Taylor on new signing Chloe Kelly: "She feels so normal in this environment which is great and she is going to be a really good asset for us."
Thursday 16 July 2020 12:33, UK
New Manchester City Women boss Gareth Taylor says his priority is to win the Women's Super League which they narrowly missed out on last season.
When the league was suspended in March due to Covid-19 City were top of the league on 40 points from 16 games while Chelsea were a point behind having played one fewer game.
But in April the 2019-20 season was cancelled and Chelsea were crowned champions, overtaking City on a points-per-game basis.
Former Wales international Taylor was appointed head coach in May on a three-year deal and has just begun working with the players on the training pitch ahead of the new campaign.
The target start date for the 2020/21 Women's Super League and Championship seasons is the weekend of September 5-6 and Taylor's aim is to go one better in the WSL than last season.
"We understand where we're working and the club we're at. It's a successful club and has had a successful period and we want that to continue," he told Sky Sports News.
"My objective immediately, I've spoken to the girls and got the vibe from them as well, is to be successful in the WSL.
"I think that's important, most coaches would say that, it's a real test of a team that wins the league because it's usually the best team, the most consistent team.
"Cup competitions? Of course we want to be successful in every competition we enter which is very difficult because anything can happen on any given Sunday.
"So the league for me is really, really important and obviously that guarantees qualification into the Champions League for the following season which is important to us as a club."
Taylor has already begun recruiting with England forward Chloe Kelly signing on a free transfer, having rejected a contract offer from Everton in June.
City are also being linked with Luzy Bronze and Alex Greenwood while Gemma Bonner became the latest player to commit her future to the club after signing a two-year contract extension.
"I'm so pleased that we got that one (Kelly) over the line," added Taylor. "You wouldn't know she's a new player and I think that's testament to the group of staff and players that we have here already to make her so welcome.
"She feels so normal in this environment which is great and she is going to be a really good asset for us. She had a really good season last year and we're looking forward to seeing how she's going to improve because there's plenty of talent there.
"We've got plenty of interest and plenty of players we're trying to recruit.
"We're hoping to add maybe one or two more but I've been really impressed with the quality of the players we have already.
"They've been successful previously, we've got some really good experience in the ranks, we've also got some really good young players coming through.
"We're quite far down the line with a couple (of targets) so hopefully we can get those over the line and improve on what we already have."
