Jeglertz wants to “Finish on a High” as City head to West Ham for a Victorious Season Finale
Champions Manchester City will lift their first Barclays Women Super League trophy in 10 years on Saturday, as they travel to East London to face West Ham United on the last day of their victorious season.
Dane Andrée Jeglertz has had an incredibly successful first season at the club, from a team finishing 4th in league last season to winning it emphatically with three match days to spare. With an FA Cup Final on the horizon and the chance to surpass Manchester City’s all-time WSL points tally with a win against West Ham United on Saturday, this is a redefined squad proving they can compete at the very top, with ambitions for the main stage, setting their sights on more.
Team News
Manchester City go into the final game of the season with a small injury list, the ACL injury to academy player Mayzee Davies and the long term injury to Naomi Layzell still ruling them out.
Vivianne Miedema hasn't been available since the April international break due to a family commitment. She was spotted back in training earlier today ahead of the final game of the season. Jeglertz provided an update on her availability for this weekend’s clash:
“Viv [Miedema] has been away for a while so let's see how she reacts in these first days before we make any kind of decision on when she should be able to get back. Really happy that she is back and a part of the group”.
Rebecca Knaak, the German defender who scored the last-ditch header against Liverpool that sealed City’s WSL title, and January signing Sam Coffey missed out on their FA Cup victory against Chelsea last week and Jeglertz confirmed that “they are still not able to participate this weekend.”
The Fight to Get to Wembley
Last weekend saw Manchester City come back from two nil down to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge reaching the FA Cup final for the first time since 2022. The first time that the Citizens have won in SW6, and faced the Blues in the competition since the 2022 final - where Chelsea won 3-2 in extra time - City reversed their favours setting their sights on more silverware. Down 2-0 until the 86th minute: a long range screamer from Mary Fowler, who came back from an ACL injury earlier this season, followed by a chaotic goal by Bunny Shaw turning her shot into the bottom corner sent the game to extra time. A Shaw header made it 3-2 to book their trip to Wembley:
“It was an amazing game in many ways, of course there were a lot of emotions before but at the same time I didn't expect the players shouldn't be making the effort for that game. We played Chelsea, they were really good and it was a tight game, but it also showed something about the group that we were able to, even though we were two goals down, that there was still a belief and I think we created a couple of chances during the game as well. It really was a tight game, a transitional game back and forth for both teams. Suddenly we scored which of course gave even more of a boost to the rest of the game, so yes amazing.”
The Opportunity to End the Season on a High against West Ham United
A mixed recent set of results in the league for Man City, defined by a draw with Aston Villa and a 3-2 loss to Brighton away, drew out the title race slightly longer than was necessary, being 11 points clear in mid April to having to wait for Arsenal to slip up against Brighton in the midweek to secure their victory.
The Hammers are no strangers to a top of the table upset, for example having secured a draw against Manchester United earlier this season in East London. For the reverse fixture between City and West Ham back in November, only one goal separated the sides. The Hammers will also want to end their season on a high, pushing further up the table and bidding a fond farewell to Captain, Katrina Gorry on home turf.
With nothing more to play for, Jeglertz stressed that standards won’t slip, as they look to wrap up the season with a club record points tally and use the 90 minutes to prepare for the FA Cup Final:
“I think all games that we play will always be important and we want to win those games. It’s also coming up to a cup final in a couple of weeks so we need to use this game as preparation but also make sure we finish off on a high, so there is no doubt that we want to win in the last game.”
Looking at What’s Next
With automatic Champions League qualification secured for next season, they will be able to capitalise on this season's success and go for more. Jeglertz’ 30 player squad, comprised of 22 senior internationals and six youth international players: including four UEFA Women’s EURO winners, three Asian Cup Winners, and one Copa América Femenina winner. However, the WSL’s all-time top goalscorer, Miedema and the front runner for this year’s Golden Boot, Bunny Shaw - with 19 goals in 21 games - are also ever present in the squad. There is a near perfect blend of youth and experience has worked well for the club this season, one that surely could compete with Europe's best.
Jeglertz is no stranger to the continental stage having won the European Women’s Cup with Umeå IK in 2004. Manchester City reached the quarter final stage of last season’s tournament, with a run of results that included a 2-0 win to 3 time UEFA Women’s Champions League winners Barcelona Femeni, Shaw and Layzell on the score sheet, but narrowly missed out on a space in the semis after a 3-2 aggregate loss to domestic rivals Chelsea.
A comeback at Stamford Bridge after a 2-0 home win saw the side out of both domestic and European glory in a tough season of manager uncertainty after the departure of Gareth Taylor and the interim appointment of Nick Cushing. This year's resurgence shows the team's fighting spirit and with the unveiling of a new state of the art £10 million women’s training facility this week, proving that positive club investment in infrastructure, team building and fan engagement really does have the possibility of creating a winning product.
Indeed, successful recruitment has been one of the reasons for this season's solid domestic run. The signings of young Swiss International Iman Benay pre her successful home Euro’s campaign last summer, the January signing of Kerolin, scoring a hattrick against Chelsea in the league, City beating the likes of Arsenal for her signature, and the defensive reinforcement Jade Rose have bedded solidly into the team in their first few months at the club.
However, the transfer window rumours are already beginning to define the end of the season ahead of what is set to be a very transformative summer for the WSL. As first reported by Tom Garry, Bunny Shaw may be set to accept a lucrative offer from Chelsea Women, the Football Writers Player of the Season and top scorer this season has not had Chelsea’s offer matched by City yet and all arrows point to a departure.
Fullback Leila Ouhabi is also rumoured to leave and with Laura Coombs set to retire after an impressive 15 year career there will be some reshuffling for this team to deal with. The Citizens are reportedly close to signing England international and WSL top assister Beth Mead and Katie McCabe who have both announced their departures from Arsenal this week, these moves could undoubtedly reshape the squad as Manchester City will hope to continue an aggressive recruitment drive and look to finish the season strongly, with a possible domestic brace for the trophy cabinet.
City face West Ham United on Saturday 16th of May at the Chigwell Construction Stadium (13:00 KO BST), the Women’s Super League trophy adorned with sky blue ribbons awaiting them at the final whistle whatever the result against the Hammers.
They then have two weeks to prepare to lift more silverware under the converted Wembley arch, taking on Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup final on Sunday 31st of May (15:00 KO BST).