by Aimee Logan at St. George’s Park for Impetus (30/11/23).
Above: Keira Walsh (middle, stretching forward) in action at a previous Lionesses camp. Photo: Ben Phillips for Impetus.
Keira Walsh recognises the huge challenge that the Lionesses face tomorrow night in their must-win clash with the Netherlands at Wembley and the desire of the squad to right the wrongs from their defeat against Belgium in the last international window.
Speaking to the media, Walsh said: ‘’Its going to be a difficult game for us, we know it’s a must-win. Obviously, we want to put the things right that weren’t so good in the Belgium game’’ where the Lionesses fell short and lost 3-2 in October.
Reflecting on what has gone wrong results-wise since the World Cup, Walsh feels there isn’t a lot to feel negative about, saying: ‘’If you look at the games I think all the stats are still in our favour, we had a lot of chances, a lot of ball possession.’’
‘’Let’s not catastrophise it, it wasn’t the worse game for us’’, she explained, Walsh significantly noted that the England loss was mainly down to how Belgium punished the side for their mistakes.
Obviously, plenty is riding on these next two fixtures for the Lionesses, an Olympic qualification is on the line: ‘’The Olympics is obviously a special one, it’s not one that everyone talks about in football but obviously everyone grows up watching the Olympics.’’ said Walsh. However, she did emphasise that the team ‘’want to win games regardless’’ of the end goal.
I asked Walsh whether the squad were feeling the pressure from the fans as they are obviously all eager to see the team at the Olympics in the summer, she replied, ‘’I don’t have a lot of social media so for me I don’t see a lot of that, I think I know what my internal feelings are and the team’s feeling is that we want to be there. We’re kind of just putting the football first.’’
She was also asked on how she was feeling, physically, after injury scares in the World Cup and during the first weeks of the season with Barcelona: ‘’I feel good…somebody sent me something the other day saying I’d played the second most games from anyone in Europe.”
There are currently two holes in the England backline as both Leah Williamson and Millie Bright are injured. Walsh was questioned on whether she felt any extra responsibility in defence because of these gaps: ‘’I think it’s up to the group as a whole when there are certain players missing. We’ve still got a lot of quality within the team… whoever is going to come in and fill in what Millie has been doing will be more than capable of doing that.’’
The midfielder didn’t appear concerned about the loss of the captain and now vice captain as ‘’there are lots of natural leaders in the team’’. ‘’That is something Sarina (Wiegman, head coach)has asked of me, to take a little bit more responsibility in that aspect, especially in the midfield, and vocalise and communicate a little bit more.’’
Some of the biggest excitement expressed by all of the players was having Beth Mead back in the England squad after just over a year out with an ACL injury. Walsh was beaming as she said: ‘’Having Beth back is really nice, the vibe she brings and she’s just such a good person… she makes everyone feel really comfortable and anyone can speak to her… I’ve really missed Beth to be fair!’’
She also had nothing but paise for Mead, describing her as such a talented player on the pitch, ‘’You can see the goal she scored for Arsenal the other day (against West Ham United on Sunday) and she really special in that fact that she’s just such a goal scorer. I think that she’s probably one of the best I’ve played with, a natural finisher, whatever you give her she always scores or is there or thereabouts.’’
Something that has been questioned within England’s group is the fact that their final must-win game is against Scotland, where there is huge historic rivalry. Yet if England are victorious, some of the players from that squad will join them to create Team GB next year. Walsh described it as ‘’a little bit strange’’ due to the qualification structure, but she knows that they “won’t want England to beat them”
Ultimately, Walsh made it clear that the team understands the pressure that’s riding on their backs for the two games this camp that determine whether Team GB secure a place at next year’s Olympics. Despite this, she’s excited for the match and eager to show that England have plenty more to give and are going all out to ensure qualification for the wider group of home nations for another tournament next summer.
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