Manchester City women's head coach Gareth Taylor previews WSL Villa trip
24/01/2025
CFGA, Manchester, UK
24/01/2025
CFGA, Manchester, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hi, guys. Sorry I'm a bit late.
00:09Good afternoon, everyone. I'm here with head coach Gareth Taylor to take a look ahead to the De Rizal match this weekend against Aston Villa.
00:16We will start with questions in the room. Jack, if you want to go.
00:20Hi, Gareth. I wonder if we could start. How is Chiara after the hefty blow she took last night?
00:26Yes, OK. A little bit shook up. But she was pretty good in terms of straight after the game.
00:33We saw her around the players and the celebration. It was a bit of a nasty kind of blow.
00:38Very brave from her. She will check in with the medical team and see where we go from there.
00:45Any other indication with the rest of the squad? Any fitness issues?
00:50We had a training group today, but it was very much kind of everyone who played last night was on a recovery day.
00:56So, yes, lots of obviously lack of sleep, probably a little bit last night, getting back late.
01:05Even though it's a Manchester derby, it's still a bit of a journey for us over to Leeds.
01:09But the players looked good this morning. We did a review of the game, but we did that together.
01:14Then the players move off and do different parts. So, recovery session, making sure that they try and recover back as best they possibly can,
01:21getting the nutrition right. And like I say, we had a small training group out on the pitch, which involved Bunny Shaw, which is good.
01:29Viv was there, Naomi Laizel as well. So, potentially looking like we could be a little bit stronger,
01:37certainly from the sidelines at the weekend. And, of course, Ayama and Carolyn getting some more training volume under their belt, which is really helpful.
01:47You mentioned Ayama and Carolyn. How have they bedded in in training?
01:53When does it look like you might want to introduce them onto the pitch?
01:57It's been really difficult. I think, obviously, Ayama has done a little bit more in terms of training,
02:02but comes off of a break in Japan. And Carolyn, very similar, probably less training.
02:09So, yes, we just need to make sure we manage those players in the right way, in the appropriate way,
02:13so that they feel ready and strong to go into what we need them to go into.
02:18At the moment, they're probably neither are ready to start. So, we just need to be mindful of that.
02:24So, we're really pushing on the resource of the other players. But I have to say, the players really stood up to it last night.
02:32I think when you had the quick turnaround from Sunday's game and the reaction from the players was spot on.
02:38It was a performance full of energy, full of guts and determination and great spirit as well, I thought.
02:47You mentioned the great spirit. What does that say about the team for the rest of the season,
02:51now bouncing back from the disappointment of last weekend, going back into the league?
02:56Yes, I think this team has always shown that. We fight till the end. We always fight back when we've suffered.
03:03We tend not to let it affect us. Of course, it hurts, but we don't let it affect us too much.
03:10And this was a perfect game for us, obviously, playing your rivals again that you played on Sunday,
03:14and to be able to potentially settle a few scores, I thought, yes, there was a real determination from the players
03:23in that sense that I saw last night, and particularly the way they closed the game out really, really well.
03:28And just finally from me, you came from behind against Villa last time. What are the threats that Villa posed to you?
03:38Well, there's obviously a new manager in place now. It's probably still going to be Sean taking the team,
03:43so it'll be really good to see him first and foremost, but I think we would have probably slightly changed things
03:49to what Robert was doing previously, in terms of what we've seen.
03:53But I think if I take myself back to that game regardless, I thought we were excellent that game.
03:58The amount of control that we had in the game, we limited Villa to very little, conceded,
04:05obviously, one of the few attacks that they had. I thought the team was outstanding that day.
04:11Obviously, Lauren Hemp played a big part in it. Jill Roared, obviously, with her goal.
04:16And again, very similar to the Liverpool game away at Anfield, where sometimes when you don't turn those games around,
04:23you're so, so satisfied with the performance and the levels and the control that we had.
04:28And of course, we want to try and do that again.
04:33I think even with missing some of the key players, it's nice to get Bunny potentially back for some period of the game, let's see.
04:43But yes, I think those are the kind of levels we want to try and get to,
04:47and get back to our earlier-in-the-season standards, I think is going to help us a lot.
04:52Thank you, Gareth.
04:53Thanks, Jack. We'll go to Zoom now, Dan.
04:57Hi, Gareth, hope you're well.
04:59Just going back to Sean, obviously, I'm sure you'll be excited to go up against him at the weekend,
05:05but he seems to have really steadied the ship in that period that he's been in charge at Villa.
05:09So, how impressed have you been? Have you been surprised with the impact that he's made there?
05:15No, I'm not surprised because he cares a lot, Sean. He's a great guy, first and foremost.
05:20He's obviously an old team-mate and, yes, I think he's probably taken a few things with him from us,
05:27which I think is really good, and you can kind of see some similarities.
05:31Obviously, he seems to be playing with one deep midfielder now rather than two,
05:35which is obviously really similar to how we do things.
05:37So, yes, I think it'll be really good to see him.
05:40Of course, we're both really competitive and that's not changed,
05:46and it'll certainly be the same at the weekend where we're both going at it,
05:50trying to win the game for our respective teams.
05:54Will you speak to him leading up to the game or will you play the game and then reflect with him afterwards?
05:59Yes, I think it'll be afterwards, out of respect, because it'll be a cagey conversation, I can assure you.
06:04I think we have spoken on a few occasions since he's taken the role on the interim basis,
06:12but, yes, it'll be radio silence until we actually see each other.
06:18I just want to come back to Kiara Keating because, obviously, last weekend was a difficult moment for her,
06:22but to bounce back the way she did, how proud are you?
06:26I know she's done it before, but you must be really proud of the way that she's stood up
06:31and put in a great performance last night.
06:33Yes, I'm really, really proud because I think the easy thing for me to do
06:38was to probably take her out of that situation,
06:40but there was never a hesitation in my mind that if she continues and gets the opportunity
06:46to showcase what she can do, and we know she can do that.
06:50I think the Sunday night was a little bit harsh, in a sense,
06:54of probably how everyone viewed it and how she was probably feeling.
06:59I probably felt a lot rested on her, but I don't see it that way.
07:04Again, first and foremost, I've always said that I'm responsible for the way the team plays
07:08and I will never criticise a player for trying to play that way.
07:12Of course, we wanted to be cleaner in all of the actions that we had,
07:15but I certainly felt that players in front of her could have helped her a little bit more as well.
07:20I think certainly for the direct goal, the fourth one, we needed to be better there.
07:26What happened last night, we had exactly the same scenario, the kick-off for United,
07:30and we were really diligent on making sure we blocked and protected her as much as we could.
07:35That's progress for me, and I think it was progress for Chiara last night as well.
07:48Hi, Gareth, hope you're well.
07:50Obviously, as a result of last night's game, you've just had a doubleheader with Manchester United,
07:55you've now got one coming out of Arsenal in a couple of weeks.
07:58The fact you've just had one against one of the other top sides in the league,
08:01you've seen how that can go badly.
08:04You were saying the team are very capable of turning it around quickly.
08:07Does that give you motivation going into another one, but you're coming off that sort of result last night?
08:13Yes, I mean, sometimes you only get that once in a season where you play a team back-to-back
08:17in quick succession, and we're going to have the same again.
08:19We've had it before.
08:20I think that, yes, it's good in a sense.
08:24I always felt going into Sunday's game at the Etihad was kind of,
08:28well, someone is going to get an opportunity,
08:30one of these teams is going to get an opportunity to fight back on that Wednesday night,
08:35and as it turned out, it was us, and we really did that well last night.
08:39So, I think, yes, they're interested in those types of games.
08:43The preparation for them takes care of itself in between,
08:47because you've just played them literally 48 hours before.
08:50So, yes, we need to focus on this game at the weekend,
08:53obviously Villa, before we look any further ahead.
08:58Speaking about that game at Villa, obviously the way this season has been set up,
09:02with the top four, it's going to be very competitive the second half of the season.
09:06On the weekend where two of them are playing in Chelsea now,
09:09how important is it for yourselves to keep sure you get your side of the business done,
09:13so you keep pressure on all those teams around you?
09:16Yes, we have to do it.
09:17We have to do it.
09:18We have to really fight in this next WSL game.
09:21We know playing Villa at Villa is tough.
09:24Even on the big surface we have there at Villa Park, I think it's great.
09:29It takes me back to the last game of last season.
09:31But, yes, the scheduling for us has not been very kind.
09:36The only game that's playing on Saturday is us and Villa.
09:39Villa haven't played midweek, we have.
09:41We have injury issues, so that's really testing the squad a little bit.
09:48I like what I saw last night in terms of the determination
09:51and the likes of Laura Blinkel-Brown coming into the team
09:55and doing a really good job and really fighting and competing
09:58against really physical players in Man Utd.
10:01And, of course, Laura Coombs as well.
10:03Lily Murphy doing great.
10:04I think it's got to be a real confidence boost for her
10:08because she's an exciting player to watch
10:11and that would have given her a lot last night, scoring and assisting.
10:14Like I say, Laura Coombs, I thought, really brought composure
10:17and experience into quite a young team.
10:22Obviously, the window is about a week or so left.
10:24You've had a busy week or so in terms of in-and-outs.
10:28Do you see there being much movement in your squad,
10:30whether that's in or out, for the window shots?
10:32Who knows?
10:33Who knows?
10:34I think sometimes a week can feel like a month in the window,
10:38particularly that last week.
10:39So, we'll see.
10:40We'll see.
10:41I think there's still some areas that we'd like to try and help the squad with.
10:46Whether we're able to achieve that or not is going to be really tight
10:49because it's a difficult market in January.
10:51But we're certainly trying.
10:53If it happens, great.
10:54If not, we'll be fine.
10:57That's great.
10:58Thanks a lot for the weekend.
11:00Thanks, Jonty.
11:01Any more questions from Zoom?
11:03Thanks very much, everyone.
11:04Cheers, guys.
11:10Thanks.