How Gareth Taylor transformed Manchester City to stand on brink of WSL glory

Gareth Taylor has had his critics as Manchester City manager but he might soon have his crowning moment after Chelsea’s 4-3 loss to Liverpool midweek.

The pressure on the 51-year-old has fluctuated since he took over in 2020, with last season proving extremely difficult for the Citizens.

City finished the season outside the top three, without silverware and also failed to beat city rivals Manchester United. It really couldn’t have got much worse.

Fortunes have changed this season, they find themselves leading the pack and, after Chelsea’s collapse on Merseyside on Wednesday, they are only two wins away from loosening the Blues and Emma Hayes’ four-year hold on the WSL trophy.

The City board recognised Taylor’s talent and felt the need to offer him a new three-year contract at the start of March. He hasn’t lost in the league since then in fact, he was on a ten-game winning run in the WSL before he signed the extension.

They recorded a vital win against Chelsea at Kingsmeadow during that streak and compared to their title rivals, the Citizens haven’t had to worry too much about other competitions.

When City beat Chelsea 1-0 in February, it looked like Hayes would still be getting a fairytale send-off with her side still competing for four trophies. That quickly derailed and the 47-year-old is now likely to be leaving for America empty-handed in her final season.

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Chelsea will still be raring to pounce on any potential slip-up from City in the final two games, which include facing third-placed Arsenal in Manchester, but this Manchester City are a different outfit to what we have come to expect in recent years.

They are a threat from all areas, organised and ruthless, if they sense an opportunity to score goals they will happily take it, they have netted four or more goals in four of their last five games.

But this reinvigorating form can be traced back to the summer of 2022, when three of City’s core had been sold, and there was a real gloom surrounding the club.

Caroline Weir went to Real Madrid, Barcelona spent a record fee to acquire Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway moved to Bayern Munich.

The standard that departed proved to be far greater than the one brought in, as Deyna Castellanos struggled to match her goalscoring form in the Liga F and younger signings Mary Fowler and Laia Aleixandri needed a year to get to grips with their new home in Manchester.

But there is a much more harmonious feel surrounding the club in this campaign as the likes of Aleixandri and Fowler have adapted to a new league and lifestyle and in the summer, Jill Roord was the only new addition.

The Dutchwoman had returned to England in fine form, after two years at Arsenal before moving to Wolfsburg, but rupturing her ACL meant she has been out of action since January.

Despite losing one of their best performers, the league results haven’t dwindled even if they did depart from the League Cup and FA Cup in the semi-final and quarter-final stage respectively.

But this season isn’t the pinnacle, it is only just the start, as they will now be playing Women’s Champions League football next year and the average age of the City squad is 24.9 compared to Chelsea’s 26.25 and Arsenal’s 27.

In their 1-0 victory against Chelsea in February, 23-year Kerstin Casparij, 23-year-old Aleixandri, 23-year-old Lauren Hemp, 22-year-old Jess Park and 19-year-old Khiara Keating all started with 21-year-old Fowler coming off the bench.

Along with new addition and youngsters now staking their worth, the more experienced City stars have also seen an uprise in form this campaign.

Alex Greenwood has improved with Aleixandri partnering her, and they have the sternest defence only conceding 12 goals which is under half of what they conceded last season.

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And at the other end of the pitch, Hemp has been involved in three more goals than she was in the entirety of the 2022/23 campaign, while Chloe Kelly has also been an effective source of attacking output.

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw wasn’t one of those who had a disappointing display last year finishing with a tally of 20 goals in 22 appearances, but she has eclipsed that strike rate scoring a lethal 21 goals in 18 games.

Ahead of the season, there were questions of an over-reliance on the Jamaican, but everyone around her has managed to get closer to the level that she was producing, which resulted in Shaw improving as well, until she picked up an ankle injury against West Ham a week ago, that ruled her out for the season.

All these factors have merged to see Manchester City not just take on Chelsea but nearly dethrone them, something that Manchester United and Arsenal failed to do in the two previous seasons despite valiant efforts.

The end is in sight for City, they have battled adversity and star departures in the past two years and have come through the other side to take control of this WSL season and look set to return the trophy to Manchester after an eight-year wait.