Questions for Gareth Taylor at Manchester City, serious progress for Spurs, and a wasted opportunity of a weekendGareth Taylor said he believed his Manchester City team could still be playing Champions League football next season despite two wins from seven league games. “We know we’re up against some strong opposition especially when we’re probably – well, no probably about it – not strongest in terms of our squad depth,” he said. “But nothing changes. The attitude is still to be in Europe. We still believe that we can get there. We know that today if we had won the game, we would have been a lot closer. But I still think there’s plenty to come.“ City’s bruising 4-0 defeat by...
Manchester City have struggled with injuries while Everton have faltered, leaving unbeaten Arsenal looking the most likely threat to champions ChelseaAs the Women’s Super League season pauses for the international break, unbeaten Arsenal top the table after five games and are on a mission to reclaim the title from the back-to-back winners, Chelsea. Meanwhile, there has been the first managerial casualty, with Everton’s Willie Kirk out after a slow start to a campaign when his team was expected to be serious challengers.The Gunners’ strong summer spend on and off the pitch, with Gary Lewin’s arrival as head of medicine and sports science among the backroom recruits that have perhaps been as important as players such as Mana Iwabuchi and Tobin...
Are Manchester United being left behind? Eidevall’s plans pay off for Arsenal while Brighton’s brief tenure at the top is overManchester United’s 6-1 home defeat by Chelsea was a stark reminder that there is no scope to coast for clubs in the Women’s Super League. United landed on the scene with big promises and big ambitions in 2018, they launched with a statement and no-nonsense manager in Casey Stoney and last year recruited the services of the US forwards Christen Press and Tobin Heath to aid the team’s bid to break the stranglehold of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. Stoney is gone, frustrated by United talking the talk more than they walked the walk when it came to facilities and...
Chelsea have a full-back problem, Toone lifts Manchester United after exodus and Leicester learn a harsh WSL lessonWhen Arsenal’s forward Vivianne Miedema wrong-footed the 23-year-old defender Jess Carter and slotted in Arsenal’s first goal against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon the problem that haunted the reigning champions at the end of last season was evident at the start of the new one. Injury to the superb Maren Mjelde in March left Chelsea light at the back, not in numbers but in experience. Carter and Niamh Charles shared right-back duties during the run-in and did well but Mjelde’s absence ruptured things. Where Jonna Andersson’s weaknesses had been papered over by the strengths of Mjelde, Millie Bright and Magda Eriksson alongside her, now...
The Matildas pushed Sweden to their limits in the semi-final and expectation is rising after their extended run in TokyoTony Gustavsson bristles as he hunches over the post-match microphone. It was the same microphone behind which, 24 hours earlier, the Matildas head coach sat beaming while previewing Australia’s historic semi-final against Sweden. But now, after his side’s 1-0 defeat by the Rio silver medallists, it is a wonder the metal does not melt in the white-hot reactor of his voice.An Australian journalist asks the delicate question: did you tell the players they should be proud of what they have achieved here in Tokyo? Gustavsson stares, unblinking, as though offended by the journalist’s use of past tense. “I didn’t say they...