been a bit of a new challenge for me. If I said it was easy, I’d be lying because I’ve played a lot of football over the last few years and then I haven’t played as much as I’d like this season.
“I want to be playing every minute that I can. If I didn’t have that attitude, what’s the point in playing? That’s part of the game. The manager picks teams to win matches and we’ve been doing well so you can’t fault that. My focus is just on working hard every single day and making sure I’m ready to help the team when I’m called upon.”
Certainly, that added competition has helped propel Liverpool to new heights this season. Less than two years on from their promotion to the top flight, the Reds are pushing to close the gap on the WSL’s top four.
That Matt Beard’s side have already beaten two teams in that bracket – Manchester United and Arsenal – this term, is concrete proof of the progress being made at Prenton Park. However, heavy defeats to the remaining half of the quartet – Chelsea and Manchester City – show there is still work to be done before Liverpool are legitimately competing for the division’s top honours.
“If you want to be competing with the other top teams then you have to have a competitive environment,” Kearns admits. “You have to strengthen whenever you get the opportunity to and that’s what the club’s doing. That’s translating into results and performances too. We’re not where we want to be but I think we’re on the right track.
“You can’t have an off day in this league because you’ll get punished. We want to pick up as many points as possible and keep competing and climbing the table. The WSL is really exciting this year. It’s very close and we’ve seen anyone can beat anyone. Most teams have strengthened and I think it’s going to be an exciting end to the season.”
Another factor that has contributed to the Reds’ upturn in form is their move to Melwood. The site has been home to a succession of great Liverpool teams dating back to the 1950s but was sold to housing developer Torus after it was decided Jurgen Klopp’s side would move to a new, larger training base in Kirkby in November 2020.
However, with Torus yet to begin work on the site, Liverpool re-purchased Melwood last summer as a base for their women’s team – who previously trained at Tranmere Rovers’ Solar Campus – and have invested both money and time into ensuring the facility is one of the best in the WSL. And Kearns, who would regularly visit the training ground as a child hoping to catch a glimpse of her Premier League heroes, attributes the move with helping take Beard’s side to the next level.
