Liverpool Women boss Gareth Taylor says his playing style is "like my religion" as he prepares for a first meeting with his former side, Manchester City Women, since his departure.
Taylor took a short trip down the M62 to join the Reds earlier this year, but is yet to earn a point in the WSL with his new team.
Not only is there a new philosophy to implement, but the club also saw two of their key players - Taylor Hinds and Olivia Smith - join Arsenal this summer, with the quality difficult to replace.
But Taylor is adamant the team are buying into his style of play, recently telling Sky Sports he wants Liverpool to be the "best pressing team in Europe".
"There's a certain amount of loyalty with my coaching history. I'm not a religious person, but this way and this style is like my religion," he told Sky Sports News ahead of Sunday's game against Man City, live on Sky Sports.
"When people challenge you on it, it's hard to take, because you're really protective of it, you're really loyal to it and you believe in it. It's the thing that gets you out of bed every morning, whether you've been successful in the previous game or not. For me, there is no other way of playing.
"It evolves, of course it does. There's some concepts within the game model that are completely changed from when I first started a head coach role and that's fantastic.
"I don't think it can be set. Nothing's ever set where nothing evolves and doesn't change, and you have to adapt but for me, it's taking comfort in that also.
"It's always really good to be able to have a way and a style of playing that allows you to review, and we've had really good opportunities to review recently. It really is a good template to have to show you where you've been successful and where perhaps we need to improve on.
"The brief has to be, can we bring an identity and a style to Liverpool that's unique to us? And what we've seen so far in those difficult moments is glimpses of what that future could look like.
"When you see how different we are as a team, even in the four games, when you look at some of the possession stats, some of the passes per game and some of the passing accuracy, everything is sharp.
"Whilst that hasn't given us the points we feel we maybe deserve, that's something tangible for us to grab hold of. We know that, having had experience previously of working in this way, that it might take a little bit of time.
"But in the long run, it's a way that is not just to play good football and give an identity, but also to win games. It's something that once players become more familiar with and once we start to improve and get better and fitter, and of course we'll always need help in the transfer windows, you'll start to see good things."
Taylor also paid tribute to former Liverpool manager Matt Beard, who passed away in September. Many of the players and staff involved with the women's team worked closely with him in his most recent spell at the club.
"We've had some challenging times with Matt passing," Taylor added.
"It was a big loss to everyone, particularly his family, but also for everyone at the football club. It really rocked us. That grieving process is different for each person, and we've tried to be really respectful of that.
"But it hasn't made things easy at all because he's a big personality. He was a big influence and it pretty much is 90 per cent of the squad and the staff who are here that worked with Matt.
"That was a real tough time, but also a time to be really proud to be associated with this football club because it feels like a privilege in these moments that we come together, we stand alongside each other.
"I said to the players 'you'll never walk alone' - that's our motto, that's what we stand by. You can see it and feel it, and it makes you feel really proud and fortunate to be a part of this football club."
'Facing Man City is just another game'
This weekend, attentions turn to a reunion with Man City, the club he left in March. They eventually ended the season without a trophy and in fourth place, missing out of Women's Champions League football.
Under new boss Andree Jeglertz, Man City are second in the WSL table so far this season, with Taylor having a tricky task if he wants to earn his first point this weekend.
"For me, it's another game," the Liverpool boss said. "That's the past. I was fortunate enough to work at a number of very good football clubs, both as a player and as a coach, and it was another one.
"I'm now at a fabulous club. I'm more concentrated on this and where we're at and what we're trying to achieve and hopefully take results out of it.
"We are approaching the game head on. We're aware of the players they have, I worked with so many of them and there's some tremendous talent.
"But I always made it about us in a sense of where we felt we could get the maximum gains. We are fighting with our way at the moment, and sometimes we will have to make some compromises to be smart and maybe protect a little bit more of what we've got.
"Having the game at Anfield is fantastic, hopefully we can put on a really good performance for our supporters, give ourselves a chance of being in the game, of winning the game, and see what happens. We're going to give it everything.
"There's no doubt the challenge is tough, but it's always about how can we get the maximum from this game. We'll be doing our very best. If it doesn't happen, we'll move on to the next game and the one after that."
Watch Liverpool vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4.30pm Sunday, kick-off 4.45pm.
