Gareth Taylor delighted as ten women City beat Utd 3-1 at Old Trafford
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00:00 Thank you everyone and good afternoon. What a game today. Obviously we'll be looking
00:29 back at today's game now, 3-1 win against United. Oh no, I've got a dodgy chair. I'll
00:38 just sit up, I'll be alright.
00:42 Do you feel like that result was big in terms of getting the title challenge back on track?
00:54 Yeah of course. I think that we've spoken a lot this week about what we wanted to achieve
00:59 and we've not hid away from that at all. I think the players have been really honest.
01:05 I think that we take perspective on where we're at and sometimes it's so difficult when
01:11 you lose two games where we performed really well and created a lot of chances to be first
01:18 one week and then within eight days we were down to six. The contrast is really huge in
01:25 the WSL and it's so difficult. So we knew tonight was important. I think if we hadn't
01:30 have won nothing would have changed in the way we work in terms of the bigger picture
01:33 and that's hard sometimes and you get knocks and you get bumps along the way. But I think
01:38 this group of players, and I've always had knocks in my career so it's something I've
01:43 got used to, that we are resilient and we will stick to what we believe in doing. I
01:50 think the players have been incredible this week. Even there after the game so humble,
01:55 excited obviously, but so humble and happy that we've set out to do what we wanted to
02:01 do this week. I think that was just to give the minimum was to give energy, body language,
02:08 positive body language, loads of positivity, putting United under pressure was really important
02:15 for us early on and I thought we started the game really well.
02:18 Do you feel like you showed your superiority throughout as well? Even when you had to ask
02:24 some players it still felt like you were conspiring against them?
02:27 Yeah it's hard. Unfortunately we've had this situation a few times this season which is
02:32 not one we want to coach all of the time and have to be put into but I think that I have
02:39 to say again the players adapted really well. They get the instruction from me on the sideline,
02:45 we put Steph in there who's obviously got really good experience and a calming influence.
02:50 But I thought all of the players who entered the pitch were fantastic and the players that
02:54 left the pitch were great as well. They gave us a lot today in that energy and desire to
03:00 get the three points. We took obviously a knock with the penalty after really at the
03:08 start we looked like we were really at it here, we could have been one or two ahead.
03:13 We then really fought back well, showed good character and also probably scored the two
03:18 harder chances. I thought we had two easier ones if I'm honest. So again there's still
03:22 things we need to work on because we create so many opportunities with that high pressure
03:26 at the top of the pitch and the quality that some of our players have like Gilles and Chloe
03:30 and Lauren. So to come in at half-time it was obviously just constant reminders that
03:35 we need to stay on the front foot and I felt we did that and were fairly comfortable up
03:40 until the red card where it's probably 15, 20 minutes of overthinking what we need to do.
03:46 How much did you need that after last week?
03:52 I think it's big. I'm always kind of philosophical about performances, results and I just think
04:01 that what will be will be. If we didn't win tonight then I'm not going to go home and
04:07 not come out of my pit for 24 hours. You'd be disappointed obviously because results
04:13 and trophies they just kind of validate what you do. It goes beyond that I think a little
04:19 bit for our coaches. The coaches I've spoken to have been fairly similar. It's the process
04:25 and everybody talks about what's the process and it's never ending. It's about helping
04:30 players, helping individuals. I've been fortunate enough in my coaching career to have been
04:36 able to do that in the academy with the boys and still have really good communication with
04:41 some guys who are playing at the Premier League and that's what it's all about for me as a
04:45 coach. It wouldn't have been shut the doors and put the bridge up and isolate yourself
04:52 but it's obviously a nice feeling because it really gives confidence to the team that
04:56 we can do it this season.
04:58 Did you see an extra level of Derby rivalry?
05:16 Yeah, it feels different. There's no doubt. I've said it this week, it's my first time
05:20 as a coach here. I've been here as a player a few times and everything feels different.
05:25 Nothing feels grander than Leeds Sports Village or our joy stadium compared to the Etihad.
05:31 Of course it's so different and I just think that hopefully the supporters who came here
05:36 today, obviously Man United ones will be a little bit fed up, but hopefully they've seen
05:41 a really good spectacle and players going at it toe to toe, giving 100 per cent, scoring
05:45 some quality goals, excitement and to have it available for young people to be able to
05:52 watch and to be able to attend I think is fantastic.
05:55 How important was it to get that feeling here, particularly after the two losses?
06:10 I won't go over all ground about how it feels and how important it is in the state of play
06:19 but yeah of course fantastic for the girls to be able to come here and celebrate but
06:23 we don't, I'd like to think we are not over celebrating and rubbing it in other people's
06:29 noses because we are a respectful team. We respect when we win, we respect when we lose
06:37 and I think having that is a good balance because it's so high the emotions in football.
06:42 If you win everything's amazing, if you lose it can feel like it's a disaster and that's
06:47 not the case, I think it's just trying to get that balance of we're still working towards
06:51 it whether we win, whether we lose, it's just another step on our journey.
06:54 From the coach's perspective do you have any words on the growth of the women's game?
07:09 My journey is quite interesting because I started three years ago in Covid times which
07:14 was obviously a bit of a false reading but I've just seen big step changes season on
07:19 season. I was fortunate enough to go out to Australia to see the World Cup, I was here
07:23 for England and Austria in the Euros and various games. I just think it's amazing where it's
07:30 going to, I don't think it's finished for sure. It's come really quickly over a small
07:38 space of time and some people are a little bit impatient with that and they have to understand
07:42 that it's like building a house, if you build it on sand it's not going to last. I think
07:47 it needs to be sustainable and make sure that it's realistic in its aims without going it
07:51 needs to be here right now. I get asked a lot about money for the FA Cup compared to
07:56 the men's and it's like well I don't think we should compare to the men's at all. What
08:00 we're doing is developing and trying to help young girls to have the opportunity to do
08:07 what they love and probably for the last ten years that hasn't been the case. It's got
08:13 a long way to go and that's an exciting journey I think.
08:16 I just want to talk to you about Jill Rourke because I think maybe not eyebrows raised
08:23 but it caught the attention, the report of her around the Club Paper and some of the
08:27 big signings and she's come in and just delivered. I mean, that's what you want from a player
08:33 like that, that kind of experience. You've got it to step up on a stage like this and
08:37 get you back in the game, right?
08:38 Yeah, yeah. I mean she's a top player Jill, there's no doubt about that. I think she was
08:43 really keen on joining us because of what we do and what we're trying to do and she
08:47 was excited by the project. So, yeah, to have her I think is a big confidence booster for
08:52 a lot of the other players around her for certain. Yeah, she knows in this team she'll
08:58 get chances. I thought she was good tonight, the goal was really good. I felt like some
09:03 of the bits of movements that she made to allow the ball across her body or decision-making,
09:09 more often than not, was very, very good. That's what big players do, they step up on
09:14 the big occasion.
09:15 Gareth, at full-time in the whistle when you turned behind you and fist-bumped the
09:20 Saul Minion, who were you celebrating towards?
09:24 I don't know. I don't know to be honest. I know a lot of our party from the club are
09:30 there. There's staff members who, like Jamie Cheeseman who's now working with our men's
09:37 first team but has spent a long time with us building what we're trying to build. So
09:42 I knew he was here tonight and there were some family friends of my own here. So, yeah,
09:47 I think it was great. And the supporters were fantastic tonight. I think the first thing
09:50 we wanted to do was be over with our supporters celebrating because we really heard them tonight.
09:55 Chilli was alive, so good you were doing it.
09:59 Yes, me.
10:00 Were you up there, Chilli?
10:01 I was there.
10:02 It was Chilli, yeah.
10:05 Were there times when you associated your team with backs against the wall a little
10:09 bit? You're now to be super at scoring late goals. I don't think any other team scored
10:13 as many late goals as them with 10 players. I think the defenders and Kiara celebrated
10:17 all of each other at the end of the final. Just how impressed are you with the defence
10:21 displaying that final?
10:23 Yes, I've seen that this season. I've seen a steely determination to go, 'Right, OK,
10:27 our backs are against the wall here. We're going to see it out.' I think our goals against
10:32 record from where it was last season to now after seven games has improved so much. That's
10:38 the work we put in on the training ground. But it's also an attitude and an application
10:41 to it. Obviously, Kiara has done great in that space because she manages the game so
10:47 well for someone so young. But of course, I've always said defending starts from the
10:52 front. Most of the time we are able to get the ball back in high-pressure situations
10:58 against United's back four. But when they do get through, we're probably not the city
11:04 of old where we feel we could be up against it. We're still obviously going to suffer
11:10 if you're constantly knocking on the door. United do put good quality into the box. Ellen
11:14 puts good corners in. They play quite direct in that space. Sometimes it's not necessarily
11:19 the first pass that will do, but it will be the knockdown from one of our headers that
11:23 they get around. But yes, the players were great. When that happens, especially when
11:28 they know they've had to really roll their sleeves up to night when Laya is lost, then
11:33 yes, fantastic. I think it was really good.
11:36 Can I just ask how good her out-screen was?
11:41 Yes, of course. I think it's easy just to put it on the two games we lost that she was
11:47 missing for. But yes, her experience and her know-how and her determination and her
11:53 grit, she made really good decisions at the right time, Alex. I think to do that as well
12:02 after a few training sessions as well, because we've been quite limited in what we can do
12:06 with her. Unfortunately, the other day, one of the first training sessions she came back,
12:10 she took a big gash on her leg in a challenge. So she's been in the walls, but absolutely
12:14 her experience and her quality and her determination that she showed tonight was top class.
12:19 How will you celebrate tomorrow?
12:21 You'll be really surprised. I'm a very boring person. I'll go home, my phone, but I'll probably
12:28 take a while to get back on all the text messages of well-wishers. But yes, you'll be surprised,
12:35 I'll probably be nodding off about how passing that was. It takes a lot out of you.
12:40 A bit more buzzing than you sound, I don't mean that you're just... On the picture, we
12:45 saw your celebrations and you don't sound nearly like you're over the moon, but is that
12:49 more a sign that there's more work to do?
12:52 Oh yes, absolutely. And again, probably large parts of what I've spoken about to you guys
12:57 is keeping it... I've always said that, and all the best coaches always use this term
13:04 as well, that success and failure should be kept at equal distance. Don't get too carried
13:09 away with the highs, don't get too low on the lows. It's never as bad as what you think.
13:13 If you believe in what you do on a daily basis, then... But of course, you have to celebrate
13:18 when you win, but we're respectful in what we do. Tomorrow's another day. Tomorrow, my
13:26 head's gone Leicester, Wednesday night, and that's it. It's the next game. It's recognising
13:31 what we've done really well and making sure the players are aware of that. But yes, quickly
13:35 moving on to the next game.
13:38 Thanks, everyone.
13:39 Cheers, guys. Thanks a lot.
13:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]