‘Disruptors’ London City show signs of intent despite heavy debut loss

London City Lionesses may have lost their first game of the Women’s Super League 4-1, but it is obvious that they are prepared to upset the standing order.

In front of 38, 000 spectators at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, they made their bow in England’s top flight, facing European champions Arsenal.

However, the independent club, which is supported by wealthy American owner Michele Kang and is not affiliated with a men’s counterpart, has sent a clear message that they want to stir up WSL fans.

We want to disrupt. Before kick-off, London City Lionesses CEO Martin Semmens stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that his company’s position is to be competitive and that he believes that any elite sport would require that we compete against the best teams.

The town’s buzzword is the London City Lionesses.

When Kang bought the club, they were Championship regulars when they were formed in 2019 as a breakaway team from East London rival Millwall Lionesses.

Kosovare Asllani, a former Paris St-Germain manager, took over as head coach after six months as a result of her investment.

Cobdown Park, a 28-acre site that they intend to develop into an elite training facility, was moved from Hayes Lane in Bromley by them.

As anticipated, they won the Championship, which has since been renamed WSL 2 from this year, and she quickly pulled out the cash to aid London City Lionesses in recruiting some of the most exciting talents in the world.

While famous faces like Danielle van de Donk and Nikita Parris had already arrived earlier in the summer, a deadline day double coup starring Grace Geyoro from PSG and Lucia Corrales from Barcelona raised eyebrows.

An astonishing turnover and a sprightly sign that London City Lionesses were about to start a new era were the club’s signings for the summer, which included 11 players leaving the club.

Who knows what they can do if their goal is to compete in the Champions League in the near future and not?

After surviving to the horrifying defeat by Arsenal, Preucher said, “With the leader I have in Michele [Kang], we know where we want to go.”

“But we are talking about the WSL, which is probably the most difficult league in the world,” so even if we are ambitious, we are aware that it will be challenging and won’t be possible in a week.

I can’t tell you how much time we need. We must allow for many of the new signings to adjust to their new home and league.

With a newly promoted side playing at the home of the European champions, there was a gap between the London City Lionesses and Arsenal.

The gap was not noticeable in the first 20 minutes, when London City blew the script and dominated the proceedings while keeping the rowdy Arsenal home crowd at bay.

In the 17th minute, Asllani scored a penalty to give the newcomers a 1-0 lead.

Arsenal appeared a little shaken up and unsure of how to deal with the unfamiliar opposition in front of them, which was reward for their disruptive start.

It’s really difficult to play against them because of how they play and how they set up. It needed to be accustomed to for us. We needed to re-establish our connections and get used to the rhythm, according to Arsenal’s manager Renee Slegers.

“When we did that, I believe we did it really well and the pitch opened up,” she said. The connections are still being made between London City Lionesses.

There were a number of players who weren’t in the squad, as well as a lot of good players. They compete against one another very well. They will be problematic for the league.

Arsenal won the game with two goals in the final ten minutes as an exhausted London City struggled to cope with the pressure.

It was a learning curve and a reminder of the growth they require if they want to consistently compete with England’s best.

However, Precheur’s admission that he was “delighted” at full-time and his harsh assessment that London City “only existed” in the second half demonstrated that they will not accept just being a part of the WSL.

His greatest challenge? transforming a team of well-known, well-known players into a cohesive unit.

We can adapt to the WSL, they say. One of our challenges will be to adapt to WSL 2, which has a completely different intensity and rhythm, he added.

“Fortunately, we hired players who are familiar with this level of intensity and rhythm.” All we need to do is form a team right away.

“I have a job to do to create some cohesion and connection to defend and attack together,” I said. Many of the players have only just begun playing for a week.