Seventh Heaven? Man City Women 7 West Ham Women 1

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 13: Steph Houghton of Manchester City lifts the trophy after the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final between Birmingham City Ladies and Manchester City Women at Wembley Stadium on May 13, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Whats been going on with Man City Women?

Apologies to many of you fans of Man City Women but what I am going to write in this piece is an account of the frustration and disappointment I have felt watching the women’s team this last couple of seasons. I am deliberately writing this after the 7;1 victory. You may wonder why I feel like this when we have just put another side to the sword, so let me tell you.

Watching Man City Women these last couple of seasons has felt on occasions like watching a Club going through the motions. I don’t deny the Manager, Nick Cushing, and his young squad want to win every game but much of the passion and vigour which accompanied their burst onto the scene and which filled the trophy room seems a long time ago.

The players we had – Carly Lloyd, Toni Duggan, Izzy Christiansen, Lucy Bronze were amongst the very best the women’s game had to offer. But as these superstars left we entered what felt like a period of stagnation. They were not replaced with players of similar quality.

The strategy has been about developing new talent and whilst that is to be applauded, it has felt as though the game has improved around us and we are left playing catch up. There has been sustained improvement in the Women’s game brought about by a combination of exposure and investment.

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The young players added to our squad may well be capable of becoming world class in years to come but right now too much of what we are being asked to watch seems like a work in progress. The frustrating thing as a fan is it feels like the league is there for the taking, but we are just a bit of quality short.

The other thing which has grated at times has been Nick Cushing and some of his decision making.I recognise this may just be me. I have queried some of the people management by Cushing which has looked poor with some players isolated and out of favour. At times he seems to struggle with the bigger characters in the dressing room and it’s becoming a concern that many of our ‘bigger’ players have left.

Tactically we seem to have settled into a system of play which at times seems obvious. The fact we are significantly better than some of the teams in the division has covered our tactical naivety at times. My criticism is when we are chasing games or seeking to exert control or game management, Cushing seems to be slow at making critical changes. I can’t tell if he is being stubborn or if he genuinely does both know what to do for the best. I can’t believe his slow reaction time is because our players are poor.

Introducing youth players as part of a coherent strategy may pay dividends for England but what does it actually achieve for us? Well, the answer seems to be not much, or at least not much very quickly. 3rd place is fundamentally not good enough for a Club which should be aiming higher. It may be unfair to level criticisms about Club transfer strategy at the door of Cushing because I recognise he may have limited responsibility for that.

The stagnation in the team has been depressing and comes in stark contrast to the work by Guardiola with the Men’s team. The Women’s team seems like it has reached a glass ceiling beyond which we cannot reach. As a fan I have begun to feel like a change may be needed to freshen things up.

It’s not that we are terrible. But we are in a rut at times. Of course we are capable of turning in a performance and that is what we did today in destroying Wets Ham Women. But whilst I want to revel in the joy of a large victory, it doesn’t quite obscure some of the performances we have seen over the last couple of seasons.