Manchester City women interim coach Nick Cushing delighted with 2-0 Chelsea champions league quarter final win
19/03/2025
CGA, Manchester, UK
19/03/2025
CGA, Manchester, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Obviously, the result doesn't look like you're going to enjoy it yet,
00:03so you celebrate with the fans, what's that like for you?
00:09Of course, winning is important,
00:11but I think just being back here in front of our fans...
00:17It's actually crazy to think, my last game was the Arsenal game in 2019,
00:23it's the first time I've been back in the stadium since then.
00:27Because of COVID and because of the MLS schedule and the WSL schedule not matching.
00:34So it was important for me tonight, the team put a performance in
00:39that I believe reflects us in this stadium,
00:43and I really wanted to win the game for the fans tonight.
00:58Yeah, but I've been in these games where the ties flip really quickly.
01:03I think we wanted to win tonight, we've won with a two-goal lead,
01:09we can put that one away now and concentrate on the league game,
01:12because our league position isn't where we want it,
01:15and Sunday's game becomes crucial to us.
01:17And then we'll prepare for the Stamford Bridge game after that,
01:21and we know any game against Chelsea is going to be incredibly difficult,
01:25we were really disappointed after the League Cup game,
01:28because I felt that we were in it and we felt the wrong side of a tight game.
01:34So tonight, I think for me the confidence and the belief comes from knowing
01:38that we can play whatever game is in front of us.
01:40We had to suffer tonight, we had to sit and defend our goal at times,
01:44and we're known for being a good possession team,
01:47but our threat on the counter-attack was there,
01:49so for me it's about evolving this team into a winning team.
01:52Jürgen, Izzy Christensen said on Twitter,
01:55I find it true that there was a massive ad for yourself in terms of the win,
02:00you set the team up, set up a really aggressive and aggressive front,
02:04how would you sum up the quick changes you've made in the last week?
02:10The work that's been done here, to get the team to where it is now, is high level,
02:16because the team wouldn't be in Champions League quarter-finals or League Cup finals,
02:21FA Cup semi-finals, if the work wasn't good.
02:23For me, it's about how do you make sure that you're a threat against the top teams,
02:27because you don't win trophies unless you compete the best.
02:30So, for me, we have to be a threat in every phase of the game,
02:32we have to have that presence in the game, even when Chelsea are pushing the game,
02:38because that's how you win these tight games, these critical games.
02:42So, I was pleased tonight as the game went on,
02:45Kerry Lynn started to be a threat in the game,
02:47obviously Viv came off the bench, we knew that she would be a threat.
02:50For us, it's about making sure, especially when we're at home,
02:53that we have a real presence in the game and we're a threat throughout.
02:57Amy?
02:58Nick, just on Viv there, was part of the reason to keep her on the bench
03:03because of the impact she'd have on Viv or was it something that happened?
03:07Yeah, the reality is I fight with my staff and will continue to fight with my staff
03:12when they tell me that you have to rotate and this,
03:14and the reality is it's tougher a team with so much strain on it with injuries,
03:19to just keep rolling.
03:21We were good in the League Cup final, but we didn't win.
03:25We were good tonight, it's going to be tough again to turn this team around.
03:29We do have depth in the team, but not at this moment because of the injuries,
03:34and you look at Chelsea bringing multiple internationals off the bench,
03:37we don't have that luxury because Bunny's out and Alba's out and Alex is out and Lauren's out.
03:41So, we have to try and find small ways of getting wins,
03:45and Viv starting on the bench tonight and coming off the bench is a bit of a gamble,
03:49because you want to stay in the game, it's a great opportunity for Lilly,
03:52but I knew that Viv would be able to come for 45 and be a huge presence in the game,
03:57and you can see that with the result.
03:59Sandra?
04:00How important was it psychologically, particularly with those injuries,
04:04to show Virgina and Lauren Head not being back to get this win,
04:09and kill Sheep against Chelsea side that's been on this massive unbeaten run,
04:14particularly going into the league game?
04:17Yeah, part of my remit for coming here is to give this team my personality
04:22and to just be the person that I am.
04:24This organisation knows me inside out, and I say that because I love the challenge,
04:30and I see it more as an opportunity.
04:32I'm obviously disappointed that we lose Bunny Shaw and we don't have our key players,
04:36but I see it as an opportunity.
04:38Kerry Lynn has been pushing since I've been here,
04:41to show me that she wants to play in these big games, so it's an opportunity for her.
04:45Jess Park was incredibly disappointed not to play in the final
04:49after playing really well against Aston Villa.
04:51So, for me, to be a team that competes for every trophy,
04:55everybody has to be ready, whether you have young players.
04:58If you're going to put these players in the squad, you have to believe in them,
05:01and you have to go into big games.
05:03I remember putting Kiera Walsh into a game in Notts County in 2014,
05:06when she came from Blackburn's under-17s,
05:08I believe in the players, and for me it's about trusting them,
05:12putting them in the team and telling them to go attack the opposition.
05:15Tom?
05:16Nick, hi, congratulations.
05:18Can I ask you a two-part question on Vivian Marfit?
05:21Firstly, just how impressed you are with her quality of finishing and the kind of instinctiveness?
05:26But also, in the years that you've been working with her in America,
05:30she's been moved deeper and deeper by Arsenal and now City,
05:33and tonight, as a striker, I'm just wondering, is this her best position?
05:37Is this where you think she's still most effective?
05:41Her finishing didn't surprise me, because in my last ten years she scored against us
05:45every time we played a Conte Cup final in 2017, she scored the win,
05:51I was actually joking about that.
05:53I don't know if she's a number nine, number 10, I understand why people have moved her deeper,
05:59she wants the ball and she wants to be involved in the game,
06:02and that's because naturally she understands the game really well,
06:04and she's a huge impact player.
06:06For me, it's about getting her close to the goal, tonight shows if you get her close to the goal,
06:10she can create and score for you.
06:12However we set the team up, I don't want to take Viv's strengths away
06:16by having her deeper and working to get the ball back.
06:19I think for me, winning teams is about blend and balance,
06:23and I don't think you get the best of Viv by putting her close to our box,
06:27I think it's by getting her close to the opposition box.
06:30I think she can go into number nine, but it's who you blend around her.
06:34Tonight you saw the best of Kerala when Viv came on, because Viv will come deeper,
06:38that opens up spaces and she can link, and then Keraline can go running.
06:42I think it's about the blend of how you put the right pieces around each other
06:46to make sure you get the best out of each individual.
06:48With Keraline, she seems to have great joy in running directly at the Chelsea fans,
06:53is that something you ask her to do tonight?
06:57Yeah, we're a possession team, so we play a lot of possession and long periods of possession,
07:01but I don't think you're going to get the best of Keraline by asking her to receive it and pass it.
07:05She's got to be faced up and running, and running in behind,
07:08and playing a real attacking style of the game.
07:10I think as the game started to open, it starts to suit players like Keraline,
07:14and you've got to embrace that, you've got to use those strengths.
07:17I think to beat Chelsea, you've got to find a way to win,
07:20and I'm really pleased about how we defended our goal tonight,
07:23but I think you saw that we had a threat throughout the game.
07:26Thank you very much.
07:27Catherine?
07:28Can you talk about young players?
07:30You mentioned you're after a league cup final,
07:32she's had opportunities, mainly because of her players being injured,
07:36but she looked really at home at this level,
07:38how impressed are you?
07:41Yeah, incredibly impressed.
07:43I think these moments are...
07:46They can swing both ways, because you want to give young players an opportunity,
07:51but you also don't want to force them to play too much.
07:54But at the moment, she's having to play.
07:56But at the same time, if we had other players, I still wouldn't take her out,
07:59because she's proven that she can play in these huge games,
08:03you look at the way Chelsea set up twice to allow her to dictate the game,
08:07to allow her to make the game,
08:09and that brings a lot of responsibility when you look at the way that we play.
08:13And I think she's embraced that, she's got a real strong mentality,
08:17she's done a lot of work with the coaches between the league cup final and tonight,
08:23and I thought you saw those improvements,
08:25and I think the best part for me is she's going up against a world-class striker
08:30and having to physically compete,
08:32but also mentally having to go through that real pressure moment
08:37of playing up against Ramirez.
08:39They've got world-class players, they're bringing world-class players off the bench,
08:43and she sustained her level tonight, so I was really pleased.
08:47Charlotte?
08:48Hi, Nick.
08:49You went from a 4-3-3 and then to a 2-10 in the second half,
08:54was that well-planned, or why did you do that?
09:00I don't know about Masterclass.
09:03Yeah, I said before, I think that these four games are going to evolve...
09:11I think it's going to be intriguing to see how the personnel changes
09:14and how the tactics change,
09:16I knew that they would come with a strategy when we jumped with the winger
09:22and the full-back, I knew they would come with Kiera in there,
09:25you know she can unlock the game and she's smart and bright and finding solutions,
09:28so I wanted to keep changing it, and I will change it again going into the league game,
09:32just to pose Chelsea more problems.
09:34I think ultimately we have to create goal chances from our pressing moments,
09:38because in possession we're not going to create enough volume to beat these big teams.
09:43The volume of our offensive play has to come from set play,
09:45has to come from high-pressing moments, has to come from counter-pressing actions,
09:49and I think tonight just changing the strategy and shifting it is posing more problems,
09:53and as the game went, I think you can see that we're creating offensive moments from that.
09:58My frustration is we have to be cleaner,
10:00we have to be better decisions in the final third,
10:02and we have to create bigger chances,
10:04because we have so many good moments in that phase of the game
10:08that we have to be ruthless.
10:10And I know you've still got Niki and Diego on your coaching staff,
10:13you spoke at the weekend about it's up to you to analyse the performance,
10:18have you had reinforcements from any of the assistant coach group
10:21or a performance analysis specific?
10:24Yeah, I've got a good staff as a whole,
10:26but I've brought in another assistant coach, Dan Fradley,
10:29that was on my bench in New York,
10:31he left in 2023 and works for the organisation,
10:35supporting all the teams around the world,
10:38normally he's off-pitch and he's been doing that the last 12 months,
10:42but he's somebody who was on my bench in 2023
10:44and I worked with as the assistant coach in New York,
10:46so I'm very familiar with him,
10:48he's on the bench, and I brought Steph in to support me as well,
10:51because she's somebody that is on that coaching journey
10:54but knows how to win, has won multiple times with me and this team,
10:57and has a real winning mentality,
11:00and I think to bring Steph's leadership in,
11:02to be in every day with the team, working on the grass for the team,
11:05supporting somebody like Gracie Pryor,
11:07helping Alex, our leader, to be a real voice in the dressing room,
11:10I've been really pleased with the staff and the way they've supported me.
11:14And Tom?
11:15You've spoken to Viv, I was wondering what her reaction was
11:18when you said you were on the bench for this one,
11:21and secondly, she was saying that she actually watched the first half
11:26and strategised in her mind the impact and the spaces
11:29that she could affect when she came on,
11:31what does that say about her?
11:33I'm sure you can imagine what Viv said when I didn't name her in the team.
11:37I expected it, I expect that from every world-class player,
11:41when you don't put them in the team.
11:43But I think it's not that bit that I think is the defining factor
11:50between being a real top player,
11:53I think it's what happens when you go on.
11:55And far too many times I've seen a player that has been frustrated
11:58and has gone in and not been able to turn the frustration
12:02into a real world-class performance,
12:05and I think tonight you can see the level of Viv,
12:08whether she's in or she's out, I said to her at half-time,
12:12ten minutes before I said to her,
12:14you will go in at half-time, and I knew that before the game.
12:17But you're going in to be the difference in a tight game,
12:20and to be able to do that even though you wanted to play all the way through
12:23I think shows her level.
12:26I was confident tonight that if she got chances she'd score,
12:30she's a top-level finisher,
12:32I just think the team has to create those moments for her
12:35and support her in those moments,
12:37and I think tonight you saw Manny,
12:39she's frustrated because she thinks she should have had a hat-trick.
12:42Are you ready for what will be a beat-up Chelsea team
12:46coming back against Manchester City?
12:48When you face a team that hasn't lost,
12:51that's won the first trophy of the season,
12:53it's going to be difficult.
12:55So now that we've beaten them, it's going to be even more difficult.
12:58This team has a huge desire to continue to win,
13:00really well-coached by Sonia,
13:02an absolute plethora of world-class talent,
13:05but I believe that if you're a together group
13:09and you can work hard and you can play whatever game is in front of you,
13:13I believe in this group.
13:15My main aim is turning the team around,
13:17picking the right team, finding the strategy of how we pose them problems,
13:21and just believing in the group.
13:23Any more questions?
13:25Nick, I know you would have probably kept an eye on things here
13:29being part of the City group still over in America
13:31and just the affiliation you've had with this club,
13:34but you've had to come in basically on the fly,
13:36hit the ground running,
13:38you've not been given games you could ease into
13:40in terms of four games against Chelsea,
13:42how aware were you of the team's evolution still over the years
13:46and what you were walking back into?
13:49Yeah, I've watched the team, I've followed the games,
13:52I'm lucky in New York that all the WSL games
13:55and NWSL and Champions League games
13:58I've followed up with the women's game,
14:00just like I've worked in the men's game.
14:03It's not ideal to come in mid-season,
14:05it's definitely not ideal to come in four days before a League Cup final,
14:08it's not ideal to come in playing the team four times,
14:11the team that hasn't lost,
14:13but as coaches you've got to relish the challenge,
14:16the greater the challenge for me,
14:18the more exciting it becomes.
14:20We lost the League Cup final
14:22and that was incredibly difficult,
14:24we've won tonight and we roll to the next one.
14:26I couldn't be more proud of the staff
14:28and how they've supported me.
14:30Nicky has been top,
14:32Diego, those guys have worked with the group,
14:35so they've supported me really, really well
14:38and I've brought Dan in that knows me inside out,
14:40so I think we've got a good blend
14:42and then we've brought Steph in,
14:44I nearly put her on today, she nearly went in the team.
14:46You're only as good as the players you've got
14:49and the staff you've got,
14:51and I'm lucky I've got a top group.
14:53This is someone who feels like he's in a time machine tonight,
14:56I've been to many of your press conferences over the years,
14:59but the first time in five years you've been back here,
15:02was it quite a surreal experience?
15:04Yeah, it was,
15:06especially with it being a big game,
15:08I reflected on a lot of the Champions League games I've had here,
15:11and they're exciting nights,
15:13but I think I hold the responsibility
15:15of being the head coach of Manchester City Women
15:18really close to my heart.
15:20Winning is the most important part,
15:22but the win doesn't come without the performance,
15:25so for me it's about this group believing
15:27that they can go and win.
15:29I've said before we had four trophies to win,
15:31we didn't win the first,
15:33the next is the Champions League, the FA Cup,
15:35and getting in those Champions League spots
15:37for us is as good as a trophy,
15:39so we have to attack the challenge
15:42and it's going to be tough,
15:44but every game in the WSL is tough
15:46and we just have to embrace it.
15:48Any more questions?
15:50Thanks, everyone.