Nick Cushing spoke to the media following Manchester City’s loss in the Subway Women’s League Cup Final against Chelsea – his first game back at the club after being appointed Interim Manager following Gareth Taylor’s departure earlier this week.
Chelsea claimed a 2-1 win at Derby County’s Pride Park on Saturday, despite a strong showing from Cushing’s side. They’ll meet again three times over the next two weeks, with the first of those clashes coming on Wednesday in their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
“It won’t be any different on Wednesday,” Cushing explained in his post-match press conference. “We are going to give up some chances, but we got to make sure we create enough to be a threat in the game, to be clinical enough to get enough goals to win.”
“It’s about belief: the belief that you can go on and win. The game is decided in the boxes. The game in the middle is great to watch, but the game is decided in the boxes. We got to be the team that dominates the boxes, I have the belief that we can go and win on Wednesday.”
“The immediate feeling and emotion of losing a final is incredible disappointment,” he accepted, suggesting that “it’s our job to pick them up, give them belief in the team and in the way we play. There’s enough there to show them.”
He added: “We had multiple moments in their box, we put them under pressure many times, at half time we had six corners to zero. We had real belief that we could get back into the game after we were one nil down. These finals always swing on moments; the moment fell to Chelsea. I’ve seen enough to know we can be competitive enough in the next three games. I have the belief that this team can win, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. It’s tough to lose finals but you got to dust yourself off and move on.”
“It’s my job to swing this into motivation, rather than the deflation of losing or the fear that we are playing a better team. This feeling you get after losing a final, if it isn’t motivation to take you into the next game, you’re playing the wrong game, right? We did enough to win the game today, we had many moments and I was proud of that.”