The Dane will become our Women’s team’s Director of Football, subject to work permit approval, taking charge of coach and player development across the women’s first team set-up and leading on player recruitment across the entirety of the women and girls’ pathway at the Academy Stadium.
Nielsen joins a City side in the midst of a Barclays Women’s Super League title race, who have lost just once in the league since September and on the back of scoring ten goals in our past two matches.
But with the end of the season fast approaching, Nielsen has discussed the key qualities that he believes are essential to maintain that continual progression.
And while ability of course has huge significance, he insists that simply targeting the biggest names doesn’t guarantee the success and growth of the collective.
He said: “Sometimes, if you bring in a ‘star player’, and you don’t really look at that side of things just think: ‘she scores 20 goals every season’ and then suddenly she doesn’t… why is that?
“We will work on that to find the perfect set up for it, but right now it’s working quite well. Good players have been brought in even if they weren’t - at the time - big names. They are big names now!
“If you bring in a player that can make everybody 10 percent better, then it’s not only getting a good player in, but also making the whole team better.
“There you need to look at it slightly different. You can’t only look at performance, you also have to look at the potential and you have to look at [how they] fit in the team.
“What do we have? What kind of personalities? Because they have to fit it all. If you have only one type of player and one type of personality, then you are missing something.”
Nielsen comes to the City Football Academy having enjoyed a successful coaching career at various youth and senior levels.
Helping to oversee the development of the next generation of talent at the Club will also form an important part of his role, and he revealed that he’s been impressed with City’s track record in that particular area.
Indeed, youth product Esme Morgan captained the team for the first time in November and has also made her senior England debut during 2022/23, while Jess Park has thrived during a loan spell at fellow Barclays Women’s Super League side, Everton.
A further four members of our youth squad have featured for Gareth Taylor’s side this season, while Jemima Dahou also found the net for the first time in our 8-0 FA Cup win over Bristol City in February.
And Nielsen insists that, when it comes down to youth strategy, it’s more a case of tweaking the fine work that is already in place, rather than endorsing wholesale change.
“The foundation is very, very good. There is everything here,” he added.
“I think my role is to make sure that we do it in a way so everybody is aware of what is going on.
“The left hand knows what the right hand is doing, and stuff like that. It’s more like connecting the dots with that and also perhaps support and developing the system further.”
