Georgia Stanway has helped turn the tide for Bayern Munich as she bids to win the German cup double, writes KATHRYN BATTE… while Carla Ward’s Aston Villa exit shows female managers need more support

The most successful English player in Germany is currently playing for Bayern Munich and no, it is not Harry Kane.

Stanway joined Bayern from Manchester City in the summer of 2022. It was a transition that was not without risks. The midfielder has been with City since he was 16, signing for a club that had lost five of the last six league titles to Wolfsburg.

But the tide is turning in Germany – and Stanway has played a major role in this. Her form in the second half of this season has been phenomenal and she has gone a step further at a time when her team needed her most.

But like most players returning from last summer’s World Cup, Stanway suffered from fatigue in earlier parts of the season. England reaching the targeted players had a very limited break between the end of the tournament and the restart of the domestic season. Several clubs were affected, with Wolfsburg and Arsenal suffering shock exits in the Champions League qualifying stages.

Bayern themselves had a disappointing European season, with the club failing to reach the knockout stages – a 1-0 defeat to Ajax before Christmas proving crucial.

But Bayern have not lost a league match since. It is perhaps no coincidence that their form has coincided with Stanway playing her best football.

The midfielder used the winter break to recharge and has been running at full speed ever since.

“After the World Cup everything was fine because I just wanted to keep going and hope that time would bring the healing,” Stanway told DW Sports this weekend.

‘It only dawned on me around December. My body and my mind were not right. I was tired all the time, I had never slept so much in my life. The performances I gave were not at the level I wanted.

“I knew the reason I wasn’t on my A-game was because I was tired of my life. I had to go home and see my family.”

Five goals in her last five games in all competitions have demonstrated Stanway’s attacking qualities, but the midfielder also brings a lot to Bayern off the pitch. She has become a leader in that locker room despite only being in her second season with the club.

In addition to making an impact on the field, Stanway is also a leader in the locker room

Stanway feels at home in Munich, but there will be clubs considering luring her away

Despite not being a homegrown player, Bayern fans have accepted Stanway as if she were one of their own. When the club released a special women’s kit earlier this season, Stanway’s shirt was one of the best-selling.

There is a sense that Stanway is one of those players who doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves, partly because she doesn’t play in England.

Her situation is different to that of Keira Walsh and Lucy Bronze, who also became champions this weekend after Barcelona secured a fifth straight Liga F title. Their achievements should not be diminished, but there is an argument to be made that what Stanway has done at Bayern is more impressive considering Barcelona are and have been so dominant in Spain over the past five years.

There is no doubt that Stanway, who is under contract with Bayern until 2026, will feel at home in Munich, but there will be clubs across Europe wondering whether they should try to lure her away from Bavaria in the coming years.

For the time being, the midfielder wants to prevent Wolfsburg from winning the German Cup for the tenth time in a row. Bayern have not lifted the trophy since 2012 and the competition has been dubbed the ‘Wolfsburg Cup’ in recent years. With Stanway in this kind of form, you wouldn’t bet on Bayern changing that on Thursday.

WARD EXIT SHOWS THAT FEMALE BOSS NEED MORE SUPPORT

Carla Ward will be a big loss for the WSL and her departure from Aston Villa raises questions about whether female managers need more support.

Ward has the potential to fill Emma Hayes’ shoes as the voice of women’s football in England, but there is clearly a lot that needs to change.

Hayes expressed concerns about the demands placed on female managers who are also full-time mothers, like herself and Ward. The Chelsea boss believes co-head coaches, something common in America, is the solution.

Carla Ward’s departure from Aston Villa raises questions about the support of female managers

The departures of Hayes and Ward mean that West Ham boss Rehanne Skinner and Laura Kaminski, who joins Crystal Palace in the WSL next season, are currently the only full-time female managers in the top flight.

Hayes is likely to be replaced by Lyon’s Sonia Bompastor, while Leicester currently have Jennifer Foster as interim boss, but the lack of female managers is certainly something that will need to be addressed if the FA hands over the top two leagues to a new one this summer company.

THE DEPARTING HAYES DESERVED A BETTER TRIBUTE

I wasn’t the only person who headed from Stamford Bridge to Kingsmeadow on Sunday to watch Emma Hayes’ final home game as Chelsea manager.

Barbara Charone, a member of the club’s board, made the same 8.5 mile journey across London and was treated to a further eight goals after the men scored five against West Ham.

However, it was disappointing that Charone and David Barnard were the only board representatives at Hayes’ final home game. Hayes received a fitting tribute from Mauricio Pochettino in his program notes and she deserved more from those at the top of the club on Sunday.

It was disappointing that there were not more board members at Emma Hayes’ last home game

BOURNEMOUTH’S FRUSTRATION UNDERLINES THE PROMOTIONAL PROBLEM

Bournemouth missed out on promotion to the WSL despite being undefeated when Exeter went up

Last week I raised the issue of only one team being promoted and one team being relegated from the Championship and WSL, but the lack of movement between leagues is also an issue that occurs further down the pyramid. Bournemouth had an undefeated season, winning 19 of 22 games and drawing three, but it was still not enough to gain promotion. They lost to Exeter, who won twenty and drew two.