How Foxes found faith during season of two halves SURVIVORS
THE R-word haunted Leicester City’s endeavours this season, as both the men’s and women’s sides found themselves battling it out at the wrong end of their respective league tables.
A turbulent 2022-23 campaign saw the men’s nine-year stint in the Premier League come to a heartbreaking end on Sunday. However, just 24 hours earlier, there were jubilant scenes as the women’s team clinched WSL safety with a 1-0 win over Brighton in their season finale.
When Willie Kirk took charge in November, moving over from his role of director of football, the Foxes had not picked up a single point in their first six league games. A 2-1 defeat by fellow strugglers Reading had made them favourites for the drop.
With City’s position in the WSL under serious threat, it was going to take a monumental effort to turn things around. It was a challenge
Kirk grasped with both hands, despite a testing start which saw defeats to Arsenal and West Ham and an 8-0 thumping at home to Chelsea.
The Christmas break proved to be a turning point for the Foxes. The time away from competitive matches allowed work to continue on the training pitch and Kirk has since praised his players for how they bought into his plan.
“I think the players’ open-mindedness to change has probably been the biggest thing for me,” he said on Saturday after the win at Brighton. “We changed so many things.
“We changed the training week, we changed the type of training we did, we changed the formation, we changed the way we approach the day. They took every single one of those changes as a breath of fresh air and adapted to every single one.”
The second half of the campaign was to be a fresh start.
Kirk revealed in January that they had zeroed out the league table and had mentally started from scratch. A points target was set that, if achieved, would give the side the best possible chance of staying up.
Confidence was building and a stronger mentality was being nurtured. Before the WSL season resumed, they played two friendlies, both of which they won. This was followed by a 5-0 victory away to Sunderland in the Conti Cup, compounding a determined start to 2023.
The City boss was also backed in the transfer market in January. There was a huge shift in personnel, with a number of players leaving permanently or on loan.
This opened up space for new arrivals, including Australia internationals Courtney Nevin and Remy Siemsen. Ruby Mace joined on loan from Manchester City and the youngster’s influence in the second half of the season proved pivotal.
Arguably the biggest statement of all was the loan signing of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Janina Leitzig.
It’s hard to think of a player having a greater impact on a team than the German shot-stopper had on City.
The writing was on the wall in the Foxes’ first WSL game of the calendar year. The 3-0 win at home to Brighton earned them their first points of the entire campaign.
Leitzig had played just 90 minutes of football in a Leicester kit - yet she already looked the business. The Brighton performance was followed up by outstanding displays against Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton and she went on to make more saves than any other goalkeeper in the division, despite only playing half the WSL season.
The squad looked stronger, the mentality appeared stronger and performances were getting stronger. By March, City were still at the foot of the table, but the narrative of inevitable relegation had started to change.
There were challenges along the way, including a last-gasp defeat away at Tottenham and conceding five against both Manchester United and Aston Villa. There was also a 6-0 loss away against eventual champions Chelsea.
City’s meeting with Reading at the King Power Stadium in early April was a six-pointer. If any game was an absolute must-win - it was that.
Sam Tierney gave the Foxes an early lead, but, as in the previous meeting between the teams in October, Kelly Chambers’s side was up for a fight.
Charlie Wellings put Reading back on level terms on the brink of halftime and, as the second half wore on, it seemed they were heading for a draw. But Carrie Jones, on loan at City from Manchester United, ensured that wasn’t the case.
Six minutes into stoppage time, the 19-year-old fired home one of the most important goals of the season to lift City off the bottom of the table for the first time.
When reflecting on moments that defined the season, this is very close to the top of that list.
Also worthy of a place would be the 4-0 win at home to Liverpool a month before the season came to a close. It was a dominant display at the King Power and the moment fans truly started to believe their side would stay up.
As they entered the run-in, City’s fate was firmly in their hands. It was probably all Kirk would have asked for when he took charge a little over six months prior.
Reading needed a miracle against Chelsea on the final day, but that would not have mattered anyway as 17-year-old Ava Baker secured City a 1-0 victory at Brighton to remove any shred of doubt.
A seven-point deficit had been overturned, something never
NEW BOSS EMBRACED THE TASK OF TURNING RELEGATION FAVOURITES INTO WSL
Boss Willie Kirk and his staff can operate with a lot more certainty now their top-flight status has been secured
achieved in the WSL before.
City’s ability to achieve such a feat was aided by everyone at the club buying into the vision, a handful of key signings in January and a stern desire to prove everyone wrong. The sheer belief and resilience needed to maintain faith, despite everyone around them writing them off, cannot be underestimated.
Celebrations will no doubt be short-lived. Preparations for the new season have already begun and Kirk and his staff can operate with a lot more certainty now their topflight status has been secured.
The task is to ensure they don’t start the next campaign as poorly as they did the last. There’s a sense solid foundations have been laid this year and it will be interesting to see how they are built on over the summer. “We’ve had some really positive conversations with players, both current and players we’d like to bring in,” Kirk said on Saturday.
“We’ll be able to have those conversations with more certainty now and it will be a big summer in terms of recruitment.
“The key (to next season) will be remembering these moments and the rollercoaster we’ve been through and the work we’ve had to do just to be safe.
“If we can get off to a better start next season, the work we’ve had to do at this stage will see us move up significantly.”