Liverpool Ladies midfielder Amanda da Costa highlights their superb League form, talks about Jamie Carragher's retirement and Manchester City's move into her native New York.
Top of the League!
After victory over Lincoln Ladies last week, Liverpool are now top of the table - and we're delighted with our progress.
We have a group of very competitive women, who have all seen some sort of success at some point or another in their careers. It is safe to say that upon arriving at Liverpool, we all had the same goal in mind - to win the league.
Maybe it was a bit farfetched early doors, but as the season is well underway I think we are growing in our confidence at how attainable it actually is.
All of the players and staff are on the same page, and we are excited to see where the rest of the season takes us.
I think we are on our way to becoming a great team.
That win against Lincoln came on the back of a Cup victory over Chelsea - just days after they had beaten us in the league. Having the personality within our group to bounce back and recover from losses says a lot about the mentality of this team - it is something that will be important in the latter stages of the season.
Personally, I can see myself improving playing and training at a higher standard.
The FA WSL includes players from all over the world, many of whom have had the chance to compete in highly ranked tournaments and are genuine veterans of the game. Since playing for Liverpool alongside the likes of players such as Fara Williams and Natasha Dowie, I have certainly seen an improvement in my game in the sense that I am forced to play much quicker.
I see this pattern accumulating throughout each new season I play in - it seems that the talent around me continues to grow which pushes me a little bit more each year. I am enjoying the playing style of Liverpool, and appreciate that my teammates try to play good football. We are all very technical and would much rather play with the ball at our feet.
Of course, this is an approach that runs throughout the club, with manager Brendan Rodgers pushing his players to play a very entertaining brand of football.
The send off for Jamie Carragher at the end of the season is something I'll long remember.
Carragher is obviously one of the most well-known household names that Liverpool has had for quite some time. It is always a sombre moment when the time comes for a player who has had such a vital role on the pitch (and to Liverpool FC history as well) to move on from the club. I think that Carragher's send off was certainly felt throughout the city and even on the different forms of social media, with twitter sporting the #thankscarra hash-tag.
The respect that he brought to the game was top class, and he will be missed at Anfield but certainly not forgotten by the city of Liverpool and football fans all over the world.
Big news back home in New York is Manchester City's new MLS franchise partnership with the New York Yankees.
Since I was born and raised in New York, I am a huge Yankee fan. They are probably my favorite sports team outside of football, and have been a part of my life in America since I was a little girl. When I was younger, I would watch the Metrostars all the time, and loved that there was a men's league in the US. The Metrostars became the New York Red Bulls (and I think they might have even had another name change before then), but either way I have always supported the New York football teams.
Manchester City is a fun side to watch, and the fact that they partnered up with my favourite baseball team is very exciting! I think that the partnership is going to be strong, as both teams have tremendous marketability to their brands.
With the transfer window upon us - I want to make it clear - I want to stay!
No one ever truly knows the reasons for all decisions made by managers, but I am sure that whatever changes (if any) are made, it will be with the best intentions in mind for the team's future. It's a good reality check at this point in the season because it proves that you can never be too comfortable with your spot in a squad.
As long as I have been doing my job right, I can only hope that I've put myself in the best position possible to continue helping Liverpool FC.
Follow Amanda: @ADacosta13.
