Ex-Liverpool star revelling in role with West Ham Women and targets WSL growth

He was appointed on a permanent basis in the summer, having spent six months working with boss Olli Harder last season.

Prior to that, ex-Liverpool and Fulham left-back Konchesky had been working within the Hammers youth set-up as a coach and had also enjoyed a stint as assistant manager at Billericay Town where he worked alongside talkSPORT's very own Jamie O'Hara.

Now, the former England international is hoping to pass on his experience to the women's squad and is delighted to have a formal coaching position at his boyhood club.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Konchesky said: "I'm loving it. It's obviously a lot different from being involved with the men, but I'm really enjoying it.

"I'm on the grass every day and hopefully, giving the girls the experience that I've got and the knowledge that I've picked up in my career from a young age.

"Even now you're still learning, even though I've played a lot of football in my career and learnt a lot of things off of different managers, different players and different coaches.

"This club means a lot to me. I grew up as a West Ham fan as a kid years ago and used to stand behind the North Bank watching and supporting my team.

"I was lucky enough to play for the club and get it to the cup final, which for me, was one of the best things I could have achieved in my career.

"I've coached at the club or been involved with the club for two or three years now but being back on the grass on the management side is another dream come true.

"I know a lot of people say that: 'You're with the women,' but I think women's football now is only going one way and hopefully, one day it will get as big as men's [football].

"Not just myself, but a lot of people will start pushing women's football and getting people to try and watch."

Last season was a testing one on the pitch for West Ham, with the team struggling at the wrong end of the WSL for large parts of the season, but Harder's appointment as manager back in December led to an upturn in fortunes.

Three clean sheets from the club's last four games meant West Ham secured their WSL status for another season with an eighth-place finish and have started this campaign promisingly, with four points from their opening three games.

The Hammers picked up their first home league win since February 2020 on Sunday after thrashing Leicester City 4-0 and Konchesky is keen for the side to challenge for a place in the top half this season.

"We've got to do better than last season," he says.

"We need to be better, that's a fact. I'm not saying we need to finish one point above [where we finished last season] but we need to be better and that means [in terms of] playing style. We want to be spoken about as contenders.

"We know there are bigger clubs who have got money and want to put more money in. But we're a unit here and a team that want to stick together.

"We've got that now and the team spirit is good. We don't want to say we're going to be in the Champions League. We want to see where it takes us and if that means we're towards the top end, that's where we'd rather be. We don't want to be anywhere near the bottom.

And Konchesky believes Harder is the right manager to push them onwards and upwards.

"He is a bit full on," he continued. "He gets excitable sometimes. He's a passionate man, so he's trying to bring his passion out to the girls and he brings that energy every game in training. He's an energetic man and he wants the best for those girls and he wants to be the best."

Despite some entertaining and closely fought fixtures, the start of the WSL season has been marred by questions marks surrounding the standard of referees after some high-profile errors.

This prompted England legend Kelly Smith to call for WSL officials to be made full-time in a bid to improve refereeing standards and the former striker hasn't been alone in her criticism of the officials.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes called for the introduction of VAR and goal-line technology in the WSL following the Blues' opening day defeat to Arsenal after Gunners forward Beth Mead appeared to be offside in the build-up to her second goal of the game.

However, while West Ham assistant Konchesky would like to see VAR and goal-line technology implemented in the WSL, he doesn't feel it should be introduced right now.

"I think it only helps. We know the women's game is getting bigger, but it's going to be step-by-step," he finished.

"With the money at this stage at the moment, there's probably other things they are using it with. Especially when we play at the [men's] stadiums, I'd like to think we could use the men's VAR or goal-line technology then. It's got to be a rule for all of us.

"Hopefully one day, it will be big enough that we can put these rules in place."