Frown upon the City Football Group and its global hold on the game all you like, Manchester City’s parent company has produced a stellar conveyor belt of elite football coaches: Pep Guardiola, his potential successor in Girona’s Michel, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.
Ange Postecoglou finessed his craft at City-owned Yokohama F Marinos, Patrick Vieira first managed for New York, Chelsea chief Enzo Maresca evolved in Manchester. Championship bosses Liam Manning and Des Buckingham were at City’s sister clubs Lommel and Melbourne.
The next cab off the rank ready to manage at the top level is Nick Cushing, who already has an accomplished CV as one of the revolutionary figures of women’s football – where he won every domestic honour at Manchester City before transitioning to the men’s game in New York.
He joined the group fresh out of university and coached the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Taylor Harwood-Bellis when they were knee high. CFG is a haven for the best young players but also coaches and technical directors like Jason Wilcox.
Now 39 and leading the ever-growing game of soccer in the Big Apple as New York City FC head coach, Cushing is one of the brightest young bosses in world football and could thrive wherever his journey takes him next.
Nick Cushing is climbing the coaching ladder with New York City FC in Major League Soccer
Before the move to the United States, Cushing was coach of the Man City women's team
‘I have had a principle for my career,’ he tells Mail Sport. ‘If I start to feel comfortable, it is time for change. It is time to challenge myself again and put myself out of my comfort zone. Because that is where I believe the learning is.
‘That is where you get better, achieve more and give more to people, players, clubs and staff. When I got to 2019 (at City Women), we had just won the Double, I knew my influence on the team would start to decrease.
‘I had developed players for the England team and won lots at City so I knew it was time to challenge myself again. I thought it was time for me to challenge myself in a different environment, so I transitioned into the men’s game.’
Cushing, from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, was brought up as a football obsessive and is a die-hard Everton fan with a long list of memories of the halcyon days – and the dark ones – at Goodison Park. He did a sports science degree but knew his true passion was in coaching.
He started coaching at Vauxhall Motors – an established amateur team that benefits from its location in the north west of England, allowing them to collect released youngsters from the Manchester and Merseyside giants among other teams in a hotbed of football.
Cushing was spotted by a City coach there and started coaching the young teams at the Etihad club on a voluntary basis. ‘Four of City’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour this summer were players I coached at age five,’ he says. ‘James McAtee, Callum Doyle, Nico O’Reilly.
‘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.
‘I was really lucky to work with some really experienced coaches and ex-players transitioning into it like Jason Wilcox (Manchester United), Rob Edwards (Luton), Mark Kennedy (Swindon). I was really ambitious, I was pushing the head coach every day to make a step up.
‘I worked out really quickly: although I do like developing players, I really love playing to win and the pressure and the demand and expectation of creating a winning team. There was an opportunity to work with the women’s team when it became full-time and entered the WSL.
The influence of Pep Guardiola as stayed with Cushing across the course of his career
Cushing also coached a former City protege in Cole Palmer, who is now at Chelsea
‘I had never watched women’s football to be honest, did not know any of the players. But the expectation at City was that I was responsible for creating a team to win trophies and play their style of football. And we did that, we carried all three trophies for 18 months.
‘I am really proud of how we grew the women’s game. It was a lot of hard work from a lot of people and I am proud to be one. There’s the likes of Emma Hayes, Sarina Wiegman, the FA, Phil Neville, players like Jill Scott and Steph Houghton, everyone played their part.
‘I said a lot, “The aim for us is to be a winning team but also we have to challenge the perception everybody has of women’s football – the level and style”. Every day I wanted to keep pushing boundaries, improving standards and demanding more from the FA and TV companies.’
Being at City, Cushing has been lucky enough to spend time with Guardiola. So what is he like? ‘The trophies he has won, the style he plays, the way he has evolved the game… so many people are inspired,’ says Cushing.
‘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.
Cushing's family followed him to America as he moved to New York to try his hand in MLS
‘Since then, every time we have had the opportunity to get together has been great. I have learned from the greatest coach to ever coach the game and be inspired from the enthusiasm and drive he has got to win.
‘They were over here for pre-season and trained at our facility, I could still see the hunger and desire not only in him but his staff. Many of his first-team staff, I worked with in the academy, all the physios and medical team have evolved up.’
Cushing is loving life in New York. His family moved over and his three kids all play football – he still refuses to call it ‘soccer’. But at the young age of 39, he has not ruled out a future return to England to manage a men’s team.
‘Part of the move here was to challenge myself,’ he adds. ‘I am inspired to be at the highest level. I look at many coaches who have stepped up levels. I have a huge desire to continue to win trophies here but I also have a huge desire to compete for the biggest and best trophies.’