'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

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'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

Manager Willie Kirk believes Saturday's game plan is about nullyfing Manchester City's threat, as LCFC Women prepare for Barclays Women's Super League action at King Power Stadium.

2023-10-20T16:03:00.000Z

by Matthew Temple

Published

20 Oct, 2023

'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

Manager Willie Kirk believes Saturday's game plan is about nullyfing Manchester City's threat, as LCFC Women prepare for Barclays Women's Super League action at King Power Stadium.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-20T16:03:00.000Z

'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

Manager Willie Kirk believes Saturday's game plan is about nullyfing Manchester City's threat, as LCFC Women prepare for Barclays Women's Super League action at King Power Stadium.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-20T16:03:00.000Z

'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

Manager Willie Kirk believes Saturday's game plan is about nullyfing Manchester City's threat, as LCFC Women prepare for Barclays Women's Super League action at King Power Stadium.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-20T16:03:00.000Z

'I've Been Impressed With Them' - Kirk Talks Man City Challenge

Manager Willie Kirk believes Saturday's game plan is about nullyfing Manchester City's threat, as LCFC Women prepare for Barclays Women's Super League action at King Power Stadium.

Matthew Temple

2023-10-20T16:03:00.000Z

An unbeaten Leicester City side prepare for the visit of Man City, who currently lead the Foxes at the top of the WSL on goal difference, and will look to keep their impressive start to the season going, after securing a point on the road at Manchester United last time out when the two sides met at Leigh Sports Village.

The Manager spoke to the media during Thursday's press conference and here are the main talking points...

Analysing Man Utd

After a goalless first half, the deadlock was finally broken at Leigh Sports Village when Leicester captain Aileen Whelan fired low past Lionesses 'keeper Mary Earps, but a Maya Le Tissier header moments later meant the points were shared on matchday three of the WSL.

While earning their best result against the Red Devils, Kirk believes there are still lessons to be learned from the performance, but admits that they will take confidence into their game against the Sky Blues this Saturday at King Power Stadium.

"The Man Utd game, in isolation, gives a confidence but also a lot of points to work on," the Manager explained. "We need to be starting the game better, the game could've been out of sight, but we held on until half-time and the players certainly changed their approach in the second half and were much better.

"It was a really good reference point for us that we need to start the games like that and do it for 90 minutes, and not just one half if we want to get a result. But we've analysed the game, by comparing the two halves, and now we've started afresh, building towards Man City this weekend.

"We've spent this week working on what we've been working on all season, and that's what is so disappointing with the Man Utd performance, that I felt we never showed a true reflection of ourselves and we want to improve on that come Saturday."

Closing the gap

City currently sit second in the league, with seven points from a possible nine, and only behind title-chasers Man City on goal difference. The standings look a little different to how they did during the 2022/23 campaign, deeming many to believe that the top flight is developing, but the former Everton manager doesn't want to look into the reducing gap so much this early into the season.

He added: "I'm not convinced that the gap is closed, it's early on in the season, and historically you'll always find some of those results at the start. The World Cup could've had an impact on that, where some teams weren't able to start so brightly with a full squad, but that'll pan out over the next few months.

"But we're always looking at ways to close the gap; every team in this league is ambitious. There's only so many top players that the top clubs can sign. When you look at some of the other signings, it proves how far the game has come. The quality throughout is really good, and you're seeing that physically, technically and tactically and that'll only make for a more competitive league."

The Citizens

This weekend's opponents Man City arrive in fine form with seven points to their name, but they've had to work for it as they have already received three red cards so far this season. Two of which came in their 1-1 draw at home to current champions Chelsea, when a 96th-minute equaliser from Guro Reiten salvaged a point for the Londoners.

Kirk commended the efforts of the opposition manager Gareth Taylor, and knows what quality to expect come Saturday afternoon, and has tailored this week's training to keep the Citizens at bay, while looking to cause problems themselves on Filbert Way.

"We're prepared to face a lot of quality in a side which are physically good," the 45-year-old remarked. "I think they've slightly changed and have become a little bit more direct at times, and more aggressive out of possession, and I've been impressed with them so far, but it's been difficult to fully analyse them because of the sending offs.

"You can watch the first 70 minutes against West Ham United, and then the Chelsea game was really difficult to analyse after Alex Greenwood was sent off. In the Bristol game, it was just waves of attack, and I don't think Man City had a goal kick. So it's hard to analyse them on the basis of those three games.

"But we do know that individually and collectively they are a top team. Gareth [Taylor] is a top manager, who I have a lot of respect for. He'll always have his teams play in a certain way and at a certain level. We know they have certain styles of play so it's just about nullifying them and what they want to do so we can bring our own game to them in terms of what we do with the ball."

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