I have watched Liverpool transform this year - FSG's message is no longer empty PR

Anyone searching for proof of Liverpool's progress in 2023 need only have looked at the scoreboard at Leigh Sports Village on the afternoon of Sunday, December 17.

Not even 12 months ago, the gulf between Liverpool and the Women's Super League's (WSL) top four was writ large on the big screen in the corner of Manchester United's home stadium. The Reds had been comprehensively beaten, annihilated, by Marc Skinner's side, who had scored six without reply to consolidate their position near the summit of the WSL table.

That such a painful defeat had come at the hands of Liverpool's historic rivals was particularly crushing for Matt Beard and his players. United looked to be in the ascendency while Liverpool, back in the top flight after a two-year exile to the second tier, were firmly ensconced in mid-table mediocrity.

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"I apologise for the performance to the fans," Beard said after the game. "I don't care whether it's Manchester United, whether it's Chelsea, whether it's Manchester City, we should not be losing matches 6-0 at this level."

No apology was needed, though, when the final whistle blew in Greater Manchester the weekend before last. Instead, the travelling Liverpool fans were in fine voice as they celebrated their team's hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Red Devils.

There was an element of poetic justice about the fact Liverpool ended the calendar year at the same venue where their 2023 had started in such sobering fashion. Not only was the scoreline vastly different to the one recorded on that bleak January afternoon but the seismic recent