Jeglertz on substitutes’ impact in our 100% start | OneFootball

Andrée Jeglertz has highlighted the key role substitutes have played in City’s 100% start to the campaign after yet another late turnaround against Arsenal.

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The Blues were twice pegged back but eventually ran out 4-2 winners against the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium and make it five wins from five WSL matches.

A Lauren Hemp brace plus strikes from Kerstin Casparij and Bunny Shaw earned the victory, with Casparij’s impressive curling effort her first touch after coming off the bench.

It was the fourth time this season that the Blues have come from behind to earn a result, and Jeglertz believes that the fresh impetus made by those entering the fray late on has been key.

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“If you look at all the games we’ve played so far, the substitutions and changes in the last 30 minutes have quite often turned the game around,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“We’ve finished on a high and never dropped, that’s something to bring with us.

“You can only start with 11 players but you can do five substitutes, [and] the ones coming in have always affected it in a good way.

“When a player isn’t selected in the starting XI it affects them, it doesn’t matter what I say, it’ll always be a bit of a confident feeling of wanting to start, which they all deserve to do.

“But it’s my job to make sure they know we still need them. I think it’s more about my feeling that after 60 minutes in general, if you want to have a real impact, normally you need 25 or 30 minutes to do it.

“So, it’s been my intention that the ones coming in get that time.”

Jeglertz also still believes City are capable of reaching another level this season.

The Blues sit top of the WSL table and are unbeaten in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, but the boss insists there are still a lot of aspects where he wants his team to develop.

Asked about his side’s potential improvements, he said: “Absolutely, otherwise we’d quit now. We still have a lot of things to grow but we showed today we can win in different ways.

“Sometimes you have the ball 70%, but we needed to defend lower and find transition moments [against Arsenal].

“We have parts to grow but the confidence in the group is great, we know we’ll always find our opportunities.”