Manchester City’s statement summer signing got injured and has had to battle the off-field struggles that come with it. Ahead of City’s League Cup final this weekend, the Manchester Evening News sat down with star striker Vivianne Miedema
It should have been the signing of the century: a genuine superstar, a guarantee of goals, snatched from your rivals on a free transfer at the peak of their powers.
But that dream swoop that gave Manchester City the missing piece of their jigsaw and Vivianne Miedema a much-needed new start was quickly halted in its tracks.
Miedema joined City in the summer to prove the doubters wrong after her glorious spell at Arsenal ended sour. The ‘easy’ option would be to leave England all together, but City moved and offered one of Women’s football’s biggest stars a platform to enjoy football again.
It started well, naturally. And then she got injured.
“It was the fourth time within two years. I had finally felt good again on the pitch and felt like I was starting to be me again,” Miedema tells the Manchester Evening News ahead of City’s League Cup final this weekend.
“It’s also the first time I’ve had to rehab away from home and away from my proper comfort zone and that has been really tough. The moment you step back on the pitch and you come back with the team, that’s when you realise how difficult it has been. I also think it makes me enjoy football slightly differently now than before.”
Miedema is, on one hand, the Women’s Super League’s all-time top goalscorer and has almost 100 goals for the Netherlands at the age of just 28.
On the other, she has been honest about her struggles with being a prominent face of a growing sport while not particularly liking all the attention that comes with it. The nature of her exit from Arsenal, followed by a nasty injury just as she was getting started at City, added to those struggles.
“You wake up here alone in your flat in Manchester and you head to the training ground and there’s no one there because they’re playing the Champions League away, that’s tough. For many different reasons, it’s heartbreaking,” she admits. “And because it happened again, there’s a bit of doubt in your mind like ‘Am I still going to come back as the player I was?’ and I think the most important thing for me was trying not to think about it too much.”
Miedema did come back after the winter break and is now settled in Manchester, even if she doesn’t appreciate the ‘cold and grey’ weather. A couple of familiar faces brought in from old club Arsenal in January helped that process too.
And from the struggles of those lonely days in the winter, have come a new perspective on football.
She says: “The one thing that I feel right now is that I’m probably back better than I’ve ever been before, which gives me a lot of confidence and a lot of joy again.
“Don’t get me wrong, I still love football but I don’t think the whole world revolves around football anymore which I think has been a really healthy mindset. Looking back in time, I’ve been so absorbed and drained by everything going on in football that I couldn’t enjoy my game anymore.
“I still try to make things better when needed but I also know that when I go home, it’s me and I have a normal life and I’m a normal human being and I can switch off and be ready for the next day. With injuries, every minute and moment on the pitch just feels refreshing and new again.”
Miedema came to City to win trophies, and can win a third consecutive League Cup against Chelsea this weekend – having won back-to-back finals against the same opponent with Arsenal in 2023 and 2024.
City’s preparations for the final were thrown into chaos with Monday’s sacking of head coach Gareth Taylor, replaced by former boss Nick Cushing. As well as the disruption within the squad that inevitably causes, it has been an early test for Miedema’s new-found attitude.
“Our aim is to win that final,” she reflects. “It’s a really easy way to put confidence back into the team, to put everything that’s happened this week behind us.
“I had a really good relationship with Gareth. I’m grateful for him for allowing me to be able to enjoy my football again. The most important thing we can do as a group and as players right now is full focus on the games ahead of us and hopefully we get that lift from Nick that we need right now.
“We’ve been in situations before when a club coach or a national team coach might get sacked and the next morning you need to turn up to work and be prepared to give everything again with a different guy or woman in front of you. It’s our responsibility as the more experienced players to get everyone on board and focus together on that cup final on Saturday.
“I’ve shown that I’ve really enjoyed my football here. It’s a good environment to be the best player you can be here. I came here to win titles which we have a chance for on Saturday and hopefully we have more chances this season.”
With injuries behind her, a smile back on her face, and a newly-discovered mindset, the City-Miedema combination can get going again. And it could be unstoppable.
Man City face Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final on Saturday, Pride Park, 12.15pm.
