There is enormous pride that comes with being a Lionesses player. And pressure, too.
Under Sarina Wiegman, our team went up a level and in 2022 we won the European Championship on home soil, a wonderful achievement but one which means we have had to live up to that since.
It’s been quite difficult for a few years but we feel we have now drawn a line under that.
Last time out we beat world champions Spain 1-0 at Wembley in the Nations League. The performance was a reset, with so many players going back to basics. The outside world might sometimes see us as good individuals but that night in February we played together as a team.
It was a big victory and one which we believe puts us on a good path to the defence of our European Championship title in Switzerland this summer. But we cannot just expect it to happen because we’re England and we won the trophy last time.
The same thing that happened to us after winning the Euros also happened to Spain – albeit it may not have been as well-publicised in this country as it was over there.
Spain really struggled for results for a while in the aftermath of beating us in the 2023 World Cup final. Of course, it can happen and you have a target on your backs as the winners. Opponents will up their game against you which, to be fair, has always happened when you play for England.
You find your level eventually and we’re a new England team now, in terms of personnel too.
You don’t need to shout about being the reigning champions. You don’t get given anything when you start playing again after winning silverware, whether you’re England, Spain or anybody else. That comes with the territory.
There’s that perception something changes when you’re the holders but look at the team we have now – there’s no Ellen White, for example, who started every match for us at the Euros. Others have moved on too. This is a different side.
Spain didn’t have one of their World Cup star players, Alexia Putellas, against us in that recent meeting but they did have players like Laia Aleixandri, who did not feature in their World Cup success. There are always good players in top sides who you have to look out for. It’s just that you can’t win every time, even if you’re world champions like Spain.
For us, I’m very proud of what we achieved three years ago but, as I have said previously, the England shirt can weigh heavily at times.
I think it can be especially hard if you are a young player coming into a team with that ‘reigning champions’ tag. The pressure is a lot.
You win a trophy, there’s that excitement and then the pressure grows to beat everybody. You look at younger players who have subsequently come into our team and made their debuts in front of huge crowds at Wembley Stadium. I try, as one of the senior players, to help them acclimatise to what our world is like now.
Through this, I’ve developed great relationships with midfielders Grace Clinton and Jess Park – who scored the winner against Spain – two young players I hadn’t really played with before. They ask me a lot of questions in training and I try to offer advice where I can.
With Jess, I’ve simply told her she is a very good player who is in the squad on merit and that she doesn’t need me to tell her how to play football. It’s true, these young players are good enough in their own right already.
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All I can hope is that the youngsters learn to handle the expectation that comes with being an England player now. I’m sure they can but I am also sure it isn’t easy.
Things have changed for us and we have to allow this group of players to find their own way as we return to action this week with a Nations League double-header against Belgium – in Bristol on Friday, and in Leuven next Tuesday.
We might be the reigning European champions but this team is better off without the added pressure that label can bring. From now on, we just need to focus on what’s ahead.
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