Jess Park | Leaves to join United

[Mon Autre]

I can’t say I follow the women’s team that much and maybe I’m not correct on this, but why do we keep losing so many of our English players? Watching the euros and half the England team seemed to be ex city players

We don't really. There was a player exodus like 3 or so years ago (which is when Bronze, Stanway and Walsh left) but the ship has steadied since then and weve been able to retain a lot of best players in recent years.

Park and Kelly arent really players you would say we "lost". Kelly wasn't going to be offered a new contract as we had 3 or 4 players ahead of her on the right wing. Park left once it became apparent she would need to be the makeweight in order to bring in our number 1 target. It very much seems like we were sad to let her go but it was ultimately our choice to do so.

 

[cleavers]

There was a player exodus like 3 or so years ago (which is when Bronze, Stanway and Walsh left) but the ship has steadied since then and weve been able to retain a lot of best players in recent years.

Bronze had already gone and come back, and she wasn't the player she had been before her first departure. She seemed to have a bit of renaissance at chelsea last year, but is aging now in football terms. I also think Walsh had passed her best here when she left, still a good player, but not as good as her replacement.

 

[Mon Autre]

Bronze had already gone and come back, and she wasn't the player she had been before her first departure. She seemed to have a bit of renaissance at chelsea last year, but is aging now in football terms. I also think Walsh had passed her best here when she left, still a good player, but not as good as her replacement.

Oh I defo dont disagree with that i was just explaining when the.main clutch of our england palyers left and why. Bronze was past her best by the time she came back and I think that season was disrupted by injury too. Like you say though, to give her ger dues, shes actually maintained a reasonably high level in the latter stages of her career. She has one of the most elite mentalities ive seen in the women's game.

I think Walsh is still a top player but it will be interesting to see how she does at Chelsea and how good she really is now. Her influence in the England team has definitely diminished over the past few years but ive never been sure whether that's because she's regressed or because Sarina hasnt found an answer to her being marked out of games. Shes often isolated in England games. And on the flipside, it's hard to tell how good she was at barcelona as they are so dominant nobody is really tested.

 

[Mr HJ]

Oh I defo dont disagree with that i was just explaining when the.main clutch of our england palyers left and why. Bronze was past her best by the time she came back and I think that season was disrupted by injury too. Like you say though, to give her ger dues, shes actually maintained a reasonably high level in the latter stages of her career. She has one of the most elite mentalities ive seen in the women's game.

I think Walsh is still a top player but it will be interesting to see how she does at Chelsea and how good she really is now. Her influence in the England team has definitely diminished over the past few years but ive never been sure whether that's because she's regressed or because Sarina hasnt found an answer to her being marked out of games. Shes often isolated in England games. And on the flipside, it's hard to tell how good she was at barcelona as they are so dominant nobody is really tested.

I agree Mon Autre. Walsh is the one it's taken longest to replace, she fit into the system we tried to play so well. It takes a couple of players to replace fully what she does.

For me during the era of the big group of senior England players playing for us I always kind of felt they used the club as a way to get prepared for international matches. Some (not all - Steph for example) saved their best efforts for England, which I get but as a fan I want them to not be publicly saying that all the time.

I love the fact that Yui and Sydney when interviewed focussed mainly on club aspirations first. I am not naive to know all players prioritise international duty but you don't need to hear it so much. Great that England won the euros but I always support City first and don't mind the celebration at the time but every God damn interview after is about a keeper dancing on the table, Chloe Kelly's undershirt or how does it feel to be a champion - use that win as a spring board for success with your club - as I say it annoyed me when you watched certain players use our matches as training - maybe some will disagree - rant over ha!