Rachel Furness explains how Bristol City have more to show against Arsenal after three defeats in a row at start of WSL season; watch Bristol City vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports Football from 6.30pm on Sunday, kick-off 6.45pm
Sunday 22 October 2023 12:54, UK
Three defeats from three has marked a bruising WSL return for Bristol City. The Robins were handed a tough start, with early trips to Man City and Spurs, though a feeling remains that they haven't shown what they are capable of.
Lauren Smith's Championship-winning side were always tipped to struggle this season. Even the manager herself labelled them the "team to beat" in the summer.
Those defeats in Manchester and east London were expected, but an opening-day humbling by Leicester was not in the script. City are propping up the WSL after three games.
"It's been a wake-up call to the league we're in," Rachel Furness, one of the squad's most experienced heads at 35, tells Sky Sports.
"We are nowhere near where we want to be collectively or individually. It doesn't matter who we've come up against, we haven't performed how we want to perform."
Things get no easier when title hopefuls Arsenal roll into Bristol this Sunday in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Anything but an away win would be a shock. But if City are to build some momentum ahead of a crucial run against three of the bottom five, there are obvious areas for improvement.
The Robins were 5-0 down by half-time at the Joie Stadium last Saturday, having trailed 3-0 at the break at Tottenham a week earlier. City kept their opponents at bay after half-time in both games, but the damage was already done.
"We can't be a second-half team or turn up and just be hard to beat after half-time," Furness says. "We have to bring that from minute one. We conceded possession against Manchester City, that's going to happen, but it's about being hard to break down. It was too easy.
"We're working on that, and we've been positive this week. There's been a great vibe in camp and we're as prepared we can be going into this weekend."
City's good feeling has been stoked by the news that more than 10,500 fans will be inside Ashton Gate on Sunday night, the club's record attendance by some distance.
It won't provide too much concern to Arsenal, who broke the all-time WSL crowd record only last month with 54,115 supporters packed into the Emirates. But right now, confidence is key - and this is a major show of support.
"Getting back into the top flight, you want the City to be behind you, and it's great they're coming out in their thousands," Furness says. "We need them more than ever right now.
"Firstly we want to give a good account of ourselves and make the fans proud because they're paying money to come and watch us, and it's really important for us to give them something back.
"I'm really excited for the occasion, what it'll bring to the city, and I guess it's something as a squad that you want to play in front of every week."
Confidence is something she thinks about a lot. Furness jumped at the chance to join the Robins in February despite dropping down a division from Liverpool, energised by the prospect of helping guide their young squad to promotion.
That goal was achieved in style. The next, WSL survival, looks a far tougher prospect. Furness dreams of being a first-team coach one day; if she can play a part in helping her team-mates with the self-belief to keep them up, it would be an impressive endorsement of her man-management skills.
She explains: "It's why I love being here, it's why I wanted to try to stay and use my experiences this season if that's on or off the pitch. I've been there, I've done that, I've experienced the highs and lows of the WSL. A lot of it is how you approach the mental side of things.
"It's not getting too low with the lows, and not too high with the highs. In training, you'll see me lifting up all the girls if they need it, putting an arm round those who need that too, but ultimately trying to drive standards.
"I've ticked off a lot of things in my career and this was a challenge, a team who were flying but making sure they continue to fly. An inexperienced team, a young team who have the potential to be very good.
"For me, I wanted to challenge myself and see how I could help drive people around me, and turn good into great in some players, by leaning on them and showing a bit of experience we were missing last season.
"It's driving those standards, allowing the girls to grow in confidence but also allowing mistakes to happen, knowing that's okay in this environment. It's how we learn, but we have to learn quick. We've got a real togetherness in the squad and it's a privilege to be a part of that."
Furness has plenty of life experience to draw on - she is Northern Ireland's all-time top goalscorer, has played in seven previous WSL seasons and has now twice won the Championship.
Even so, you're never too old to learn. The longer break between winning promotion and the start of this season allowed her a rare chance to take the plunge and embark on a solo tour of the continent.
Building leadership qualities wasn't on the itinerary around some of Europe's finest sights, but escaping her comfort zone is something that continues to shape her even in the final years of her career.
"The move to Bristol earlier this year opened my eyes a bit," she says. "Coming down here when I did, being in a great environment, I just thought why not?
"I learned so much about myself. I learned so much about what I'm capable of, I feel like I grew more as a person, I took a big thing mentally to enjoy my own company, to switch off, have some me time.
"I feel like that was really important for me - to get in a good head space, see the world and Europe. I've travelled all over the world with football, but I wouldn't say I've seen all the world with football.
"I'm in a team environment for the majority of the year, and it was refreshing to come out of that and do something for myself, to then come into this environment to be a better version of me to help others be better versions of themselves."
Furness has already spent plenty of time this season offering advice to her younger team-mates, but always comes back to one mantra in particular.
"It's okay to make mistakes. If you don't try, you'll never know."
It's unlikely City will shake off their tagline of relegation favourites this Sunday. If they can draw on Furness' message to give it a go, they won't go anywhere without a fight.
