“Don’t panic”: Maestre backs London City process | OneFootball

London City Lionesses head coach Eder Maestre has warned his side there are “no weak teams” in the Barclays Women’s Super League as they prepare to travel to newly promoted Charlton Athletic this weekend.

Charlton are yet to enjoy the start to life in the top flight they would have hoped for, but Maestre is expecting another demanding contest and believes their ability to defend compactly before attacking the space behind London City could pose a genuine threat.

“As I repeated a lot, I think there is not a weak team in this competition,” Maestre said. “Every team can be a potential team to punish us. Mostly because these kinds of teams that maybe can give you the ball, they can be very committed to exploiting our spaces in behind. It’s something that we suffered against West Ham in the last game.”

London City were punished twice by direct West Ham attacks in their previous outing, but Maestre is not allowing that result to create panic within his squad. Instead, he believes being exposed to those situations can serve as an important reminder of the fine margins involved in the WSL.

“Sometimes it’s good to suffer these kinds of situations because it puts the alert and makes the team aware of how painful every team can be with the players that they have,” he explained. “So we expect Charlton in more or less the same 4-4-2 flat shape, trying to be patient, compact and trying to exploit our spaces in behind.”

For Maestre, one of the biggest challenges is ensuring London City turn promising performances into points. His side have regularly produced strong underlying numbers and created opportunities, but the head coach believes greater efficiency in both penalty areas will ultimately determine how far they can go.

“Being clinical in the boxes is going to be one of the key points to have any chance to push for the championship,” he said. “We need to keep developing the way we take advantage of the many chances and opportunities we are reaching in the box.”

Maestre also wants his team to rediscover the defensive consistency they demonstrated during the second half of last season.

“We were the second-best in receiving or conceding expected goals,” he said. “If we can be on that same page and keep building through the things that we already have, I think we are going to be pushing until the last moment.”

It is a message that becomes particularly important away from home.

London City won just three of their 11 away fixtures last season, but Maestre feels the performances have often deserved more than the eventual results suggest.

“One thing is the expected performance that we had, and another one is the performance that we are reaching,” he said. “As a coach, you need to create moments and contexts to increase the probabilities to win. That is scoring or reaching big chances and trying to avoid the opponent having those kinds of big chances. I think the process is good. I think we are dominant enough. We are creating the chances. We have all the ingredients to make a very good recipe, but sometimes luck is part of the job, part of the process and part of the reality.”

The answer, in Maestre’s eyes, is not to abandon the process but to become more ruthless.

“Being clinical in the boxes is always the best way to translate the expected performance into real scoring,” he added.

That mentality is closely linked to another theme Maestre repeatedly returned to during his press conference: resilience.

London City have already scored twice in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, and their head coach believes the way players respond to adversity will be central to their progress.

Reflecting on the defeat to West Ham, Maestre recalled telling his players not to panic at half-time.

“I remember saying, ‘Don’t panic,’” he said. “I think we had the keys to overcome the result. The spaces were there, the players to split the spaces were there. The only thing was about recognising that space, trying to be more patient and trying to be more confident in the ways we were working during all the week.”

Even after London City conceded again early in the second half, Maestre was encouraged by their reaction.

“The resilience appeared in that game in the toughest moment, which curiously was when we received the second goal,” he said. “The team moved forward, mostly with the substitutes, who brought a lot of energy to the pitch. We were fighting until the last moment, and in the last 30 minutes I think we could see again the team that we want to be.”

For Maestre, resilience is not simply about demanding more from players. It is also about creating an environment in which mistakes do not become debilitating.

“I think resilience appears when you can cope with frustration,” he explained. “The way we manage the mistakes will make the difference. The more we can apply self-compassion and treat with love the mistakes that can appear, the more we are going to be capable of overcoming every tough situation that we are going to have.”

That philosophy is particularly important during a demanding period in which London City are set to play five matches in 15 days.

Maestre confirmed that goalkeeper Mary Earps is now in a position to compete more strongly for minutes after gradually building her fitness.

“She is ready to push for the position right now,” he said. “This density that is going to appear, I think, is going to be a very good moment to show her potential, and we are going to see her pushing with Helena for the position.”

There remain some fitness concerns elsewhere in the squad, with Alanna Kennedy and Delphine Cascarino both having dealt with issues.

“Hopefully, we are going to have fitter forward players,” Maestre said. “But we had some problems and some issues with Alanna, and Delphine is still having some problems to have consistency with some groin pain. Football is like this. The players that you have available, you must use them in the best way to suit the game plan. I’m happy with the players that we are going to have available for this game.”

And while London City’s ambitions continue to grow following a summer of significant investment, Maestre insists the club cannot afford to look too far ahead.

“We are trying to create something, not to look so far,” he said. “We are focusing on the next game.”

For now, that next game is Charlton, and another opportunity for London City to show that their dominance can be turned into the points their performances promise.