With the likes of Lauren Hemp and Bunny Shaw still sidelined, the Cityzens risk lacking depth and match-winners in the second half of the season
New Year, new signing. Just 12 hours of the January transfer window had passed when Manchester City kickstarted their business for the month, announcing the arrival of defender Rebecca Knaak. It was a timely transfer, following Alex Greenwood's knee surgery in December, but it's not the only position that the club needs to address in the winter market due to injuries.
As the Women's Super League returns this weekend, Chelsea have a comfortable six-point cushion over City at the top of the table and find themselves in quite the opposite position to their nearest rivals, boasting plenty of depth while knowing that some big stars, such as Sam Kerr and Lauren James, are returning from spells on the sidelines in the second half of this season.
"We're really happy with that signing," City head coach Gareth Taylor told reporters this month, "and we'll see if there's some more to come." Fans will hope that is a hint that there is indeed more business on the horizon as this team gets ready to compete for trophies on four fronts, against some absolute juggernauts of the game.
To opt to power through and wait patiently for big names to return would be a conservative move, one unlikely to pay dividends as City chase a first WSL title since 2016.
Getty ImagesInjuries galore
Heading into the winter break, City's list of absentees was fairly extensive. Greenwood's knee injury in mid-December made her the latest addition to a group that already included Vivianne Miedema, Lauren Hemp, Bunny Shaw, Risa Shimizu and Sandy MacIver. It's not the longest injury list by any means, but City don't have a big squad as it is, and it's the significance of some of those names, the likes of Hemp and Shaw especially, that is also concerning.
City were able to welcome Miedema back last weekend, as they beat Ipswich in the FA Cup fourth round, but she's still very much in the process of being built back up after playing 30 minutes on her return from a third knee surgery in two years. "Some other players," Taylor explained, "will be slightly longer."
"Obviously Lauren and Alex, as we're aware of. Bunny was with us [on our winter training camp], which was good. She was out training separately but from what I saw, she looked really good. She feels really good, so we'll see what that looks like for her. Whether we can get her back in this next period or not, we'll see, but hopefully we can, because, again, similar to what we're saying about Viv and Alex, they're really influential players."
AdvertisementGetty ImagesOpportunities emerge
Of course, there are silver linings to this issue, that being that there are several young players getting opportunities as a result. Lily Murphy, in particular, has been a revelation this season, the lightning fast 18-year-old helping to bolster an attack that has been left especially light because of injuries. Naomi Layzell, the young defender who signed from Bristol City in the summer, got to play a starring role in victory over Barcelona due to the lack of depth at full-back; Laura Blindkilde Brown, who joined from Aston Villa last January, has emerged as a more regular starter; and there are several academy graduates getting more of a look-in, such as Gracie Prior, Codie Thomas and Eve O'Carroll.
"I think that's one of the positives," Taylor said last week. "The big change, I think for me, was in the summer, being able to have those guys with us training on a regular basis. To be able to come away with us to Perth was great, because it's really difficult for young players, I think, when they're only potentially training with the first-team group one or two occasions a week. So to be with us full time has been really good and it was a big effort to be able to achieve that, and the likes of Lily have really stepped up."
Getty Images SportCompeting with a juggernaut
There's nothing wrong with giving the young players a chance, and the aforementioned names have put in some really good performances for City this season to help them get some big results. But it would be wildly unfair, for example, to assume that Murphy can simply come in and deliver the consistently top-class quality of a Hemp when battling for the WSL title – and the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Champions League.
Let's take a look at what Chelsea, the team City are chasing down, did in this situation 12 months ago. Dealt a major setback when Kerr suffered a devastating ACL injury, the Blues did not hesitate to go out and replace her with another top-quality centre forward, despite already having Mia Fishel, a United States international, in the squad as her back-up. Chelsea set a British-record fee for a transfer in the women's game when they signed Mayra Ramirez from Levante, and that aggressive, front-footed approach paid dividends when she produced a blistering performance on the final day of the WSL campaign to deliver the Blues' fifth-successive title. It also looked like an even greater move just a few weeks after the contract was signed, as Fishel was struck down with her own ACL injury.
Title-winning teams don't sit back and hope things will be alright. They go out and make sure they are in the best possible position to compete for trophies, no matter what is thrown at them. City might not be dealing with two ACL injuries, but their squad also isn't as deep and, crucially, they are the chaser here. That's not to say they have to splash out a record-breaking fee for new recruits, but they are at risk of only having the bare bones in crucial positions as the business end of the season rolls around, especially in attack.
Getty ImagesHectic schedule
It's not just because of the players Chelsea have at their disposal that January transfers should be a priority; it's because City find themselves in a fantastic position, still competing on four fronts, which is also a demanding one.
On Sunday, they take on Manchester United in a big WSL clash. Three days later, they visit their city rivals for a League Cup quarter-final. Three days later, they're on the road again, travelling to Aston Villa. "After that, it's not like the schedule kind of lightens up," Taylor conceded last week. "If you are successful in those competitions and you move forward, then the games come thick and fast."
There is a massive home game against Arsenal just two days after the January transfer window closes, with any potential League Cup semi-final to follow in midweek, while FA Cup fifth round action will then bookend another potentially huge week. This is the kind of schedule you cannot get through without depth and an array of options, not if you want to win these competitions.