Midfielder Caroline Weir was the star performer in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Everton at Walton Hall Park yesterday.
The Scotland international popped up with three assists and possibly could’ve had even more before she was substituted in the second half.
“It’s nice to contribute to team goals” Weir told FA Women’s Super League Full-Time after the match. “There was quite a lot of space for me on the left hand side especially in the transition.”
Ever one to be humble, Weir was quick to point out the contribution of her teammates in putting away her deliveries. She added “I think we broke quite well and obviously with Ellen White in the box and Janine (Beckie) making that run at the end of the first half, it makes your job easier. So, if you can find them you know they’re going to get something on target.
“Ellen White, that’s what she’s been so great at over the years is making things look better than they are and getting goals out of nothing.
“She’s great to play with and I’m really happy for her to get on the scoresheet.”
Although Manchester City came out flying in the first half and took a commanding lead over their Merseyside opponents, they weren’t able to add to the scoreline following the half-time interval and Weir admitted that improvements can still be made.
“I think we’ll look at the second half and think ‘there’s probably things we can do better’, that’s happened a few times maybe we’ve played well in the first half and not been able to continue it throughout the whole game” said Weir. “We’ll look at that and see what it is that we need to improve but obviously going in with a 3-0 lead, it’s also difficult to keep that standard.
“But that’s why we push ourselves, that’s what we want, we want to score more goals and really put teams away.”
Both teams had limited time in order to prepare for the encounter as a result of some players’ commitments to their national sides. Weir herself faced a demoralising defeat with Scotland against Finland in midweek, however, it didn’t have any impact on her performance at Walton Hall Park.
The midfielder went on to say “It’s always difficult coming off an international break and players playing minutes, even if it was England in-house games, it’s still quite intense and not being together, only having a few days to prepare.
“It’s good to get the first game out of the way with such a convincing win.”
The match was Manchester City’s first of five over the course of the next two weeks which includes a trip to Goteborg on Wednesday for a UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 32 tie, so it is a very congested period for Gareth Taylor’s side in the lead up to Christmas. One of the benefits of having a large squad filled to the brim with international stars is that it gives head coach Taylor the chance to rotate.
When speaking about the quality of the Manchester City squad, Weir said “I think it’s the strongest squad I’ve ever been a part of.
“It’s very competitive and it’s great, you learn from each other every day in training and you’re challenged.
No-one’s guaranteed to play, so there’s definitely a competitive edge and I think that makes us all better players and hopefully a better team as well.”
The Cityzens have struggled in the UEFA Women’s Champions League in recent seasons having been knocked out in the early round in the last two campaigns, both at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Still, given the introduction of FIFA Women’s World Cup and UEFA Women’s Champions League winners this season, as well as the development of players like Weir, you’d expect them to give a better account of themselves this time around.
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