Women's Team Thread 2023/2024

[levets]

The pair of them are very overrated.
As much as they try, Toone is just a good player, nothing more.
A huge Rag as well, so "one of their own" who seems to blow the Rag trumpet very loudly.
Doubt if she would get so much publicity if she played for Everton or Spurs ?
Mary Earps is also overrated, in my opinion. A modern footballer, who will leave MUFC (like Russo) if a bigger team come calling...

‘One of their own’? Who was a City player before…

 

[mattcity5]

I agree he has progressed and turned things around this season, but I don't think it warrants a three years extension. Hopefully not, but the yearight end up in disappointment again, and we come back to this in May and think what was the reasoning behind it. As I said, I really really hope he proves me wrong, but I'm still not fully on board with him being here three more seasons

That's fair, I'm not convinced either really, but it seems the club are. A year or two ago everyone felt that was because the club didn't care about the women's team any more, but the recent investment suggests that isn't the case.

I don't think winning the league and/or a cup this year should be all that defines whether it's a good season or not. Hopefully we win, if not, finishing top 2 behind Chelsea wouldn't be horrendous, and would hopefully be a stepping stone to something even better.

 

[Blackley_Blue]

Hmmm....

You couldn't argue against him being given another year, but 3 years, wow!

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if this helps make one or two's minds up about their summer plans.

 

[cleavers]

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if this helps make one or two's minds up about their summer plans.

Yeah but which way ?

The ones that seemingly didn't like him have left, another who can't get a look in now, and had become error prone, will leave, for me we have more of a team now under him, and one of my favourites still seems to support him even though she rarely plays now.

If Kelly wanted out, I'd let her go, her form has gone downhill.

We have some great young players to build a team around, but we have to do everything we can to keep Hasegawa, Hemp and Shaw together though, and Jess Park will soon become a regular for me.

I'd like us to get more from Fowler, who looks a great player, find a way for her to play with Shaw.

 

[born2bblu]

We've disappointed under him before and extended his contract, so his bosses clearly have a belief in him. We're clearly better now than we were previously, so progress has been made. I know he hasn't had a lot of fans, I'm fairly flexible in my opinion of him but think he deserves some credit. You clearly aren't and don't, so I'd like to understand what you mean by a few points?

1. What are the "glaring mistakes in his tactics"?

2. Who are the "specific names" he is picking who are performing poorly?

3. What is naive about his tactics against weak teams and what should he be doing differently?

Progress is great. It's not always easy to win things. Last year fell apart because of a couple of poor games and a couple of games where big decisions went against us. We got shafted by the ref this year against Chelsea, if it wasn't for that we'd be clear at the top.

I do see your points, and I agree that we are clearly better now than we were previously.

My point is: we shouldn’t extend his contract for 3 years during the season, particularly he has nothing significant to show yet. My guess, this mid-season 3 years extension won’t happen if a coach with similar performances, who has been in his job for more than 3 years already, was the one in charge of the men’s team. I hope I am wrong, but we have double standards when it comes to men vs. women teams. To me, the strategy should be similar.

To answer your questions (my answers are examples):

1. Insisting on playing from the back even when we are down, and even when we don’t have the players capable of doing that. Also, having some players play out of their natural positions. I am not sure if you saw the UEFA Women Nations League. If not, please have a look at how Aleixandri plays for Spain and how she plays for Taylor. I would argue that the same is applicable to Hasegawa. These 2 players are outstanding and could have done much better with a more competent coach.
2. Laura Coombs and Chloe Kelly.
3. My answer to the first question.

Obviously I am not a fan of Taylor. Considering the quality of our players and our achievements, I believe he is not good enough. It is a shame, if it is true, that he is in this job because of some sort of connections at the Club. Extending his contract for 3 years during the season simply because we slightly improved is in line with this notion. Perhaps, him winning the February WSL coach of the month has something to do with 3 years contract extension ;)

Also, I have doubts about his impact on improving the team chemistry this season, which some posters have already highlighted. I won’t be surprised that it was because of Nielsen and perhaps Shaun Goater as well. Regardless, we should wait until the end of season to see which players would leave. If exodus happens again, then there is an indication that something is wrong.

At the end, he may prove me wrong and win the league. But personally I will not take winning a cup as an evidence that he is a good coach who deserves 3 years extension. Our ambitions for women’s football should be no less than our ambitions for men’s football.

 

[Mon Autre]

Yeah but which way ?

The ones that seemingly didn't like him have left, another who can't get a look in now, and had become error prone, will leave, for me we have more of a team now under him, and one of my favourites still seems to support him even though she rarely plays now.

If Kelly wanted out, I'd let her go, her form has gone downhill.

We have some great young players to build a team around, but we have to do everything we can to keep Hasegawa, Hemp and Shaw together though, and Jess Park will soon become a regular for me.

I'd like us to get more from Fowler, who looks a great player, find a way for her to play with Shaw.

Speaking to people who work in and around the game, the consensus seems to be that he still does the players heads in a bit. The team spirit amongst the players is good but Taylor himself isn't the best communicator or people manager. I guess they don't all necessarily have to like him if they're happy as a unit and getting good results.

To be fair to him, I think he's definitely got us playing better than we were and I think he has done a great job at bringing Keating through. Also think it's interesting the way he's been using Jess Park of late. There's still plenty of time left for the season to implode though so 3.5 years seems generous, but we're on an amazing run currently. The club seem to be saying they've done this so they can get planning for next year and keep building on this year's progress. If that's the wider strategy at play and we make a couple of strong signings over summer I'll be happy

 

[mattcity5]

I do see your points, and I agree that we are clearly better now than we were previously.

My point is: we shouldn’t extend his contract for 3 years during the season, particularly he has nothing significant to show yet. My guess, this mid-season 3 years extension won’t happen if a coach with similar performances, who has been in his job for more than 3 years already, was the one in charge of the men’s team. I hope I am wrong, but we have double standards when it comes to men vs. women teams. To me, the strategy should be similar.

To answer your questions (my answers are examples):

1. Insisting on playing from the back even when we are down, and even when we don’t have the players capable of doing that. Also, having some players play out of their natural positions. I am not sure if you saw the UEFA Women Nations League. If not, please have a look at how Aleixandri plays for Spain and how she plays for Taylor. I would argue that the same is applicable to Hasegawa. These 2 players are outstanding and could have done much better with a more competent coach.
2. Laura Coombs and Chloe Kelly.
3. My answer to the first question.

Obviously I am not a fan of Taylor. Considering the quality of our players and our achievements, I believe he is not good enough. It is a shame, if it is true, that he is in this job because of some sort of connections at the Club. Extending his contract for 3 years during the season simply because we slightly improved is in line with this notion. Perhaps, him winning the February WSL coach of the month has something to do with 3 years contract extension ;)

Also, I have doubts about his impact on improving the team chemistry this season, which some posters have already highlighted. I won’t be surprised that it was because of Nielsen and perhaps Shaun Goater as well. Regardless, we should wait until the end of season to see which players would leave. If exodus happens again, then there is an indication that something is wrong.

At the end, he may prove me wrong and win the league. But personally I will not take winning a cup as an evidence that he is a good coach who deserves 3 years extension. Our ambitions for women’s football should be no less than our ambitions for men’s football.

All good and fair points mate, I don't particularly disagree with any of them, good to hear that viewpoint.

Tactically, I'm not sure. I know the men's team is different, but Pep wouldn't go long ball if we were losing. The big thing would be to believe in the way of playing and trust that it would come good. If it were the men and Pep we'd go along with that. Granted Taylor doesn't have the background of success to give us confidence to trust him, but there we go.

I wouldn't necessarily say Aleixandri or Hasegawa play in their best positions for City, but I'd say both have been outstanding this season. If we had other options where they're playing maybe they'd be moved, but alternatively maybe Spain will start to see Aleixandri differently and Japan will start playing Hasegawa deeper!

Coombs isn't quite good enough perhaps for where we would like to be, but we're maybe a player short in that area, especially now Roord is out. I think she's pretty much a consistent 6 or 7 out of ten, but it's maybe her or Angeldahl, who sometimes turns in a 4 or 5. I do find Kelly a frustrating player, but she is capable of moments of brilliance.

Overall though, I'd say if the club is being serious about Women's football (which we seem to be again), then we'll look to buy a couple more top players in the summer and then the manager job gets easier still. I really have no idea how good Taylor is, but the results are going well. He's possibly pretty good. Even if that's down to the structure and support he gets, then hopefully it continues...

 

[chesterbells]

Speaking to people who work in and around the game, the consensus seems to be that he still does the players heads in a bit. The team spirit amongst the players is good but Taylor himself isn't the best communicator or people manager. I guess they don't all necessarily have to like him if they're happy as a unit and getting good results.

To be fair to him, I think he's definitely got us playing better than we were and I think he has done a great job at bringing Keating through. Also think it's interesting the way he's been using Jess Park of late. There's still plenty of time left for the season to implode though so 3.5 years seems generous, but we're on an amazing run currently. The club seem to be saying they've done this so they can get planning for next year and keep building on this year's progress. If that's the wider strategy at play and we make a couple of strong signings over summer I'll be happy

Yes, I mean if they’d offered him 2 years instead for example, I’m sure he wouldn’t have turned it down …

 

[mattcity5]

Speaking to people who work in and around the game, the consensus seems to be that he still does the players heads in a bit. The team spirit amongst the players is good but Taylor himself isn't the best communicator or people manager. I guess they don't all necessarily have to like him if they're happy as a unit and getting good results.

To be fair to him, I think he's definitely got us playing better than we were and I think he has done a great job at bringing Keating through. Also think it's interesting the way he's been using Jess Park of late. There's still plenty of time left for the season to implode though so 3.5 years seems generous, but we're on an amazing run currently. The club seem to be saying they've done this so they can get planning for next year and keep building on this year's progress. If that's the wider strategy at play and we make a couple of strong signings over summer I'll be happy

I've always said I find it really difficult to judge how good he is from the outside. We don't have any previous management history to give us any idea, so it ends up being win a few and he's good, lose a few and he's shit.

Any manager needs time though and I know that some of the players who left last season didn't like him, so maybe it's good that they did leave! A happier camp now, other staff changes and positive news about the site developments - maybe this has helped everyone focus?

 

[Blackley_Blue]

Speaking to people who work in and around the game, the consensus seems to be that he still does the players heads in a bit. The team spirit amongst the players is good but Taylor himself isn't the best communicator or people manager. I guess they don't all necessarily have to like him if they're happy as a unit and getting good results.

To be fair to him, I think he's definitely got us playing better than we were and I think he has done a great job at bringing Keating through. Also think it's interesting the way he's been using Jess Park of late. There's still plenty of time left for the season to implode though so 3.5 years seems generous, but we're on an amazing run currently. The club seem to be saying they've done this so they can get planning for next year and keep building on this year's progress. If that's the wider strategy at play and we make a couple of strong signings over summer I'll be happy

The bit in bold is 100% true...

You've pretty much summed up my thoughts in the rest of your post much better than I could!

 

[cleavers]

Thought his interview was great, and from what he said it backed up my thoughts that we're now building a team of players, not individuals, which is where I thought we'd gone 2 years ago.

I hope that Steph gets to be part of the backroom at some point, and Demi Stokes too, they are big parts of the development of the club, and seem to love it.

 

[Mon Autre]

I've always said I find it really difficult to judge how good he is from the outside. We don't have any previous management history to give us any idea, so it ends up being win a few and he's good, lose a few and he's shit.

Any manager needs time though and I know that some of the players who left last season didn't like him, so maybe it's good that they did leave! A happier camp now, other staff changes and positive news about the site developments - maybe this has helped everyone focus?

It might well have been the case that last time we had an exodus, there was a bit of a perception that club was going backwards and the guy in charge was also a bit of a wet blanket.

I think the operation feels a bit more professional now and the club feels to be moving in the right direction. So even if some of Taylor's character flaws remain, players are more inclined to grin and bear it.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Anybody on here thinking of going to the League Cup tie tomorrow? At £12 or so I would definitely fancy going, given the opposition and the rivalry in the league, if I lived in Manchester. Unfortunately… :-(
Actually, just had a look at tickets, purely out of curiosity. For me, it would be £9. Which is ridiculous, given the rising quality of the women's game. Hope there'll be a good turn-out. The girls deserve it.

 

[Mon Autre]

Anybody on here thinking of going to the League Cup tie tomorrow? At £12 or so I would definitely fancy going, given the opposition and the rivalry in the league, if I lived in Manchester. Unfortunately… :-(
Actually, just had a look at tickets, purely out of curiosity. For me, it would be £9. Which is ridiculous, given the rising quality of the women's game. Hope there'll be a good turn-out. The girls deserve it.

Devo'd i can't make it as im not in manchester but would be 100% there if so. Would encourage anyone who's been following the women's team to get down to more games if they can! Would be great to see the progress we're making on the pitch reflected in our attendances!

 

[smevchenko]

I got tickets in November for the upcoming derby on Sat 23rd March that is being held at The Etihad, taking my daughters for their first game.

Is it just me, or could the club be doing a lot better trying to sell tickets for this?

I don't recall seeing any adverts or coverage to get this game close to a sell out. From what I can tell, they have only just opened up 3 blocks in the 3rd tier of the East Stand.

Arsenal have managed to sell out multiple games at The Emirates, and City don't seem to be making a big deal of it which is strange considering they have moved it to The Etihad.

Would obviously be nice to see the game with a full stadium, but looks like majority of the 3rd tier will be empty.

 

[mexico1970]

Is it just me, or could the club be doing a lot better trying to sell tickets for this?

It seems like it's mentioned all the time, when I go to a mens match it's mentioned and when I get messages from the club it's mentioned.

The club will end up giving most of the tickets away anyway, it's just like a one off event.

 

[mattcity5]

I got tickets in November for the upcoming derby on Sat 23rd March that is being held at The Etihad, taking my daughters for their first game.

Is it just me, or could the club be doing a lot better trying to sell tickets for this?

I don't recall seeing any adverts or coverage to get this game close to a sell out. From what I can tell, they have only just opened up 3 blocks in the 3rd tier of the East Stand.

Arsenal have managed to sell out multiple games at The Emirates, and City don't seem to be making a big deal of it which is strange considering they have moved it to The Etihad.

Would obviously be nice to see the game with a full stadium, but looks like majority of the 3rd tier will be empty.

 

[Gaz76]

I got tickets in November for the upcoming derby on Sat 23rd March that is being held at The Etihad, taking my daughters for their first game.

Is it just me, or could the club be doing a lot better trying to sell tickets for this?

I don't recall seeing any adverts or coverage to get this game close to a sell out. From what I can tell, they have only just opened up 3 blocks in the 3rd tier of the East Stand.

Arsenal have managed to sell out multiple games at The Emirates, and City don't seem to be making a big deal of it which is strange considering they have moved it to The Etihad.

Would obviously be nice to see the game with a full stadium, but looks like majority of the 3rd tier will be empty.

There are a few ads knocking about online for it and I would have thought they will up the game now its 2 weeks away.
I took my two girls last night and they loved it, hopefully yours will enjoy.
I did notice last night though, that online it pretty much had the stadium sold out, yet in the ground there were loads of the dreaded "empty seats" surely not the sheikh buying all the tickets for a womens game as well!!
Looking at the tickets for the Derby and again it shows lots of blocks unavailable

 

[smevchenko]

There are a few ads knocking about online for it and I would have thought they will up the game now its 2 weeks away.
I took my two girls last night and they loved it, hopefully yours will enjoy.
I did notice last night though, that online it pretty much had the stadium sold out, yet in the ground there were loads of the dreaded "empty seats" surely not the sheikh buying all the tickets for a womens game as well!!
Looking at the tickets for the Derby and again it shows lots of blocks unavailable

It appears i'm missing a lot of the advert others are seeing.....

Anyhow, to me it looks like the unavailable blocks in the 3rd tier are because they haven't been opened up yet. No chance all of those blocks are sold out but the 3 middle blocks in the East Stand have ~400 tickets available.

Suppose with 2 weeks to go still lots of time to flog a few more thousand.

The girls are excited, although I think thats partly due to the fact we will be going on a tram and they think they will be getting a chocolate bar and snacks during the game!

 

[Gaz76]

The girls are excited, although I think thats partly due to the fact we will be going on a tram and they think they will be getting a chocolate bar and snacks during the game!

Haha mine two didn't want to go at all until I told them the itinerary included a trip to asda for "supplies"