Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor is hoping for more derby day magic from midfielder Caroline Weir when his side travel to the Leigh Sports Village to face Manchester United tomorrow.
The Scotland international has lit up previous contests between the two sides with some stunning goals. Her long range effort in the first Manchester derby in 2019 helped her side to a 1-0 win at The Etihad Stadium before Weir scored in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory back in February, hitting a perfectly weighed chip over Mary Earps which sailed into the Manchester United net.
With Manchester City on a record losing run in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League ahead of the latest derby, head coach Taylor will be hoping to see some big characters appear in his side with Weir being one player who could take the opportunity to make a difference with both hands.
“Hopefully, she can make the difference,” Taylor said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time in his pre-match press conference. “Caroline has shown that she is more than capable for us over a number of games last season. We have been getting her in the right areas, she scored in the first game of the season over in Madrid and she has been involved in some of our successes in-front of goal with some assists.
“We are always challenging her to get more goals. I think her relationship on that left side with Lauren Hemp is one that has really grown in the last 12 months of me working in this role.
“If it’s Caroline or one of our other players who needs to step up and be the person to make the difference….the more options we have the better.”
Despite Weir having scored a goal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season, she is yet to find the back of the net in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. Taylor went on to say that work is ongoing behind the scenes to help her get into the right positions.
He added “We have been challenging her on her positioning for a long time now. The goal she scored against United at The Etihad a couple of seasons ago, they are one in a lifetime, two if you’re lucky.
“We are trying to get her into those positions that we did in the second half of last season, she was scoring goals. We know that she has got the quality to connect from the edge of the box but I think it’s getting her onto the real end of the crosses is where it matters, six yards out. We saw real positive signs of that with Caroline last season.
“It is something that we are always pushing for Caroline to do, sometimes the ball arrives there, sometimes it doesn’t. I think the most important thing is her showing her trust in that and going in those positions as much as possible.”
The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City kicks-off at 1.30pm on Saturday afternoon and will be broadcast live on BBC One.