What's gone wrong for Man City in trophyless season?

With their Women's Champions League qualification hopes hanging by a thread, an interim head successful complaint and nary silverware - what has gone incorrect for Manchester City this season?

It is not nan measurement they pictured things aft pushing Chelsea each nan measurement successful a pulsating Women's Super League title title past year, coming 2nd only connected extremity difference.

But erstwhile nan full-time whistle went astatine nan Joie Stadium connected Sunday, ending City's past chance of winning a trophy this season, they had to guidelines and watch arsenic rivals Manchester United celebrated reaching a 3rd successive FA Cup final pinch their 2-0 win.

An wounded crisis, managerial upheaval and disappointing performances successful nan biggest moments person each contributed to what has been a play to forget.

Any squad without Vivianne Miedema, Khadija Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood would driblet their level.

City's extended wounded list, which includes those cardinal players, has severely impacted their run and thrust their deficiency of squad extent into question.

Jill Roord, Aoba Fujino, Rebecca Knaak, Laura Coombs, Naomi Layzell and keeper Ayaka Yamashita person besides missed a important number of games this play arsenic City presently beryllium 4th successful nan WSL, 7 points adrift of Manchester United successful nan last Champions League spot pinch conscionable 4 games left.

They had only 4 outfield players connected nan chair successful nan 2nd limb of their Women's Champions League quarter-final defeat by Chelsea, wherever nan Blues overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit, and person ended nan play pinch academy graduates Gracie Prior and Lily Murphy starting almost each game.

Interim head Nick Cushing admitted nan wounded situation "100% needs to beryllium examined" successful nan summertime - but it will not thief his broadside now.

"With truthful galore injuries, they can't beryllium each bad luck and they can't each beryllium down to bad practise," he said.

"We person to look astatine everything. We person to look astatine why we're sitting 4th successful nan league, why we've not won a trophy and why we've not sewage our champion players [through injury].

"The reappraisal process will beryllium covering everything. I deliberation we should beryllium competing successful each title correct until nan end."

While City's misfortune is clear, they besides grounded to act, dissimilar their rivals.

When Chelsea superstar Sam Kerr suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) wounded past year, they collapsed nan then-British grounds to bring successful Colombian guardant Mayra Ramirez.

The WSL leaders past splashed nan rate successful a world-record woody for defender Naomi Girma successful January aft losing Kadeisha Buchanan, besides to an ACL injury.

Meanwhile, contempt a increasing wounded list, City only signed 4 players successful January, 1 of which was 20-year-old midfielder Aemu Oyama and allowed England world Chloe Kelly to subordinate Arsenal connected loan.

"Some of those [injured] players would locomotion into immoderate squad successful nan WSL," said erstwhile City and England skipper Steph Houghton connected BBC Two.

"If you return distant Shaw, Miedema and Greenwood, that is simply a spine of knowledgeable players and besides bully value players.

"You've sewage a 20-year-old successful Gracie Prior that has travel done nan academy and has played a batch of games recently. Should she beryllium successful nan team?

"This is not down to individual performances but yet we are trying to build a squad to spell and triumph trophies.

"We are missing immoderate cardinal players. That has proved nan difference. Without a uncertainty nan spot successful extent isn't location and that is thing we request to address."

It has been a reliable fewer months for City and underpinning it each has been a managerial change.

Having already fallen distant successful nan WSL title race, nan melodramatic circumstances surrounding forward Kelly's exit successful January raised eyebrows.

That led to divisions wrong nan fanbase complete erstwhile head Gareth Taylor - but it was City's underwhelming performances that yet proved to beryllium his downfall.

The decision to sack Taylor was a bold 1 arsenic it came conscionable days earlier a important two-week play successful which City would look Chelsea 4 times successful 3 competitions.

"Unfortunately we person conscionable not had nan swipe of nan greenish this season," Houghton added. "The managerial alteration adds different facet to nan performances we person seen complete nan past fewer months.

"Ultimately, this is simply a large learning curve and it's really we get amended arsenic a nine going forward."

Interim head Cushing was brought backmost to nan nine to effort to instil immoderate stableness and location were affirmative signs, but yet he did not person capable clip to move things around.

At nan extremity of an aggravated four-game conflict pinch Sonia Bompastor's side, City had mislaid nan Women's League Cup final, dropped further points successful nan WSL and were knocked retired of Europe contempt taking a two-goal first-leg advantage.

It was a damaging play which near very small to play for and City's wounds were trim deeper erstwhile bitter rivals United punished them successful nan FA Cup.

Asked if nan semi-final conclusion by United had efficaciously ended City's season, interim head Cushing said: "In nan consciousness of trophies, it is over. We can't triumph a trophy.

"Mathematically we tin still get 3rd spot [in nan WSL]. I said aft nan game, 'we person to triumph retired now'. We person to triumph each game.

"If we do that and Manchester United gaffe up successful a difficult tally of games, past we person a chance [of qualifying for Europe].

"We person to play amended and triumph astatine Old Trafford [in nan WSL connected 4 May]. We person to clasp nan unit and work of that and conflict done it."

But what is astir disappointing, is that City haven't competed pinch their rivals successful nan large games this play successful nan measurement galore had expected.

Their sole triumph successful those matches against Chelsea yet proved to beryllium insignificant arsenic it was successful nan first limb of their Champions League defeat.

They were mediocre against Manchester United successful nan FA Cup semi-final, having already been beaten 4-2 by their rivals successful nan WSL astatine Etihad Stadium successful January.

And astatine nan Joie Stadium successful February, pinch a top-three WSL spot up for grabs, City conceded doubly wrong 8 minutes successful a 4-3 nonaccomplishment to Arsenal.

They person 9 points less successful nan convention than they had astatine this shape past season, having scored 9 goals little and conceding 11 more.

"No matter really it looks, you should compete. I would return immoderate 11 players successful nan world and deliberation we tin triumph successful a definite way," said Cushing aft Sunday's loss.

"That mightiness beryllium our problem, that we don't person nan toughness and desire to onslaught nan game, nevertheless it looks.

"There is simply a batch of speech nowadays astir nan beautiful broadside of nan crippled - strategies and systems. But you person to triumph tackles, triumph duels and compete.

"We person to spell distant and fig that retired truthful whoever we play and nevertheless we play, we tin compete astatine nan level our shot nine expects."