Midfielder Keira Walsh says that the England team are excited to start their participation at the Arnold Clark Cup tomorrow.
The inaugural edition of the competition will see England play Spain, Germany and Canada, much tougher opponents than Sarina Weigman’s side have faced since she took over last September.
When speaking ahead of the tournament at an England media event, Walsh said “The opposition (which England have faced so far) haven’t have a lot of attacks. For the whole team, it will be nice to see how we are defensively, just seeing how we cope in those situations.”
When asked by FAWSL Full-Time if the preparation for these games differed from those with easier opponents, Walsh demurred “Every time we’re at an England camp, we’re here to play a certain way and to play with confidence. Obviously, it hasn’t been the toughest opponents, but I think the mindset and the mentality is the same regardless of who we’re playing.
“For us now, it’s just about knowing where we’re at. We’re playing three top teams and seeing where we can base ourselves off that, going into the EUROs.”
All of the players that spoke to the press at Tuesday’s media day discussed how the Arnold Clark Cup was an important staging post for the EUROs. Walsh stated that playing games against teams with such different playing styles and threats over such a short tournament is going to be “massive” for England.
She also added “Hopefully, we can stick together and make the fans who are watching proud of us and just take some confidence into the EUROs from these games.”
The international break has come off the back of an impressive 1-0 win for Walsh’s club Manchester City in the Manchester derby. Commenting on that game and the banter between Manchester City and Manchester United players in the England squad, Walsh said “Sunday was a good day for all the City players. As soon as I walked in (camp), I think everyone could see the smile on my face.” She also confessed to trying to give United captain Katie Zelem a bit of stick.
Walsh gave a commanding Player of the Match performance that stifled United’s attack. When asked by FAWSL Full-Time how she can bring that momentum into the England camp, she said: “As a City fan, it’s naturally quite easy for me to get up for a derby game. There’s nothing that I probably enjoy more than playing United.
“Just for me, it was about trying to find my consistency and hoping to bring that into camp. A lot of the girls played well on Sunday, so it’s natural for us. We’re going to come in and try and repeat that performance in an England shirt.”
Finally, Walsh paid tribute to “best friend” Leah Williamson who was recently announced to be captaining England during the Arnold Clark Cup.
She said “When I was younger and we played at Under-17s, Under-18s and Under-19s, she was always the captain of the youth teams. It’s always a role she has naturally assumed anyway, whether she is wearing the armband or not.
“It’s not always nice playing against her because she’s so good and stops us scoring a lot of goals. As her best friend and teammate, it’s such a proud moment for me. I know her family really well too so I know they will be so happy for her. It was a nice moment for everyone.”
England begin their Arnold Clark Cup campaign against Canada at The Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough at 7.30pm tomorrow night.
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