New York City boss looks back on ‘inspiring’ spell alongside Pep Guardiola at Manchester City

New York City FC manager Nick Cushing has opened up on his time at Manchester City, helping to develop not only some of the biggest academy success stories, but as a coach himself.

Cushing is part of a long line of coaches to have moved on from the Manchester City coaching tree to bigger and better things across the European game and further afield, particularly in the case of the former Women’s boss.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca are just two examples of tacticians whose careers took off after working within City Football Group and moving on to senior roles elsewhere.

The Chester native, who occupied the dugout with Manchester City Women from 2013 to 2020, winning a league title and three domestic cups, is now the top man at one of City’s many sister clubs, New York City FC, in Major League Soccer.

But looking back on his time working within both the youth setup and the women’s team in Manchester, Nick Cushing revealed the depth of talent and experienced he had the pleasure of working with.

“Three of (Manchester) City’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour (in the United States) this summer were players I coached at age five,” Nick Cushing said in an interview with the Daily Mail. “James McAtee, Callum Doyle, Nico O’Reilly,” he pointed out.

“My first team at Under-9s had Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Cole Palmer as well. You don’t know then that they will definitely play in the Premier League but your job is to just inspire them. For CFG it is about having good people with a real passion.”

Not only did Nick Cushing coach some of the Manchester City Academy’s biggest success stories, but he worked in tandem with Pep Guardiola during his years as boss of the club’s Women’s team.

“The trophies he (Pep Guardiola) has won, the style he plays, the way he has evolved the game… so many people are inspired,” Cushing said.

“I watch them every week to try to see how he was going to win, what is the next evolution of football? In 2019 both the women’s and men’s team won the Double. At that moment I got a bit of exposure to go and spend some time with Pep.”

Nick Cushing will now aim for more silverware with New York City FC, who have qualified for the play-offs in Major League Soccer. The Bronx club won the title back in 2021, with then manager Ronny Deila.