Lucy Bronze: Man City have gone under the radar and haven’t got the credit we deserve

I agree with our manager Gareth Taylor that after a strong second half of the season, we might not have had the credit we deserve at Manchester City.

During this campaign, we have seen the best and worst of the team, I don’t think we can deny that, but I do believe we deserve more recognition than we have received.

Chelsea have been very consistent over four or five years and people talk about them being so dominant.

Lyon have been the dominant team in Europe over the past few years and it does take a lot to reach that kind of level for any team, although Chelsea continue to dominate domestically.

I do think Lyon are the benchmark but it is great to see teams such as Chelsea and Barcelona competing for major titles on a regular basis because you can see the women’s game being elevated all across Europe currently, which is reflected in the competitiveness of the Champions League now.

There are similarities between City and Chelsea, as clubs overall, in that we have got used to having a target on our backs due to the investment that there has been in both clubs. The same could now be said for Newcastle men and they may find themselves in a similar position in the coming years.

We may have lost the FA Cup final 3-2 to Chelsea in extra-time on Sunday but I feel we have gone massively under the radar. We were eighth in Women’s Super League before Christmas and ended up third, qualifying for the Champions League.

We weren’t challenging for the title but we won the Continental Cup and were finalists in the FA Cup. Even without an injury crisis that at one point deprived us of ten first-team players, myself included, that constitutes a good season.

Chelsea know how to win games and we have had to go all-out to play catch-up and get that