Interim Manchester City coach Nick Cushing previews champions league quarter final first leg against Chelsea
18/03/2025
CGA, Manchester, UK
18/03/2025
CGA, Manchester, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Morning, guys.
00:07Morning, everyone.
00:13Thank you, how are you?
00:14Good, thank you.
00:20Good morning, everyone.
00:21I'm here with Interim Head Coach Nick Cushing
00:24to preview the Subway Women's League Cup final tomorrow.
00:26We will start with questions in the room.
00:29Emma Sanders?
00:30Oh, sorry.
00:31Sanny?
00:32Do you want to go? Sorry.
00:33It's all right, you go.
00:34Hi, Nick.
00:35Sanny Ridgefogel from Sky Sports News.
00:37Why come back?
00:41I think I came out of New York in October.
00:46Since then, I've been having some real positive conversations
00:49with leadership here at CFG,
00:51and I've been here a very long time,
00:54so my relationships with the leadership are...
00:58I'm really close with people here,
01:00so I was having conversations over the time
01:02about staying involved with the group
01:04and taking up a new role, a coaching role.
01:07I want to be on the grass coaching,
01:09and early in the week this opportunity came up,
01:12and it's a really good challenge for me.
01:16On that coaching side,
01:18Steph Horton said you're the best coach she's ever worked with.
01:22Similarly, Nikita Paris.
01:24Kiera Walsh says you always knew the right thing to say
01:27at the right moment.
01:29Got that quote right.
01:30There's a lot of positivity coming your way from ex-players.
01:33How much of that do you want to bring to this side?
01:35Yeah, I think I spent seven amazing years here previously
01:40fighting for trophies
01:42and trying to create a team
01:45that Manchester City fans could be proud of,
01:48and going over to New York
01:50and representing the group in New York
01:52and leading the team there
01:54was an amazing experience, an amazing challenge,
01:57and developed me in many, many ways.
02:00Having the opportunity to come back for our organisation
02:04and try and create another winning team,
02:07try and continue the great work that's been done here.
02:10The most amazing thing about our organisation
02:14is the people here
02:16and the previous teams that I've had,
02:18with Nikita and Kiera and Steph.
02:21They were great people.
02:23I met the team here this week and it's exactly the same.
02:26The group of girls in there are really, really good people
02:30with a real hunger to continue to win.
02:32How much of your role do you see from that pastoral side,
02:35looking after the players
02:37and everything else that's going on around them?
02:39I think that's coaching, right?
02:41I think sometimes we get bogged down in tactic board
02:44and trying to win game plans.
02:46I think coaching, whether you're in a men's team or a women's team,
02:49it's about people and it's about developing people
02:53and it's about supporting people and it's about challenging people.
02:57So this is no different, right?
02:59It's a little bit more complex because you're coming in mid-season,
03:03but the thing that I'm confident about
03:06is I did this in 2022 in New York.
03:08I took the interim head coach there from Ronnie
03:11and we got ourselves to a final.
03:13So I'm confident in my ability as a coach
03:15and when I look around the dressing room,
03:17I'm confident that we can be competitive.
03:20One specific player, Bunny Shaw, has a lot going on off the field.
03:24How much can you do to help her get back to her best?
03:28Yeah, I met Bunny on Tuesday and she's a great character,
03:32a really good person.
03:34She has a real desire to win for Manchester City,
03:36so I personally will give her whatever she needs.
03:41We will support her in any way that she needs.
03:45We just want her to get back doing what she does best
03:47and that's scoring goals, right?
03:48Nah, there's no better occasion than Saturday to start there.
03:52And finally from me, is it weird starting with a cup final?
03:57It's a good challenge, right?
03:58We're playing against the best team in the league.
04:00We're playing in an amazing stadium with an opportunity to win
04:04and I've always said in my career that this cup was called something different.
04:11We won it as my first trophy in 2014
04:13and since that moment I've been obsessed with winning trophies.
04:16So, to have the opportunity to win another one for this group
04:19and for this organisation is enough motivation.
04:23Thank you, Sammy.
04:24Nick, nice to see you back.
04:26How does it feel? Tell us your emotions.
04:28What was it like walking into training?
04:30Yeah, it was really strange actually.
04:32Because of COVID and because of the way that the leagues don't really sync up
04:38and the last WSL, every time I came home in previous years
04:42there wasn't really any games on.
04:43So, I haven't been here that much.
04:45So, to come here on Tuesday and walk through the building
04:48and see familiar faces, but also a lot of new faces
04:51and see the familiar facility, but it also has changed a lot.
04:56It was really comforting, but it also was a bit strange.
05:00So, I'm just really excited.
05:02I said to the players, if I didn't believe in the group
05:06and I didn't believe this was going to be an exciting challenge,
05:08I wouldn't have took it.
05:11Yeah, I'm really happy to be here.
05:14Is it fair to say you're jumping in at the deep end?
05:16Four games against Chelsea, that's not an easy task.
05:19It's definitely not.
05:21But if I reflect on my career, in 2014 when I took the women's team in the WSL,
05:27my first game was Liverpool, the champions, live on BT Sport.
05:31And I'd come from the under-12s boys.
05:33So, I then went over to New York and we won the championship in 2021.
05:40And all of a sudden I was head coach in 2022 of the champions.
05:43So, I think I've been able to take these moments in my stride.
05:47I've had some real good mentors and some real good advice over time,
05:51and I just had some right before this press conference that was,
05:54listen, just go and enjoy it, it's a great challenge.
05:58I think as coaches, we want to create our teams
06:02and we want to prepare our teams to go against the best.
06:05And the next four games are the ultimate challenge for our group.
06:09So, we've got to embrace it and attack it.
06:11Was that advice for the press conference or for the games?
06:14I'm joking.
06:15Attack the press conference was definitely advice.
06:17If you were to lift the trophy on Saturday,
06:20where would that rank, do you think, in your achievements with City,
06:23given the context of everything this week,
06:26the short turnaround, you coming in, etc?
06:30It would be definitely an achievement in the sense of coming in...
06:35It's the group, it's about the group.
06:37I said to the group, in my opinion of winning leagues and trophies
06:42and being in winning positions, it's about getting there.
06:45I couldn't give this group enough praise for getting where they've got.
06:49Of course, the league position is not ideal
06:51and it's not where probably we set it out to be at the start
06:55and where we would really want it to be at this stage of the season,
06:58but the reality is we're in all four competitions
07:01and the Champions League place is still achievable,
07:06so I'm not going to get caught up on winning on Saturday
07:10because the next game's right around the corner.
07:12Just finally for me, Team News, can you give us an update on where the squad's at?
07:16Yeah, everyone's available apart from the long-term injured,
07:19so obviously Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood are still out,
07:22but apart from that, the whole group has been out on the training pitch yesterday
07:26and I've got to pick a team for a cup final.
07:29How close are Alex and Lauren?
07:31I don't know the complete detail because with four days' prep for a cup final,
07:36I've had some surface and I think they have a desire to play before the end of the season,
07:41but I'm not here confirming that they're going to play.
07:44There's a lot of time before that, but I think you've seen Alex is on the grass,
07:48so that's a huge positive.
07:50I had Lauren previously, so she's got a huge desire to be in the team
07:54before the end of the season, but we've just got to trust our medical staff.
07:58Thanks, Nate, all the best.
08:01Hi, Nick, Charlotte from The Athletic, nice to meet you.
08:04What were your key targets this week, given the short turnaround?
08:08What messages did you want to get through to the players?
08:11I think we've got to embrace that we're a good team,
08:14we've got to understand that although change sometimes brings instability
08:19and sometimes brings confusion and sometimes brings a little bit of apprehension,
08:24we've got to fall back on the fact that we are in all four competitions,
08:27that we are in a Champions League quarter-final,
08:29we are in a League Cup final and an FA Cup semi-final,
08:32and the desire and the hunger to get into the Champions League again next year
08:38has to be the driving factor.
08:41I've said all along to all my teams, I have to have players and people around me
08:48with real hunger and real ambition,
08:50and a real belief that we can continue to be competitive and win,
08:55so that's all I want to see.
08:57We have got a very good team that's won some really big games this year,
09:01and collectively we've just got to keep attacking every situation.
09:05You mentioned that you've been in conversation with the leadership group
09:10since your departure from New York around late November,
09:13and you said earlier in the week this opportunity came up,
09:17can you just clarify when City made contact regarding this specific job?
09:22Yeah, it was earlier in the week, of course.
09:26Listen, I've been through the process, right?
09:28When a coach gets fired, it's not a great situation for that coach.
09:33I say it because I've experienced it.
09:35Now, my remit is looking forward, right?
09:39The brief is really simple, we have to qualify for the Champions League.
09:45Now, what went on before the start of the week is not my remit,
09:50and ultimately I don't need the detail in that.
09:52What I need is the detail in what we've got in the dressing room
09:55and what we need moving forward.
09:57It's pretty simple, we start with the cup final.
09:59So earlier in the week, it was literally this week?
10:02Yeah.
10:04Just for the record, it says interim until the end of the season,
10:09is that you and Dan and not continuing after that, or is that TBC?
10:15Where are you at with how long you would like to stay
10:18at Manchester City Women's?
10:20It's definitely until the end of the season.
10:22I think for us it would be crazy to look any further than the end of the season
10:27based off the games that we've got coming up, right?
10:30I think for me, one thing I've been really clear on since I came out of New York
10:35is that my development in this organisation has been the one thing
10:41that has continued to give me the hunger and the desire
10:45to keep improving football players.
10:47I went from the boys' academy to the women's team,
10:50I went from the women's team to New York as the assistant coach
10:52and then as the head coach.
10:54Those conversations for me are about continuing my experiences.
10:58I think to have new experiences as coaches is something
11:03that will continue to develop you.
11:05Would the presumption be that you return to the men's game?
11:09Listen, I'll be really honest with you.
11:11When I was in the boys' academy, I was working under-12s and under-13s
11:15as an assistant coach, and I never thought I would coach in the women's game.
11:19And then when I was winning trophies in the women's game,
11:22I didn't even know any teams in the MLS, and I landed in the MLS.
11:26So one piece of advice I give coaches all the time
11:29is you never know what's around the corner.
11:31So the door is open to any opportunity?
11:34Always.
11:35And lastly, logistics, time difference.
11:39You're in New York.
11:41It's not easy to keep across the WSL.
11:43How much have you been watching it and attuned with the opposition?
11:47Yeah, I've always watched our team here
11:50because I have a real emotional attachment to Manchester City women.
11:54If you go through my timeline,
11:56my daughter was born on the Conte Cup final in 2016.
11:59We were in this stadium here and went to extra time,
12:03and she was literally born five minutes after I got to the hospital,
12:06after we lifted the trophy.
12:08So for me it's about just making sure that today, tomorrow,
12:13I don't overlook things and overcomplicate things.
12:16Super. Thanks, Nick.
12:17Thanks, Charlotte.
12:18We'll go to Zoom now, Dan.
12:21Hi, Nick. Hope you're well.
12:23You mentioned your emotional attachment there.
12:25I just wonder, in terms of the competition and what Chelsea have achieved,
12:28you know, Emma Hayes lifting trophy after trophy in recent years,
12:31does that kind of hurt you a little bit?
12:33Does that kind of upset you, given what you achieved the first time around?
12:38No, I said before when Emma was announced as the US Women's national team
12:43that those challenges, those teams that she created,
12:49those seasons were one of my biggest...
12:54I don't say disappointments.
12:55One of my biggest regrets was that we didn't win more leagues
12:59with our team in Manchester City Women,
13:01but that was down to the fact that Emma's Chelsea teams were top, right?
13:06And this team is no different.
13:09You can see with the points that they have at the top of the league,
13:13their form that they've got,
13:15that this is going to be an incredibly difficult game on Saturday.
13:18And we know we play them four times,
13:22but we have to focus on Saturday's game.
13:24And, you know, what went on in the past went on in the past.
13:27This is a different Manchester City team.
13:29It's also a different Chelsea team.
13:31So we've just got to focus on looking forward.
13:35And just going back to that 2014 final,
13:37if I remember it, I think it was a cold Wednesday night,
13:40probably half full stadium.
13:42You know, obviously tomorrow's completely different.
13:45So, yeah, kind of how different is it?
13:47Kind of does the preparation change
13:49based on what the challenge is in the modern day?
13:52Kind of what's the comparisons and differences
13:54between 2014 and this year's final?
13:59Yeah, I think we've spoken consistently across the women's game
14:04that the development of the game has been incredible.
14:08And there is a lot of people on field and off field
14:11that have contributed.
14:12You guys in the room and on the Zoom
14:14have played a huge part in the development of the game.
14:18I think going to finals, you know,
14:20if I look back, 2014, I agree,
14:23was totally different to what Saturday's going to look like.
14:26But 2014 was also different to my FA Cup final in 2017
14:29and my FA Cup final in 2019.
14:33The more fans we have in the stadium,
14:35the more pressure on the game, the more competitive,
14:38the better it is for me.
14:39So, yeah, I'm excited.
14:41I think it's going to be an amazing occasion on Saturday
14:43and I think two teams are going to have a real hunger to win.
14:46So, for everybody watching, me included,
14:49I think it's going to be a real good occasion.
14:52That's brilliant. Thanks, Nick. Best of luck. Thank you.
14:54Thanks, Dan. Amy?
14:57Hi, Nick. Welcome back.
14:59Just clarifying, you said that everybody is available
15:03apart from the long-term injuries.
15:05Rebecca Knack and Alba Fugino are both fit for the weekend?
15:09Rebecca Knack won't be fit, but Alba will be.
15:12OK, cool. Thank you.
15:14And, yeah, I guess on that, Alba's had,
15:16I don't know how much you've caught being over in the US,
15:19like you've just said, but Alba's had an amazing first season here.
15:22How much of a boost is it to kind of get her back
15:25in the forward line before these four games?
15:27Yeah, to go back to the question before,
15:30I'm obsessed with the game, right?
15:32So, I've got an emotional attachment to Manchester City women,
15:35but I also love how competitive the WSL is.
15:37And over in America, the WSL is on paramount
15:40and I watch the NWSL as well
15:43because I've got friends that work in the league.
15:45So, I follow the women's game alongside the men's game
15:49because I love football, and to me, it's watching football.
15:54So, Alba's been top this year, I think you can see,
15:57not just Alba, I think Mary Fowler, I think Jess Park,
16:00I think Bunny Shaw, our attacking players,
16:03we have a real threat with our attacking players,
16:06that will be the most difficult part of my job, right,
16:09is trying to pick the blend and balance
16:12of Gail and Viv and Alba and Jess and Mary.
16:16You know, Carolyn has really impressed me this week in training.
16:20So, for me, it's about trying to blend and balance
16:23a front line that will cause Chelsea a threat,
16:28whilst also having a slight eye on the Champions League
16:32because the Champions League game is going to be difficult.
16:36So, the good thing for me is I've got a top group of staff there
16:40that are filling in the gaps that maybe I don't know
16:44about personalities and about characters
16:47and about who can put two games in a week together.
16:50So, we've worked through that.
16:52They've worked incredibly hard over the last three days to help me,
16:55and I really appreciate that.
16:59And just, sorry, just a quick one.
17:01Naomi Lozell, her game time's been a little bit limited lately.
17:04I just wanted to check on her fitness.
17:06She's all good for the weekend.
17:08Yeah, for us, we've got selection from a really competitive squad.
17:14So, like I say, we'd love to have Rebecca, we'd love to have Lauren,
17:18and we'd love to have Alex in the group.
17:20They're not, but everybody else is fighting for a spot.
17:23Cool. Thanks, Nick. Good luck.
17:25Thanks, Naomi. Kit?
17:29Hi, Nick. Kit Sheppard from The Times. Nice to meet you.
17:32I know you said you want to focus on looking forward,
17:36but I suppose you need to look back to an extent
17:39to work out where the team can improve.
17:41So, why essentially do you think the team's maybe lost its way a little bit
17:46in the last few weeks and months,
17:48and what problems do you maybe need to solve in this short-term tenure?
17:52I'd love to have Lauren Hem and Alex Greenwood back,
17:55but I think there's been some key injuries at key points.
18:01I think you can see where there's been, whether it's senior pros
18:06or real high-impact players missing in key spots,
18:11and I think that is a really important thing to look at,
18:14is maybe in those moments the performances have been inconsistent
18:20or maybe the results have been inconsistent.
18:23But I've said before, we can't overlook the fact
18:27that we are in all four competitions,
18:29and I've said before, my belief in winning is that you have to be there at the end.
18:34The hardest part is to be there at the end, and we're there, right?
18:38So, we've got to take confidence out of that,
18:40and we've got to make sure that...
18:42And I think naturally when you change coaches,
18:44coaches have different styles and different ideas.
18:47It's not better or worse.
18:49It's not, you know, I'm going to do this or he used to do that.
18:54I think it's just different, right?
18:56And I think my personality and my character is what I use a lot
19:02to try and improve and try and prepare my teams,
19:05and that will be no different here.
19:07And how is your coaching style perhaps influenced
19:12by the fact that this is an interim arrangement
19:14compared to, say, if you'd signed a long-term contract?
19:21I don't look at it like that in the sense of,
19:24you know, I've got a clear brief of what the organisation wants to achieve
19:28with the women's team, so I know what my target is.
19:32I'm really confident in the group of players that we have,
19:35and I'm also really confident in my own ability
19:37and my own character and personality, like I say,
19:42so I'm just going to be myself.
19:43I think it's about looking at Chelsea in these initial games,
19:46and it's about making sure we prepare the team for that,
19:49and I think we're in a spot where we've got to take it as one game at a time,
19:52because they are really isolated games, right?
19:55We're jumping from competition to competition,
19:58and then once we move into that period of league games,
20:01then we'll look at it maybe more in a block of games
20:04because we have to put points together to chase minimum that third spot.
20:09And just finally for me, as a coach,
20:12how do the challenges and opportunities offered by men's football
20:16and women's football differ?
20:17Kind of what makes one distinct from the other?
20:21I don't see it like that.
20:23As somebody that's worked across the women's and men's game,
20:25I get asked that all the time.
20:27What's the difference between the men's and the women's game?
20:31I'll be really honest, I really struggle to answer that in a real set way,
20:36because for me, coaching is about people,
20:38and I think you have to deal with the people that you have in front of you,
20:41and you have to make sure that you support and you challenge
20:43and you improve and you develop whoever you have in front of you,
20:46and I've always done that, right?
20:47Whether it's in the boys' academy here,
20:49whether it's in New York with the men,
20:51or whether it's with Manchester City women,
20:52and I have a keen eye on the girls' academy and always have here as well,
20:56so for me, it's about developing people,
20:58and the one thing that I think I have experienced
21:02is great challenge in the sense of coaching in the WSL
21:06to coaching in America because America is very different,
21:09and I think that's developed me as a coach.
21:10I think having to deal with time zones
21:13and having to deal with different climates
21:15and having to deal with very complex travel
21:19has been an amazing experience in developing my ability
21:22to coach and to manage people.
21:27Thanks very much.
21:28Thank you, Kate. Rachel?
21:31Hi, Nick. Welcome back.
21:33Just one question for me.
21:35I wanted to ask you, coming up to this final,
21:37the whole focus has been that,
21:38how difficult it is that these teams are playing each other
21:40four times in 12 days.
21:42I guess for you, coming in interim quickly,
21:45you only have one opposition, I guess, to focus on,
21:48and within 12 days, you've gotten your feet wet
21:51within the League Cup, Champions League, and the WSL.
21:54Does that allow you maybe to focus a little bit more
21:57on your players and understanding your team
22:00without having to, say, prep for three or four different oppositions?
22:05Yeah, that's a really good question.
22:06Yeah, I totally agree.
22:07I have the ability in the short term
22:11to just get to know one group of opposition players,
22:15and what I think will be really fascinating is,
22:18for you guys watching outside of both teams,
22:21is how the games will be different,
22:24how the teams will evolve and change throughout the four games,
22:28how the approach of each individual team might change,
22:31the line-ups might rotate or change.
22:34I think that will be fascinating.
22:36I suppose the challenge for us
22:38inside the coaching staff and the performance teams
22:41is to try and predict that and see ahead
22:44and try and look into the crystal ball
22:46and see, irrelevant of the result on Saturday,
22:49what the best preparation, what the best scouting report,
22:53what the best observation will be
22:56of what type of Chelsea that we're going to play.
22:58So, I think for me as a coach,
23:02that's a really exciting thing to go through.
23:05Great, thank you. Best of luck.
23:07Thanks very much, Rachel.
23:08Any more questions from the room?
23:10Thanks very much, everyone.
23:11Thank you, guys.
23:12Thanks, mate.
23:13See you on Saturday.