Man City season preview: Have they done enough to renew their title credentials?

New season, new manager: Man City need to forget last season's shortcomings and quickly bounce back if they are to challenge for silverware

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What happened last season?

In a word? Disaster. In just one season, Man City went from narrowly missing out on the title on goal difference to not even securing a coveted Champions League place.

True, the injury crisis that decimated their season must be taken into account. At various points, City’s injury list included Vivianne Miedema, Jill Roord, Bunny Shaw, Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, Laura Blindkilde Brown, Aoba Fujino, Rebecca Knaak, and Mary Fowler.

But the baffling thing was that even amid the injury chaos, City showed they were capable of competing. They reached the League Cup final and were arguably the better team in that match, though they lost out to Chelsea. They also made it to the semi-final of the FA Cup before falling to a strong performance from local rivals Manchester United. And their Champions League campaign was commendable - up until the moment they threw away a two-goal advantage over the Blues in the second leg of the quarter-final.

Towards the end of the season, the club parted ways with long-time manager Gareth Taylor, just before that unforgettable run of four consecutive matches against Chelsea. Whether or not it was the right call, returning manager Nick Cushing failed to guide them past Chelsea in Europe and, worse still, couldn't secure a top-three WSL finish - meaning there’s no European football this season.

There was some chaos off the pitch too. City fans had to watch former player Chloe Kelly thrive after leaving the club on loan to Arsenal in January. Kelly was frozen out under Taylor and accused the club of “assassinating her character.”