Almost exactly 12 months ago the impression that Leicester Women were utterly lost was reinforced by a thrashing at Manchester City. That 4-0 WSL defeat left Lydia Bedford’s then side bottom of the table, with no points and seemingly on an inexorable track to relegation.
Even when, within a month, Bedford departed and Willie Kirk took charge the overwhelming consensus suggested a Championship future beckoned. Yet assumptions can be dangerous and, sure enough, Kirk and Leicester are preparing to host Manchester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday evening in a top-of-the-table showdown.
Admittedly only three games of the WSL season have been played but only goal difference separates second-placed Leicester from Gareth Taylor’s leaders, with both sides having collected seven points.
After Kirk defied all available odds to keep Leicester up on last season’s final day, he presided over a summer overhaul featuring the departure of 16 squad members and the recruitment of nine signings, suited to the manager’s preferred possession-based style. It seemed quite a statement when the Belgium attacking midfielder Janice Cayman arrived from Lyon, where she had won two Champions League titles.
Given that Taylor’s City also like to monopolise the ball and are staffed with internationals at every turn something is going to have to give at the King Power but there should be plenty of tactical intrigue along the way.
Kirk has spoken of standing up in front of the Leicester players shortly after succeeding Bedford last November, saying he wanted them to dominate possession while seeing scepticism writ large across the faces of professionals then accustomed to spending long periods without the ball.
If Janina Leitzig, Leicester’s excellent former Bayern Munich goalkeeper, is likely to have a busy evening contending with Khadija Shaw, Mary Fowler, Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord, Leicester offer a few potent attacking weapons of their own.
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Two of Kirk’s attacking signings, the Germany and former Montpellier striker Lena Petermann and the Finland forward Jutta Rantala have both scored twice this season, and Aimee Palmer represents a midfield goal threat. That trio will surely delight in testing the reflexes of City’s talented 19-year-old goalkeeper Khiara Keating as she prepares to join the England senior squad for the first time.
Taylor is not underestimating his hosts. “I’m not surprised by Leicester,” said City’s manager. “I saw signs of this team performing the way they are now last season. I saw a change in Leicester after Willie took over. He’s put energy and quality into the team and they’re a force to be reckoned with at the moment.”
Casey Stoney, watching from afar in California where she is the head coach of San Diego Wave, is similarly unlikely to be startled by Leicester’s rapid improvement. When, back in 2018, Stoney retired from playing and became Manchester United’s manager she was confronted with the not inconsiderable task of building a new team from scratch.
The former England captain needed a high-calibre assistant and one particular name kept being recommended. It was Kirk’s. The Scot trailed a very decent record during his time in charge of the women’s teams at Hibernian and Bristol City and Stoney, having appointed him, was soon singing his praises.
“Willie’s absolutely brilliant,” she said. “He’s got a great sense of humour, a calming presence, he’s great with the players and develops the young ones really well.”
Like a lot of good things their partnership was not destined to last. After six months Kirk said his ego “needed massaging” as he accepted an offer to step back into the spotlight and take charge at Everton.
That job would end in tears with an arguably harsh sacking three years down the line but now everyone at Leicester is smiling. “Our position shows the evolution of the squad,” said Kirk whose side have begun the WSL campaign with victories against Bristol City and Everton followed by a draw at Manchester United. As if that were not promising enough, they have also beaten Liverpool in the League Cup.
“We try to be aggressive, but with a bit of quality, and have the ball,” said Kirk. “We don’t want another relegation battle and we won’t have one. This season is about progress, about making our mark and getting as high up the table as possible.”