Blues ready to prove doubters wrong... AGAIN
City Women have aiming for another silver lining to season
A SENSE of injustice has driven City Women this season, and if they lift the FA Cup today they will surely have silenced any remaining doubters.
“You can easily say we were written off,” goalkeeper Karen Bardsley tells M.E.N. Sport, with other players inside the dressing room also referring to the outside criticism of City when a crippling injury crisis at the start of the season left them down in ninth in the Women’s Super League and out of the Champions League before the group stage.
Since a League Cup group defeat to United in November, though, City have arguably already proved those doubters wrong. Just one defeat in 23 games (and a narrow one at that) saw the Blues win the Continental Cup, overtake United to finish in third in the WSL, and reach this afternoon’s FA Cup final at Wembley. Now they’re looking for that one last win to show they are ready to challenge Chelsea for the WSL title next season.
“We were sitting down fifth or seventh at one point at the beginning and people said ‘you’re never gonna be able to get back from that’ and ‘what an embarrassment’ and things like that,” Bardsley recalls.
“Yeah, it does kind of feel as though we were written off. We weren’t involved in the title race, but you by the end, it was squeaky bum time for a few other clubs.
“We’ve really managed to turn things around. Obviously, after the start of the season. After the injuries we’ve been really fortunate to get the majority of everyone fit. And it’s been really impressive to see, just like how fluid the performances have been, you know, like it’s been just really consistent.
“Okay, maybe they’ve not been full 90-minute performances we probably need to win another trophy. But, the way we played against Chelsea in the League Cup final was one of the best 45 minutes of football I’ve seen in a long time from us and we just seem to be gathering a lot of momentum and confidence from the games that we play.
“We managed to secure Champions League for next season, so I think that was a that was really important for us. But yeah, the vibes seem really good at the minute.”
Bardsley will retire after the Chelsea game, and while she won’t play at Wembley, she’s looking forward to a perfect goodbye to a glittering career in front of at least 50,000 fans on a weekend where the men’s and women’s finals are played back-to-back for the first time. Elsewhere in the City squad, the next generation are equally keen to ensure a cup double is secured from one of the most difficult seasons of their lives.
“The critical moment was the Continental Cup final [3-1 win vs Chelsea], how we brought it back,” forward Georgia Stanway said this week.
“Players stepped up and that was an unbelievable day. When you put it into perspective, we didn’t have the start we wanted – we set out to go further in the Champions League, win the league, Continental Cup and FA Cup.
“We’ve ticked off the Conti Cup so we’ve achieved something. To have done that and got to the FA Cup final considering the start we had makes it more exciting and showcases the growth we’ve had as a team this year. It wasn’t the year we wanted in terms of our start, but we can end it on a high.” Reflecting on the trials and tribulations of a turbulent season, boss Gareth Taylor said before this game that City can still class this as a successful season, whatever happens at Wembley.
“There are many ways to get there, we eventually got there,” he said. “We left it late. if you look at the circumstances early in the season, the lack of preparation, the injuries we had, the way we managed that period, at times we looked a long way away in terms of qualification but the players were amazing.
“We’re desperate to win on Sunday, giving everything to win. If we’re not successful, what does our season look like? I still think it’s a positive season. We’ve won eight trophies in eight seasons as an organisation, it shows we’re doing something right. We want to improve on that, I’m more ambitious than anyone to do that.”
Newly-crowned Player of the Season Lauren Hemp agrees with her team-mates and manager, saying the final is a perfect way to end the season positively and strike an early blow on rivals Chelsea for a title challenge next season.
“There are the games everyone wants to be involved in,” she said. “The FA Cup Final is a massive occasion. It’s one I’ve been part of before and those are the moments you remember when you look back on your career.
“It’s really exciting. We’re all in a good place, feeling really confident. We’re coming into the game in good form off the back of a lot of wins, and we’re training really hard to be ready for it. It’s a great opportunity for us to lift another trophy and hopefully get one up on Chelsea again. We can’t wait.”
Lucy Bronze, a regular through thick and thin this season, said City will continue with their one-gameat-a-time mantra that got them through the testing autumn period and into their brilliant 23-game run since November.
“It’s the best the squad has felt all year,” she said.
“Off the back of some disappointments this season, what we’ve achieved is fantastic. It says a lot about the character of the team and
It wasn’t the year we wanted in terms of our start, but we can end it on a high Georgia Stanway
the individuals who have pulled out performances, working hard and sticking together.
“It’s been like two different seasons in one. We were in a difficult position just before Christmas but there wasn’t much more we could do other than focus on ourselves. That cliche of ‘one game at a time’ was very prevalent at that moment.
“We’ve just taken everything in our stride, not looking too far ahead to cup finals or too far behind to disappointing results and performances.”
Victory against Chelsea today would round off a testing campaign nicely and set City up nicely to make up for lost time next season.
Whatever happens at Wembley, though, nobody will dare write this side off anymore.