Learning to Play the Manchester City Way (Nick Cushing interview)

In his third year in charge, Nick Cushing sets out how Manchester City built a squad. Year one brought experience and a winning mentality in Steph Houghton, Karen Bardsley, Jill Scott and Toni Duggan; year two added full-backs Demi Stokes and Lucy Bronze to make City’s passing style possible; year three has been the most strategic yet, with Marie Hourihan to push Karen Bardsley and Jane Ross and Kosovare Asllani for goals. He says he is in the job for one reason, to improve footballers, and points to Izzy Christiansen’s development and first England call-up as proof that hard work counts. He rejects the idea of a three-horse title race, insisting City assume nothing and simply intend to be better than last year.