Legacy, dynasty, whatever they want the world to be. These are the terms Manchester City talk in these days. These are the terms that bring about a £10million new training ground, along the wall of which is emblazoned Andree Jeglertz’s mantra, “We will find a way to win.”So they did, on a weekend when only two of the Women’s Super League’s big four teams enjoyed winning starts. In the best moments here against Birmingham City, it all became a showcase of how complete this City team are — or at least what makes them so difficult to beat. How do you stop an ever-changing threat? It is their in-game reinvention, from minute to minute, that makes fending off City so wearying. The 3-1 margin of victory could have been wider had City not at times missed that final bit of polish at Joie Stadium.
They were never going to answer the big questions here that will really determine their future: how they will cope with battling on all fronts, and how they will cope without the injured Vivianne Miedema, whom they tried and failed to replace on deadline day. Those go into what it takes to stay at the top but are musings for another day. On Sunday, they picked up where they left off, which was all they had to do. It wasn’t until forward Mary Fowler stabbed in a goal at close range from a deflection four minutes into the second half that City were finally unshackled. From there, they were that zipping force that borders on overstimulating, like looking at a financial trader’s seven-screen dashboard. Soon after, striker Bunny Shaw rose highest, with the perfectly vertical ascent of a rocket, to nod home Kerstin Casparij’s corner for City’s second. To watch Shaw in full flight must fill defences with a sense of pure helplessness.Then Jegelertz broke Beth Mead: Manchester City edition out of the box, and the former Arsenal winger gloried in her free role, denied a debut goal following the kind of interplay with Shaw and midfielder Lauren Hemp that will strike fear in opposition managers. She turned provider for Shaw’s second from a corner, the striker leaping to repeat the earlier trick. Bunny Shaw (centre) heads in Manchester City’s second (Martin Rickett/Getty Images)Jegelertz is loath to use the phrase ‘defending the title’. It is too passive; City must attack it again. What defined the WSL’s last great dynasty — that of Chelsea — was reinvention, even if Jegelertz insisted last season’s transformation from also-rans to champions was never as drastic as it seemed (the former Manchester United boss Marc Skinner pointed out that even before last season, City had accumulated players good enough to win the WSL). Their erratic finishing positions over the years — 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 4th — probably masked how close they came: a title decided on goal difference in 2024, and one on points per game during the pandemic.Perhaps too modestly, Jegelertz has insisted that City’s squad had the solutions all along. He reminded them of just how much they were capable of, positionally and mentally, so that the idea of winning the title no longer needs to be voiced in hushed tones. City finished 17 points behind Chelsea when Chelsea won their most recent title, and maybe after a while that inculcates a sense of shakiness, or not-quite-worthiness.
