Manchester City's Women's Super League title built on belief, language and a shift in mindset

MANCHESTER, May 13 : Manchester City's long-awaited return to the summit of the Women's Super League was sealed last week, but built all season long around something the squad had long been reluctant to voice.

As Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion last week, confirming City's first league title in a decade, captain Alex Greenwood found herself reflecting less on silverware and more on something the squad once tiptoed around - language, and a willingness to speak openly about winning.

"The whole season has felt different, in a really good way," Greenwood said.

That difference, she explained, began with words around winning and excellence that City's players were finally willing to use.

"The shift in culture, the shift in mindset, the language we use and being comfortable to use certain language that we've maybe been a little bit afraid to use in the past," said the England defender. 

"But when it becomes the norm to speak like that, it's not like you win trophies immediately, but at some time that becomes normal, you operate like a successful winning team."

City's league title capped a season defined not just by results but by late-game authority. Under head coach Andree Jeglertz, appointed last July after Gareth Taylor's sacking, belief slowly hardened into expectation.

"There was a couple of moments during the year where we realised, there's one thing just saying that you want to win, but also when you score in the last minutes against Arsenal or London City or Liverpool, that the players started thinking, 'Yeah, we can actually win'," Jeglertz said.

"It's been a momentum shift during the season, for sure."

WINNING CONSISTENTLY

Yet both Greenwood and Jeglertz are careful to separate winning once from