Reflection is always important as we continue to look for both personal and team improvement from performance to performance. The focus remains on our collective ambitions to be competitive in every area, both on and off the pitch.
Last season ended positively with the team securing WSL football and it was exciting to compete in the semi-final of the Women’s FA Cup against Manchester United in my first game as head coach (a late 3-2 defeat). Although we were disappointed not to get through to the final, I was incredibly proud of the squad’s performance and reaction.
We then got a win against Everton at Broadfield Stadium in front of the home support, and those three points were crucial in helping us secure our place in the league. We were also happy to achieve our first clean sheet following our 1-0 victory against West Ham. We were tested with a tough run of games against Leicester, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, but our performances were continuing to grow.
This summer was one of our busiest transfer windows in the team’s history. We signed 11 new players from ten different countries. We had players join us with vast experience from several leagues, and their understanding of the game has been of significant benefit to the full squad.
As expected, though, we knew that it was going to take time for the team to fully gel together and deliver the performances and results that we all desire.
Our pre-season camp in Seville gave us the opportunity to do that and we managed to secure two wins in our friendlies against Sporting Huelva and Sevilla.
Before we knew it, we were straight into league action with our opening match on the road against Everton. We were excited to start the season with three vital points away from home, and more especially, with a strong first performance from the players.
A tough block of games followed, and we were tested against challenging opponents from Tottenham, West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal. Although they weren’t the results we wanted, I am incredibly proud of the resilience and determination shown by the squad to deliver a good account of themselves on the pitch, while implementing the game plan we train hard for in between games.
I really felt that was shown in our two games against Manchester United and Manchester City. We were incredibly pleased to pick up four points from six in those two fixtures; it evidenced the potential of this group and that we can test the ‘top four.’
We’ve been incredibly proud of the growth in our performances from match to match and through our tough block of games. Valuable lessons have been learned to help us become more robust. We have shown focus, intensity and resilience – and those are the qualities we want to bring to every one of our games.
Although there have been many challenges to the first half of the season, we’ve also witnessed much to celebrate across our club.
We sold out Broadfield Stadium for the first time in our match against Arsenal and witnessed a record-breaking attendance at the Amex against Tottenham.
We achieved our first WSL win against Manchester City following Geummin Lee’s late winner at the Joie Stadium in November.
At international level, Charlie Rule made her senior debut for Australia, with Li Mengwen also competing in the Asian Cup for China. Julia Zigiotti scored her first senior international goal in competitive fixtures for Sweden, while Guro Bergsvand and Elisabeth Terland achieved their 25th caps for Norway.
Congrats also go to Katie Robinson, as a member of the England squad that reached the World Cup Final. Finally, Maisie Symonds made a return to represent the young Lionesses after recovering from illness and injury last season.
We’ve also had a strong start to our Continental League Cup campaign this season, having won two games from two against Birmingham City and West Ham United. We’re eager to continue this winning run in Group E in January against Charlton.
Finally, I’d like to thank our fans for their invaluable support. We are eternally grateful for the noise you make every week both home and away – your support never goes unnoticed.