Gareth Taylor looking to extend Man City's unbeaten UWCL start against Hammarby
Manchester City - Hammarby UWCL
12/11/2024
Manchester City - Hammarby UWCL
12/11/2024
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00:00I know you said Naomi was very imminent, any update on her fitness and also Laya?
00:12Yeah, both are kind of, well actually in my last press I mentioned Naomi was getting closer
00:20and there was actually some positive news on hers after further investigation and Laya
00:26very similar so that's really good news because we had a feeling it could have been for longer
00:32but yeah both are really keen, working supremely hard. Obviously this game is coming too soon
00:37for them but they're not far away at all so hopefully we can start to get that little
00:43bit more support for those players in the back line because it's a little bit stretched
00:48at the moment but that's down to obviously the intensity of the games, the quality of
00:54the games that we've played but you have to give great credit to the girls to how they're
00:59handling that and particularly the performances we've put in and the results that we've shown.
01:04You mentioned the intensity of the games but I suppose tomorrow night, I don't know how
01:11much you know about Aberdeen Ultras but they bring some fantastic noise, I think there's
01:15around 400 expected to be here tomorrow. Does that almost give players something else to
01:22think about, trying to silence that?
01:24I think it's a good thing, I think it's a good thing. I think it makes for an improved
01:28atmosphere. Of course we had a good experience in the Etihad on Friday night against Tottenham
01:34where we were able to go to a wider audience. I mean of course we love playing at the Joyce
01:39Stadium when we're back here tomorrow and again if that's a way support is good and
01:43noisy then that's great, it makes for a better atmosphere.
01:46You mentioned the performances recently as well, top of the table in both the Champions League
01:51and in New South, I was wondering when you actually see your name on top of those tables,
01:55how much of a boost does that actually give mentally or is it not really that important?
02:01Well it's important I think for confidence and I think it's important to have it there
02:06as a reference to show the hard work that we've really put into everything in terms
02:13of pre-season, in terms of our game plans for each game. I think when you look at, I
02:19think it's nine games, continuous winning streak in all competitions, 11 competitions
02:25unbeaten, it's not to be kind of sniffed at because there's a lot of hard work that's
02:31gone into it and of course we don't get too ahead of ourselves. At this moment we're
02:35kind of struggling to kind of review and reflect because the pace of games every three or four
02:41days is not necessarily allowing us to do that but I think that's a good thing. I think
02:46we're really aware of what we've done really well and obviously what we need to continue
02:52to keep doing and I think the girls are really switched on with that.
02:56Yeah and obviously the two players you really saw in advance on Friday was Bunny and Pempo
03:01again. How important is it for them to kind of maintain that particular championship
03:07or the same competition which I know that you guys are all aware of?
03:11Yeah of course I mean we need all of the players, everybody's really contributing. I mean
03:15sometimes those guys will be the ones that grab the headlines. Of course Bunny going
03:21ahead in the all-time hat-tricks is incredible really when you think about her for a short
03:26time. Obviously going past Viv so I've not had a chance to speak to Viv about that one
03:30so she's got a bit of work to do. But yeah I think full credit to Bunny and of course
03:38we need everybody performing to high levels and I think the girls have really done that.
03:42Bunny's completely aware of obviously the support she gets from within the team.
03:46Obviously Jill scoring again as well and it's probably ahead of where we anticipated
03:52her being in a return. So yeah lots of really positive things to really continue to try
04:01and build on.
04:04Hi I'm Jane from Swedish Television.
04:06Hi Jane.
04:07First of all what type of game do you expect tomorrow considering that you won over Barcelona
04:15and that they won big time over Hamburg. What type of game do you expect and do you
04:20consider this a key game for the group?
04:23Yeah it is a key game firstly. Definitely is. I think that obviously we play away next
04:28week in probably another good atmosphere from what we saw in their previous game at home
04:36against Poulten. It was a good atmosphere. Obviously big partisan crowd made a lot of
04:40noise. So yeah of course we're expecting a tough challenge tomorrow there's no doubt
04:44and we need to be aware of that. We're fully aware of the strengths and potential areas
04:50that we can exploit at the opposition. But we try as much as we possibly can to make
04:55it about us and what we do and where we feel the important parts of the game are going
05:01to be. But yeah they're a team that are capable on certain games. They've beaten
05:08Rosengard. I think they're the only team to beat Rosengard this season in their title
05:12winning season. Obviously one of our former players Julie is there so we tend to keep
05:17an eye on those types of games to see how she's doing. So yeah I think it's a big game
05:22for us. An important game for us. We're pleased to be back here playing at home and looking
05:28forward to the challenge.
05:29May I also ask, you're becoming a director. What are your goals and expectations for your arrival?
05:38Yeah looking forward to starting with Therese. We've had conversations already just discussing
05:46with her about the positive result obviously Rosengard had this season. I think she's been
05:51busy celebrating over the weekend. But yeah I think for us it's great because we need someone
05:59with the experience that she has. Obviously having been a player and also having been in
06:03the technical director's role for many years I think it's really going to help us a lot and
06:07that's what we need. Talking previously about the team resource being really stretched in terms
06:14of playing staff and of course the January window is around the corner and Therese is going to
06:21really help us in that space.
06:23Do you think she will bring some Swedish players?
06:25Maybe, who knows. Of course she has like real strength in that area and of course knows the
06:31league really well so we've had discussions already around certain players and of course
06:37we will certainly have a plan going into that January window.
06:41No problem, thank you.
06:42Any more questions from the room?
06:45No, we'll go to Zoom now. Dan Pentland.
06:50Hey Gareth, hope you're well. Apologies if I repeat anything there, I didn't hear the
06:54question but I was just going to mention obviously the last game that Haliby played
06:59up Matchday 2, obviously they lost 9-0 at Barcelona so it's another daunting task for them
07:05tomorrow night so how do you feel they'll react and is there anything you feel that
07:09will change massively from that game?
07:12I still felt in that game when I watched it that they were still coming out and engaging
07:15and trying to be aggressive. We've seen quite an aggressive style from them. The Poulton
07:20game was very fast, both teams really attacking a lot, a lot of transition, attacking transition,
07:27defensive transition so don't expect any changes with that.
07:30But I think I spoke about Barcelona in my press conference after we beat them here at
07:35the Joy and said that the reaction now from Barcelona would be very good. Why? Because
07:43they're the champions and this is why they've won a lot, their reaction will be to regroup
07:49very quickly and the way they went out and literally hammered Haliby was very impressive
07:57of course. Not surprised by that by any means. Do I expect the same game tomorrow? Probably
08:03not because we know that sometimes the margins are going to be really tight. So, yeah, I
08:09think expecting them to be aggressive in what they do and we need to be prepared for that.
08:26Will the 9-0 defeat last time out and the fact that Haliby are Champions League debutants
08:41this season, would you say the 9-0 in some ways was perhaps a bit misleading in terms
08:48of how people might perceive Haliby and I guess that's great?
08:54Yeah, misleading for Haliby, not misleading for Barcelona. More than capable of doing
08:58that. So, like I said to you, do I expect that type of outcome tomorrow? No, I don't.
09:05Are we trying to do that? Yes, of course. I've spoken previously about trying to replica
09:10what Barcelona have done over the last few years and it's really tough and we're on a
09:14journey of trying to get to that level. So, yeah, of course it was a surprising result
09:23if I'm honest but that's what that team can do to you and do to any team in any type of
09:28moment that they play in. So, yeah, they're very difficult, more often than not, Haliby
09:36to be broken down. They make it really difficult, sometimes defending with a five, sometimes
09:40defending with a four. Like I said previously, quite energetic and wanting to jump out and
09:46be aggressive in their pressing actions. So, yeah, we'll be prepared for that and make
09:51sure that we're aware of the spaces that they potentially leave.
09:57I think you made six changes for the St Paulton game. I just wondered if we might see a reasonable
10:03number again tomorrow night, given there's the Chelsea game coming up on Saturday?
10:08Yeah, it's really hard for us, really hard for me to give you that answer.
10:13I don't think it'll be that many. We're not capable at the moment. We just haven't got
10:17the kind of strength and depth currently that we would ideally like, potentially,
10:24to be able to do that. So, I think it will be fairly minimal for tomorrow.
10:30And just finally, what can you say about the goalkeeper situation at the moment,
10:34just because Yamashita came back into the squad on Friday but then Kiara was still
10:42starting in goal. So, yeah, is it sort of, I don't know, a case of Kiara covering at the moment?
10:54We have two very good keepers. That's it. Kiara deserve to stay in after Crystal Palace.
11:02We'll see about tomorrow and the next game, but we don't look any further than that.
11:06I think it's, all I will say is, Kiara's reaction after maybe not playing in the
11:14beginning part of the season has been very good. And she got her rewards by staying in the team,
11:19performed well again against Spurs, and then we'll see what happens in the next game.
11:23We've played maybe 11 games. Kiara's started four so far, so it's probably not as big a swing as
11:29what you would imagine. And yeah, like I said previously, we have two very good keepers who
11:35bring different things. So we always look at the opponent. We always look at what type of players
11:40outfield and obviously goalkeepers we're going to need to be able to try and implement our style
11:44and our game against those opponents.