Physicality, box presence and calmness: How Manchester City have missed Miedema
City's rocky performances have highlighted how crucial Vivianne Miedema is to team's style of play
Manchester City have followed up their WSL triumph by booking a trip to the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on 31 May.
They won their semi final in the most dramatic way possible, coming from 2-0 down to beat Chelsea 3-2 in extra time at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea had the tie under control with City barely troubling their goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in the second half. That was until substitute Mary Fowler’s left-footed strike from the edge of the box in the 86th minute halved City’s deficit. Bunny Shaw then equalised late in stoppage time to take the game to extra time.
City’s come back would be complete when Yui Hasegawa pounced on a stray pass from Hampton to tee up Shaw for the winner in the first half of extra time.
Chelsea will feel they should have won the tie based on the balance of play and could have preserved their 2-0 lead better. City never looked like scoring until the equaliser fell to Fowler. Chelsea, who have had injury issues throughout the season, were missing their first-choice centre backs to injury.
For City, last week’s hero Rebecca Knaak missed out with an injury as did US midfielder Sam Coffey. But it was not their absence that City felt the most, it was that of Dutch attacker Vivianne Miedema.
Miedema has been absent from City’s squad for the last four fixtures for personal reasons. Last week the 29-year-old posted on Instagram to share that her mother had experienced complications following chemotherapy treatment for cancer. It’s crucial that City have showed compassion and allowed a player to have time with their family during a difficult time.
The run of fixtures she’s missed has included two close 1-0 wins against Birmingham City and Liverpool, and a 3-2 loss to their Women’s FA Cup final opponents Brighton.
Miedema serves as City’s main connector between midfield and attack in the No 10 role. She can use her diverse skillset to affect various phases of the game, something few players can do.
City head coach Andree Jeglertz once described her as one of the coaches on the pitch because he can rely on her to absorb tactical instructions quickly and relay them to the other players. On top of being an extremely talented footballer and City’s most experienced player, she is also a very important member of the City squad.
Her calm personality is very important in the big moments. In the second half at Brighton, City let the game slip away from them and let the game descend into chaos and found themselves 3-1 down despite scoring first. It is in those moments when City need the experience of players like Miedema and Coffey, who also missed the Brighton game through injury.
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