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From Mid-Table to Title Contenders: Inside London City's Tactical Evolution
At the beginning of this WSL season I predicted that London City Lionesses would make Champions League spots, and my GIRLACTICO peers thought I was crazy! However, 4 wins out of 5, currently sat in 3rd place, London City aren’t just contenders for a podium spot, they could potentially win the WSL!
So how have they gone from a slightly underwhelming, mid-table season in 2025/26, to now becoming title contenders?
The world-class recruitments over the summer are obvious catalysts for this boost in quality. However, London City brought in 17 new players for the 25/26 season and only placed 6th, so is "buying talent" enough to cause this big of a shift? The signings of Mapi Leon, Kadidiatou Diani and Alexia Putellas give the team an undeniable excitement, however onlookers have warned that buying talent doesn’t guarantee immediate success, and individual quality doesn't win silverware, so what's changed?
The appointment of Eder Maestre brought in a style of play that resembles Spanish football. His Spanish origin as well as the multitude of Spanish players on the team, means that the integrating and refining of this style has been fast, and its effect has been positive.
The main premise of their tactical style is that they want to control games, they want possession, they want to force opponents backwards. London City have set up in a 4-2-3-1 to create greater fluidity within a "high risk, high reward system", meaning possession and control are much more important.
Building from the back means that their centre-backs must be comfortable receiving the ball under pressure, passing back and forth with the goalkeeper to create numerical superiority, forcing the opposition to move around until an opening appears. However, the risk of this is that if they are pressed too aggressively they will be rushed into decisions that may risk them losing the ball. The structure then becomes vulnerable because if the ball is lost with the centre-backs then the chance of the opposition having an open shot on goal becomes very high.
However, London City's ability to narrow the game, creating combinations through the middle with short, triangular passing, having the double pivot drop deeper while the 10 and wingers move between the oppositions midfield and defence, pulls the opposition centrally to create space laterally. When the fullbacks push forward, London City can create a 3-2 structure in the final third, outnumbering the opposition, and creating space to cross the ball from wide spaces while the midfield and attackers get on the end of the ball centrally. This was demonstrated through two nearly identical goals against Spurs, Van De Donk's goal and Diani's first goal. The midfielders crowd the central space, giving the player on the wing the space to give the cross, which results in a simple tap-in from the player who makes the run into the box.
The difference this year from last is that the team's on-pitch dynamic has strengthened. Passing accuracy initally dropped when Maestre was hired in January 2026, hence their poor results, but with new recruitments and a predominantly Spanish backline, the players are now more clinical in possession, more tacit in their communication, and therefore less commonly conceding.
Similarly, last season 71 percent of their pressing sequences led to a turnover, whereas now the team is more capable of winning the ball back quickly and converting press into dangerous chances. For example, Arques won the ball high for their first goal against Spurs, completely catching Spurs off guard because they were drawn to Geyoro in the centre, which meant Alexia could crash into the box undetected.
Counterpress is something Van De Donk commented on after the game, exclaiming they "recover the ball very quickly". This is typical of the Spanish style, designed to suffocate the opponent and disrupt their rythm before they can launch a counterattack. Against Spurs, London City perfected their pressing, and as a result were able to take advantage of counterattacking opportunities - regaining the ball means not always needing to build from the back. For the 5th goal they used Putellas' passing vision to lob the ball to Diani, who then practically walked it into the goal.
On matchday 1 London City's goals came from set pieces against United, and their football from open play lacked precise rhythm and tacit understanding, however after their loss against West Ham they decided they needed to properly control matches. Against Chartlon they regained confidence by almost doubling their shots on target from MD1, firing 4 past the newly promoted side. This meant that against Brighton and Spurs they didn't need the majority of the posssion to score goals, as in possession they were so clinical and out of it they were ruthless in recovering the ball and forcing the opposition into errors.
However, much like you see with FC Barcelona and Spain, this beautiful "high-risk" style has its caveats. The higher you commit players to press, the more space is left behind. Having your fullbacks so high gives the opposition an opportunity to simply lob the ball over London City players, leaving the centre-backs scrambling to recover while the opposition are given a 1v1 shot on goal. Their style of play recquires unwavering concentration and an abundance of energy.
People saw Maestre's ideas last year and said that the WSL is too physical, and the players are too quick and aggressive for a team to be playing football with a high-line and a reliance on possession, but London City's ability to put 6 goals past an unbeaten Spurs while having less possession, proves they have mastered his plan. As Jana Fernandez said post-match, "I think we made a statement". Spurs looked amateur against this new London City side, and it begs the question as to whether these scorelines will become routine for a team so confident in playing their own game.
The past few weeks London City have become a mirror image for the international stage, which points towards them having a overpoweringly dominant season. Both at club and country level, no team has been able to overcome the smothering dominance of Spanish football, and therefore indicates a strong case for London City's title charge!
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