As a Manchester City Women's fan I have to admit this season so far has been terrible for me to watch, nothing just seems to be going right for the team and we have gone from fighting for the title and Champions League spots pre-pandemic to at the time of writing this being outside the top half of the table and way out of reach of first and second place.
I was always quite critical of Nick Cushing and his team choices when he was in charge but honestly Gareth Taylor has already got me feeling that way with his selections, there are game changers who were brought in during the summer just sitting on the bench when they should really be on the pitch showing their worth and possibly helping us get the results we desperately need. We brought in some big names in the summer too with the likes of the Australians Kennedy & Raso who we all know can play some brilliant football, we also brought in the likes of Bunny Shaw & Ruby Mace yet we aren't giving Mace a real chance to show what she is made of. As for the rest of our signings we just don't seem to have had anyone really make their mark yet as they aren't getting a good run of games due to selection or injuries.
Speaking of injuries it is no secret the club are missing some key players from the team due to injury and all season when you look at the players who City have had out injured it is quite scary to think of how influencial these players actually are in the team. Chloe Kelly is still out injured and we all know she can provide a real attacking threat and I think her injury has really effected City on the attacking front. Then you have Lucy Bronze & Steph Houghton out injured. We all know Steph has been a solid feature in the City defence and Bronze has played some brilliant games since her return to the club. You also have Karen Bardsley & Ellie Roebuck out injured, the two goalkeepers that no doubt Taylor would have loved to call on this season. Then again though with the rest of the names in the squad we really shouldn't be in the position we are currently in as the talent we have should still be challenging for the best results. It is going to be interesting to see what happens when all the players do start to return from injury though, are they going to fight to claw back some points or are they going to take time to settle back into the squad and are going to continue as the start of the season has been with poor performances still continuing. It is certainly going to be interesting to see if the club bring anyone else in during the next transfer window to try improve the squad and progress up the table.
I think that all the Americans coming over last year also has had an effect on the performances this season too as last season we seemed to pin all our hopes on Lavelle, Mewis & Dahlkemper then once the NWSL restarted as expected they just went back over there. We did this with Lloyd before too, played her, lost our old regulars in her position and struggled for a bit after her departure. Yes it was great to have the World Cup winners at the club even for a short space of time but we should be looking at building for the future and keeping player rather than just giving game time when their league isn't active if they aren't going to stick around after as we just end up back to square one with weak spots in the squad.
City at the moment to me just don't look like they are challenging the opposition enough and those we are playing against are spotting our weaknesses and attacking them as nothing seems to change week in week out. We look really weak against the big teams such as Chelsea and I think the latest result in that fixture just summed everything up. City even exited the Champions League in their first fixture whereas in previous years they have pushed to the later stages of the competition and I think their early exit just went to show how off pace with some of those big teams they are at the moment. Are other teams such as Manchester United, Brighton & Tottenham just catching up to teams like Manchester City and developing more as these teams seem to be doing so much better this season as opposed to previous ones or is it down to injuries and management that Manchester City just aren't getting the results they should be? Because something just doesn't seem to be going right for them at the moment. I really do think we are starting to see a shift in the women's game though with clubs who were normally written off at the start of the season putting up fights against the bigger teams and getting the results they deserve. I am glad we are seeing this bit of a shift though as it makes games and the season overall a bit more exciting as teams are having to battle it out rather than it being a one horse race all season.
I really did have high hopes for this season and for us to challenge Chelsea once again to try beat them to the top spot but that really hasn't been the case at all and now I am just hoping we can finish in the top 4 for the season as I realistically don't think we are going to end up qualifying for the Champions League this time around. With how the first few months have gone I will just be happy if we finish in the top half of the table.
What do you think to Manchester City's season so far?
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