Weir ready to make City No 1!
CAROLINE WEIR has won two FA Cups, one League Cup and scored 25 goals for Manchester City — but there is one stat she is sick of.
Since the Scottish midfielder joined City in 2018, the club have finished second in every Women’s Super League season. ‘Coming second every year is a really annoying stat that I’ve got over me at the moment,’ Weir tells Sportsmail. ‘It’s definitely something I want to change.’ City have, in fact, come second for the past four campaigns, five if you include the mini Spring Series which took place in 2017. They were top in the 2019-20 campaign before the pandemic halted the season but finished second on points per game. ‘We know we’re close, it is just about sticking to the process,’ Weir says. ‘Every season we bring in new players and it’s about how quickly they can get up to how we want to play. ‘We were really consistent for the last six months of last season but we dropped points in the early parts of the season. ‘It’s not necessarily the big games that will win you the league, it’s the other games that can catch you out. We’re wary of that. We have to start well and can’t afford to drop points in those types of games. ‘I’m surrounded by players that want to win and the expectation is that we’ll compete for things. That’s what it’s like at Man City. ‘Missing out on the league by two points last season, we don’t want that to happen again.’ Weir was one of nine City players selected to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics. Their tournament ended in disappointment with a 4-3 extra-time defeat by Australia in the quarter-finals, with Weir missing a penalty at 2-2. ‘Getting knocked out in the manner we did and missing a penalty in a big game, that was one of my toughest moments in football,’ Weir admits. ‘But I’m kind of over it now and it has motivated me to not be in that situation again because it’s not that fun. If I look back on Tokyo, it’s definitely a career highlight. Being part of Team GB was a huge honour. ‘Obviously that last game was hugely disappointing. We had a good enough squad to compete for a medal.’ Weir came through the youth ranks at Hibernian before making the move to England at the age of 18 when she joined Arsenal. ‘There weren’t many female role models when I was growing up, especially in Scotland,’ says Weir. ‘Weekends were spent at our local playing fields. I played for a boys’ team for five or six years, then afternoons we’d go down to East End Park to watch Dunfermline. My childhood revolved around football.’ While at Hibs, Weir played under Willie Kirk, who she will come up against tomorrow when his Everton side host City. Weir said: ‘I know Willie really well, he brought me through the Hibs team and saw me develop through my teens. ‘Then I went to Arsenal and he got the Bristol job and I left Arsenal to join Bristol. I’ve got a lot of time for him. He’s a good manager and he’ll make Everton really organised and they’ll give us a tough game.’ It was the opening day of the 2019-2020 season when Weir scored the goal against Manchester United which saw her nominated for the Puskas Award. She scored another stunner against United last season, so when can we expect the next? ‘You’re guess is as good as mine!’ Weir laughs. ‘It’s always nice scoring against United. I’ll take any goal but hopefully I can keep impacting matches.’