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In preparation for their highly anticipated FA Cup match against Manchester City, Bournemouth Women’s team has been focusing on maintaining their usual routine while making necessary tactical adjustments. Manager Helen Bleazard emphasized the importance of keeping things as normal as possible in the lead-up to the game, ensuring that the team remains focused and well-prepared.
Helen Bleazard said: “Obviously the occasion speaks for itself, but the best thing we can do as staff is just make sure that we do the same prep as we would any other week. The girls have been great. They’ve been really at it in training and making it a hard decision for me.”
Bleazard has managed to balance the excitement of the cup clash with the need for focused preparation. She revealed that she deliberately withheld information about the FA Cup until just before their first training session of the week to prevent distractions.
Helen Bleazard said: “I didn’t tell them until about 10 minutes before about the FA Cup because we had analysis and obviously we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves with that. We were there on our first training session of the week, so we had to make sure that we were prepped and ready to go. We saw the FA Cup, which was a fantastic opportunity for the girls, and then straight out to training, business as usual.”
Facing a team like Manchester City, known for their possession-based play, requires a shift in strategy for Bournemouth, who are typically dominant in possession themselves. Bleazard has been working on adapting the team’s tactics to accommodate this change.
Helen Bleazard said: “We’ve talked about it, it’s going to be a game where we’re not going to have as much of the ball as usual. That is something as staff we’ve had to adapt to with our tactics and how we want to play. Obviously, when the success that we’ve had over the last few years, we’ve been a very in possession, dominant team, so that mindset naturally has to shift.”
The manager expressed confidence in her squad’s ability to adapt, noting the players’ willingness to embrace new strategies from the start of the season. With one more training session scheduled before the match, Bleazard is optimistic about the team’s preparation and their ability to execute the game plan effectively.
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