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For any fan of England’s Lionesses, the Manchester derby was the place to be on March 23. The nation’s biggest names were on show at the Etihad Stadium as more than 40,000 packed in to watch Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp’s Manchester City defeat Mary Earps and Ella Toone’s Manchester United. But the cast for this entertaining affair was missing one big star – Chloe Kelly.
The England winger wasn’t injured, nor was she suspended. Instead, Mary Fowler’s impressive performances in a starting role have relegated Kelly to the bench for City’s last four games. Against United, she was an unused substitute for the first time in the Women’s Super League since May 2018.
“It’s just basically we have good players,” head coach Gareth Taylor said afterwards, asked why Kelly has dropped out of his XI. “We put Mary into the FA Cup game, she scores. She scores against Brighton last week. Mary’s a very good player. Of course, the demands are really high of what we ask for, in goals and assists from those players, without it being all about that. But Mary has taken her opportunity and now what Chloe has to do is work hard every day in training to be ready.”
Given Kelly has been a near-constant starter in the WSL since leaving Arsenal for Everton back in 2017, it’s a new situation for her to be in. But as England duty looms, she has a chance to remind everyone what she is capable of.
Taylor isn’t wrong when he says City have plenty of good players. Fowler herself has been incredibly unlucky not to get more game time since her arrival in Manchester for that exact reason, something she has backed up with her electric displays over the last few weeks.
Jess Park is another great example, one Taylor pointed to when discussing Kelly. The England youngster had started just three games all season, all in the Continental Cup group stage, before the New Year. But then Jill Roord’s devastating ACL injury opened the door for her to get an opportunity and she has taken it with both hands.
“The levels have to be good, that’s the same for all of the players, and I think Jess is probably a case in point with that one,” Taylor said. “Her attitude and her enthusiasm and her level of training performance was very good whether she played or not. I think that’s a big plus for her.”
A player of Kelly’s calibre is always going to be measured against higher standards, but Taylor’s comments about levels and goals and assists are backed up by the stats. Having come into 2024 in flying form, the England star registered one goal and no assists in the seven games before she was benched for the FA Cup clash with Tottenham a few weeks ago. In the seven games prior to that, she’d scored twice and provided five assists.
It’s not that Kelly has been dramatically out of form, at all. She’s still been a creative outlet for City and a threat for whoever the opponent is, such is her wonderful ability. Her numbers are down for most key metrics when you compare the two aforementioned periods, but even in the games leading up to her being dropped from City’s starting XI, she was still creating more than two chances a game, per 90 minute averages.
That said, City have a quality squad and if the standard slips even the slightest bit, there is going to be a fantastic player ready to capitalise. You can’t blame a coach for wanting to change things up when they have the sort of depth at their disposal that Taylor does, either.
A bit of time out of the starting XI does not necessarily have to be a terrible thing for Kelly, though. We’re talking about a player who has played constantly for City over the last couple of years and a lot for England as of late, too.
Rest is always beneficial and it could well help her get back to her brilliant best, both in terms of giving her a little break and motivating her to respond to Taylor’s demands. After all, the situation will no doubt give her a bit of fire in her belly.
It’s also worth noting that Kelly is about to enter the final year of her contract in Manchester. With negotiations reportedly put on hold until the end of the season, the next few months are a perfect time for the forward to show that she is worth a bumper deal.
One would imagine Kelly is absolutely itching to pull on that England shirt this week, then. The 26-year-old was a regular starter throughout the Lionesses’ Nations League campaign and will hope to build on that as the qualifying process for the 2025 Women’s Euro begins.
Kelly has had to bide her time to reach this point. She was one of Sarina Wiegman’s super-subs during the Euros in 2022, famously scoring the extra-time winner in the final against Germany, but dropped out of the starting XI during last year’s World Cup when the coach switched to a back three.
However, since then, she has worked her way back into Wiegman’s plans with the help of some strong early-season form with City.
England’s switch of shape has helped her do that, too. Kelly actually started the Lionesses’ first Nations League game at left wing-back, but was so ineffective in an unfamiliar and restrictive role that Wiegman subbed her off at half-time. However, the return to 4-3-3 has allowed her to play in a more conventional wide position, the type that she enjoys in Manchester.
It still feels like she has more to give as a starter for England, with there flashes of brilliance throughout the Lionesses’ difficult Nations League campaign, but not too many complete performances as the team ultimately fell short of the goal of qualifying for the Olympics.
Taking any opportunities that come her way in this upcoming international break will be important for her role with the national team too then, as City are not the only ones with a squad full of good players and fierce competition for places.
But Kelly knows that. At the start of the season, it was about her doing all she could in her performances for City to show that she was worth more of a look-in with England. Now, she faces the opposite situation.
While Taylor urges the winger to step up and work hard to earn a return to his starting XI, she’ll hope that Wiegman trusts her to perform as the Lionesses take their first steps towards the defence of their European title. If that proves to be the case, Kelly is sure to be fired up in her bid to take the chance.
