Manchester City must show Spurs respect insists Jeglertz | OneFootball

Manchester City head coach Andrée Jeglertz says that his side must show this weekend’s opponents Tottenham Hotspur the respect that they deserve.

The Cityzens travel to the BetWright Stadium to take on The Lilywhites on Friday evening.

Spurs go into the game off the back of consecutive wins and Manchester City head coach Jeglertz has highlighted the importance of giving the North Londoners respect.

“The most important thing for a football team is confidence,” Jeglertz said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “They have won two games, so of course, they will have good confidence but I am also sure that we are a very good team.

“It will be important for us to have respect for the opponent, knowing that we are playing a good team with good individual players but I think we are a better team. If we are matching them and giving ourselves the opportunity to work hard with the ball, respecting them; if we do that and put the emphasis on every part of the game, we have a great opportunity to win. The respect for a team that are playing with confidence is important for us when we step on the field.”

Going on to discuss Spurs in more detail, Jeglertz said that he expects them to come out and try to make their mark and it’s for Manchester City to then gain control.

He said “All teams that are playing on their home ground, there’s something in their mentality, both staff and players, that they want to show us that this is their home ground.

“We always expect a team to come out on the front-foot but after a while, if we manage that part of the game, we can take control and see that there’s an opportunity.

“If they put high pressure on us, we’ve been very good with dealing with that with the braveness of the team and the qualities that we have in the build-up. Hopefully, we can punish them in that. Otherwise, the longer the game goes, the more there will be an organised structure.”

After juggling several injuries to attacking players last season, Manchester City are still finding their groove in the forward areas but Jeglertz has confidence that things will click.

He said “We need to score more goals than we did in the last game because we created so many chances but it’s a good feeling for a coach to see the team create that many chances.

“It’s early in the season and some of the players have only been here for five or six weeks, so the performance, the final third, the decision-making will always be a bit up and down, that’s natural. As long as we keep creating chances in different ways, we are unpredictable and I’m confident that the players in the front-line will score.”

Manchester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 7.30pm on Friday evening