The Women's Game 02/08/24: With Lucy Bronze

It's Roch. If you haven't noticed, I absolutely adore new balance and all that they create and all though. I'm not a professional footballer, I still love their boots worn by some of the greatest in the game, such as Bikayo Sakka. Eberichia, you say, Jeremy Frimpong and the legend Hames Rodriguez, whether it's the Fioron or the Tekela, both boots are made for performance. Fiorons are crafted for speed features a new speed control stud designed for certain stop-shot pivots and moves used by the fastest players on the field. And Tekela provides superior touch and control to bring your vision to life, reducing the space between the foot and the ball for a close intuitive feel. Grab yourself a pair today at NewBelance.com/Sakka. You're listening to the M.I.B Media Network and this is the women's game. I think a lot of people talk about the growth of the game and the increase of fans and things like that. I don't want the game to keep them going like the teams to be better. The players, individual players to be better in every single position like the games, I want to see amazing football. Hi everybody and welcome back to the women's game. Last week we had such an awesome episode come out with Maless Wanson. It was so great to talk to her and catch up but the episode was actually really difficult to record. I feel like hearing about her struggles that I was learning in real time about her surgery and her infection and just the emotional difficulty that she went through was so hard to do in the moment but I feel really grateful that she came on and was so open and vulnerable with us. So a huge thank you to Mal for coming on and talking about all of that. There was so much big news this week. In transfer news, we have a bunch of players who have been playing overseas who are coming to the end of the cell that I'm really, really excited about. Chelsea midfielder, Jesse Fleming is going to be joining the Portland Thorns. Jesse Fleming is such a great midfielder. She's got on both sides of the ball. I think of her as a really hard working defender who's always going to do that dirty work to get back and defend. When you play against somebody like that, it's kind of annoying because you just want to find a gap or find a hole or a space that somebody has left open but Jesse Fleming is always tracking back, always responsible for whatever role that she's meant to play. Then on the ball, she's so creative. She's really, really technical, very clean touches. She's dangerous getting forward. I love watching her play with Canada because I think she has historically combined so well with Christine Sinclair in the midfield. She brought so much of that to Chelsea but I'm really excited to see her implement that into a little bit of a different style in the end of the cell and I think she's going to do great. She's such a great addition, technically, tactically and just attitude wise. She's a really good teammate and person that you would always want to have on your team. It's so fun to see Jesse Fleming coming to the end of the cell. She's joining her Canadian teammates, Jeanine Becky and Christine Sinclair. Defender, Jen Beatty from Arsenal is going to be joining Bay FC along with forward Azasat Oshwala of Barcelona. When I played in Champions League at Man City, we played against Barcelona and we actually lost to them. I remember thinking, how are we supposed to stop Oshwala? She's incredible at holding up the ball and keeping defenders at Bay, whether she can then lay it off to an oncoming midfielder or turn and finish. One, she can't really be stopped back to goal but then two, she can't really be stopped in behind either. She's so fast and she's so strong and powerful. Her finishing is incredible. I'm really, really looking forward to seeing this in the end of the cell but also in this new Bay FC team. I think having a central striker who is so strong in multiple ways will lend itself to allowing Bay to play in multiple different ways. They can send Oshwala in behind. They can have her play with hold up play. She's so dangerous. So she's such a weapon for this new expansion team and it's going to be such a treat to watch her every week. So I'm really excited about all that big news in the end of the cell. There were also a lot of big games this weekend in the WSL. That's the English League. There was a huge West Ham win against Arsenal. West Ham was kind of in a relegation battle and Arsenal are title contenders. So to see those two teams face off and the result that happened, it was incredible. I've loved watching West Ham play because my sister is on the team and I keep seeing Katrina Gory. She's performing so well. She's an Australian midfielder. And she's really made a huge impact for this West Ham team since she signed in the January window. I keep shouting out as I'm watching West Ham during this game. I was like, Oh my God, West Ham is going to win. I was so excited. This is a huge three points for them. And I think this is kind of slowly but surely just becoming a West Ham support podcast. So let's keep that up. And Chelsea, they get another big win. Kirby. Nice stuff. Chelsea's cake is iced. And Chelsea's cake is iced. I love that. I know you all couldn't see that but it was such an awesome goal. Chelsea combines at the top of the box for an Aaron Cuthbert goal with the assist from our girl, me official, involved in that beautiful build up and Chelsea remain in the top spot of the women's super league. And to be still preseason has kicked off and it's been so fun to see all the teams and the players back in action. A lot of great content is being posted. I am sending all of my love to all the players who are in preseason right now. I remember on the first day of North Carolina courage preseason, we always had to do this same fitness test and it was like a track would get set up where they would round the corners of the field so it would kind of turn into this feeling of a track. And you'd have these like timed intervals of running around the track. They'd be a minute long and then 30 seconds long and then 15 seconds long and it was always on the same day. And you just knew you were going to do it because you'd see those corners of the field get rounded off with cones. I hope that nobody is having to do anything like that but I'm sure that they all are. So I wish all the players the best of luck. Keep running. Gold's Cup, which is a big inaugural women's tournament featuring the US women's national team and other conca-caf and con football teams is right around the corner as well. That's going to be starting February 17th. There will be lots of international games to watch. And as for me, I wanted to share with you guys, my husband Pat, he's a cook. He made us like a real roast dinner on Sunday. It was so good. It was like we could have been in a pub in England. We had roast beef. We had potatoes, carrots. He made gravy and he made homemade Yorkshire pudding. I don't know if everybody knows what Yorkshire pudding is. I didn't really know what it was either until I went to England and had dinner at a pub. It's not pudding. It's like kind of like a bread, but you have it on your plate with all your other foods so you end up putting gravy on it. And it's like this baked kind of like a bread, but it's a little bit wetter. But it's just like the perfect kind of bread side. If you don't know what it is, you need to look it up and make it apparently according to Pat, it's not that hard to make. You guys, you have to get some. It's so good. I had leftovers for lunch. It was so delicious. I think I'm going to have to have and make it every Sunday. We didn't even eat it in front of the TV. We sat down at the table and had a proper dinner. And it was so, so, so good. So I'm highly recommending roast Sunday dinners from here on out. And here at the women's game, very excited about this. We launched our first graphic that shows when and where to watch games. We're calling it women's game weekend. And eventually this graphic is going to showcase more leagues, more games. As the end of ESL kicks off, we have big plans for this graphic. You all seems like you really liked it. Hopefully it was informational. And we got a lot of comments about it. B, Swartwood, 718 on Instagram said, love this. This is so helpful. Access to games is crucial to growing the game. Next paperback hero on Instagram said, already a game changer. And this graphic for the end of ESL season is going to save my brain. Thank you. And Emily K. Irsky on Instagram said, thank you, Sammy. Also appreciate the times being in Eastern to reduce the amount of mental math I need to do. Same. I am so glad that you all liked the graphic. And we've seen your email feedback as well. I've been going through emails and trying to respond to as many as I can. So keep those coming. You can email us at women's game, M-I-B at menandblazers.com. This episode that you're about to listen to with Lucy Bronze, who is Lionesses and Barcelona right back, is so awesome. I had so much fun interviewing her. Lucy and I played together at Man City a couple of years ago. And she's such a competitor, such an incredible player. And honestly, this interview was so much fun to do. She talks about how much she loves being in sunny Barcelona. We go through the 2022 England Euros win. And we even heard a little bit from her dog, so don't be alarmed if you heard that in the background. That's just Narlah. Thank you all so much for being here and enjoy this interview with Lucy Bronze. I am so excited to have Lucy Bronze on the show today. Lucy and I played together at Man City during 2020. And so because it was the pandemic, we had to share this small and secluded locker room with Alex Greenwood and Rose the Vel. It was literally just the four of us in a locker room, separate from the whole team. We bonded very quickly. Lucy is one of the most decorated players in the world. She has won the Champions League 4. Four times, three times with the own and once with Barcelona, she's a European champion with England in 2022. Lucy is an Olympic bronze medalist, a World Cup finalist, and won the Best FIFA Women's Player in 2020. Probably the most impressive LinkedIn page of all time. Lucy is no stranger to America either. She played at the University of North Carolina where they won a national championship in 2009. She's probably been to the Rally Durham Airport just as many times as I have. Lucy's conquered multiple European leagues between the WSL and England and Division One Feminine in France. And now she's playing in the Spanish League, League of F for Barcelona. Lucy is one of the pioneers of the women's game. She's been advocating for fair pay on behalf of her teammates for years and she's also serving on FIFA Pro's Global Player Council. It's such an honor to have somebody on the show who is just as obsessed with winning small sided games in training as I am. I think I forget half of it, half most of the time to be honest. Well, it's like so amazing and there's more to congratulate you on just recently. You were just named again in the FIFA Best World 11 for the sixth time and your club team Barcelona just won the Supercopa. How hectic have things been lately. Yeah, this week particularly, yeah. I had training Monday morning, flew to London, flew back, trained to Madrid, played against Madrid, then Supercopa final, then back in Barcelona. Yeah, it's pretty full on. Oh my gosh. What is it like when you're doing all that? Are you eating normal meals? Are you sleeping enough? Like how is that like for you as an athlete? To be fair, it was I was really tired this week but I'd say one of the very best positive notes have been in Spain as there's always cesters are fitted in the schedule. Like you do not do anything between lunch and like 5pm it's cester time. Does it matter when, where, how, what, who, everybody's having a cester? Well, I love that. I'm jealous. It's 3pm my time here so I'm going to start scheduling in my own little cesters in the afternoon. Okay, so I, when I came to play for Man City, I really wanted to like gain experience playing in a different culture and learning about football in a new environment. And I feel like I did learn so much tactically but more importantly I was being challenged every day facing really technical players who were great athletes and who understood the game really well. You are a multiple time player of the year in England. So what are some of the things that attracted you to changing your environment and heading to Spain in 2022? Learning more like I think like you like challenging yourself. I've obviously been to Olympic Leonaise previously in France which is different to England but I think is more similar to England than what Spain is. I think Spain and England are almost like opposite strengths and weaknesses and it's Barcelona like I live in sunshine, I don't eat amazing food. I play one of the most historic clubs in the world with you know all the best players in the world. So it was a bit of a no-bredder in that respect but also yeah, challenging myself to a completely different set of tactics was something that I really look forward to. I remember it took Ros and I like a little bit of time to get used to like in particular the washing machines and the fact that like nowhere really seemed like they had any ice. You mentioned you're like in the sunshine you're eating all this great food in Barcelona but are there any little things like that that you were like surprised like oh my god Spain doesn't have this. I think I was surprised there's like all shops are shot on a Sunday which is pretty common in Europe but then on a Monday all restaurants are shot which I was like oh and the one thing I did kind of know this about Barcelona but I think I didn't realise how strong it was to like I hear that Spanish is not their first language the Catalan is which is another language so they all speak two languages and predominantly they prefer Catalan so it's a bit overwhelming. Understanding two languages. Yeah do you speak Spanish? I can speak reasonably well in Spanish and Catalan I've got like good morning and how are you and that's about it. Like just to be to be nice because it's such a cultural thing here. It's like all the signs, menus are in Catalan they prefer to speak in Catalan in the club which is amazing but I feel like it's easier to learn Spanish because more people know Spanish. Yeah for sure well I had no language adjustment thank god because I would have had a really hard time with that it was just English to English. Okay so Lucy you're like a really special blend as a player of like great athleticism, strength, attacking ability and defensive instinct and I can see you being you're obviously really effective everywhere you go but in a league like the Ennebysel I can see you being so effective and I know we mentioned up top that you have American ties having played over here for UNC in college. Do you think that any particular part of your game was most improved by your time in the States and would you ever come back and maybe play in the Ennebysel? I mean I've always kept one eye on Ennebysel. I mean our Barcelona coach is heading there in the summer which will be really interesting he's trying to get a little bit of information I know I'm not American but I'm probably as close as linked to the States. Like I had to tell him like you need to know who Mia Hammers he was like who's that I was like trust me just name drop her and they'll think that you're like amazing you need to know yeah you need to know all these little names so we had that conversation they were weak but yeah it's a league that's always interested me and I think to be honest gone to a America when I was 17 it was college but going to UNC I think was the biggest turning point in my career I think not only leaving leaving England leaving home leaving being comfortable but in England I was always competitive and it was said to be like oh wish you calm down a little bit and then it was like I went to America and I was like no you see be competitive be this person be a winner like don't be afraid of it embrace it and I think that was the thing that set me apart from all the English players then when I went back I had that you know everything we did in England but then I had that mentality where I just want to win everything I think that's how my career is kind of gone I just want to win all the time. Well you're doing a great job but that that did really strike me about you when we were teammates in England I was like Lucy is like the most competitive person here and I love that about you so much. Okay I'm going to ask you a couple more questions about your team at Barcelona it's one of the most impressive and enjoyable teams to watch the talent on your team is incredible Alexey Pateyas a ton of Montmartre Kira Wall should we both play with that city your team just won the Champions League in 2023 and you don't really strike me I mean I know you and you don't strike me as somebody who would ever get intimidated but did you ever have a moment in training at Barcelona where you were just in awe of one of your teammates. Yeah a few times I had that Leon but I think Barcelona it was different it was like the way that we train is so Spanish and how they play with each other is I don't know it's just a different kind of level and understanding that they've got I remember even Kira who's you know a technical midfielder she was like this is this is a lot I think Alexey Pateyas and I kind of on my obviously the two that everyone know because of the ball on doors and they score so many goals and exceptional players I think I was surprised that they're all that technical it's not just those two I think Mario and a Caldente someone she played in the World Cup she's probably goes one of the most underrated players I've ever played with and you just can't get the ball off them it's like you're going around though and you just you could just be stuck in there because no one's making a mistake. You said the way that you train is so Spanish can you just explain that in like layman's terms how would you describe playing so Spanish? Like everything's small spaces everything's limited touches it's just constant passing passing you don't tend to see much dribbling or you know bigger areas or bigger spaces I mean it doesn't really play into my hands very well I was like let me run there's sometimes we do the occasional drill and it's a bit like more headed towards fitness and the coach always comes up to me and he goes you like that one today didn't you know that one was for you and I think yeah because we never do anything past like a half way line everyone's so tight so small you fit like ten players in an area that normal teams would only put five players in but the touches are so sharp and so quick and even the goalkeepers like they're joining in and it's the level still the same. Do you think that that just that really like high standard of technical ability is that a reflection of your coach or is it more a reflection of all of the Spanish style of soccer? I think it's the Spanish style I think don't get me wrong our coach is really good he's super obsessed with soccer we'll say soccer I'll deal out here he's super obsessed with soccer and like all the little small intricacies and touches and things like that but all of these players have that understanding like even if you don't understand on each other's language on the pitch it's like everybody understands what we're supposed to do with the ball and how we're supposed to play and I think it's and predominantly our team are you know the spine of the best Spanish players and I think you know the way the basketball plays the way that those girls play particularly you can see how it's then transported into the Spanish national team because then they play a similar way and it's like the coaches and the staff is different but those core players are the same and Everything stays the same because they have this amazing understanding and this amazing intelligence with the ball Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, I mean you can see that both with your team personal and the Spanish national team obviously Your coach you might have to help me out here with the pronunciation Jonathan here all does I just call them Jonah you call them Jonah. I'm gonna call him Jonah He's coming to the NDSL and he's gonna coach the Washington spirit After your season concludes in May, but he's won with your team the continental treble and a Champions League title Can you tell us a little bit about him and his personality? I think you get this guy talking about soccer and you're there for hours You could ask a moon question and the explanation goes on to the whole team and the whole pitch and and every Every possibility that you could think of he's thinking of it I think he's someone who's if you really enjoy Learning about the tactics of particularly attacking football. You could sit there and listen to him for hours He likes to improve his English and he's very He's very very competitive. He likes to join in or he'll say watch this. I'll hit the crossbar and he'll stand there for 10 minutes doing silly things like that He's super competitive as a player as a coach the way he manages But he's yeah, he's a really nice guy. I think I think people forget it's quite young He's he's actually younger than me, which is a bit more awesome. Yeah Yeah, what he's he's just he was an allot he was an analysis before he was a coach then he was assistant Then the full manager so I can see why he has that understanding because he's just watched Hours and hours of video and clips and he's just Super obsessed with it but a really good guy. It sounds like he's super competitive which obviously is gonna translate to the American League But what other things about him and his coaching philosophy do you think are gonna showcase in the end of yourself? I think from what I have when I've spoke to him I feel like he really wants to take his style of play over maybe Try and get that Spanish style in a little bit But I think it's gonna have to be a bit of a mix of a hybrid. I could imagine it will be easy straight away And obviously I think he has to get used to this the whole system of how you sign players and put it together He likes to put teams together and fit players in different positions to make the team tick all together Collectively might not necessarily always be the best eleven on the field. It's the best team Which I've noticed at Barthor it's like who fits together is like a jigsaw rather than just These are the best players go ahead and play So I think you'll see that but yeah, I'm really hoping that he brings that Possession-based play build-up play that Barcelona particularly so well known for and From speaking to him is I think he's excited for that challenge of bringing that to the stage Wow, well the more you talk about him the more I am so excited to see him coach here It also sounds like you love it in Barcelona. So much are you really happy there? Yeah, it's amazing. I think it's On such a different type of football that I'm someone who I guess I get a little bit bored sometimes I don't stay at teams very long So they're always challenging myself and find a new things and yeah Being part of the way that Barcelona play is you watch it and it's something that everybody goes Oh, I love watching it but then to be part of it and enjoy it on the inside is is unbelievable and to like Understand it even better because you're part of it is yeah, it's pretty special. Oh, that's cool I'm like jealous, but also really happy for you New balance is a brand I've loved daily for my whole life And let's see if I could love them more than now an official sponsor of the M.I.B. media network And as it turns out, I'm not the only elite footballer they're sponsoring these days Bokai Osaka Hendrick Eberich Yeeze Jeremy Frimpong legendary Hamas Rodriguez and our own beloved Tim Weyer They're all riding with new balance these days with the biggest summer in soccer fast approaching I can't wait to see their incredible footballers paid their path on the world's biggest stage whether it's an Hendrick cutting up opponents in his tekelas or Bokai Osaka Bangi goals left and right in his furons We're here for it all grab yourself a pair today at new balance.com slash soccer Okay, so unfortunately women's soccer in Spain has made a lot of news in recent years between the poor treatment of the women's national team in the Lead up to the World Cup by coach Jorge Vilda to the horrible actions of Luis Urbiales against Jenny Hermoso and also yourself at the Metal ceremony after the World Cup final you and Kira Walsh both were in a unique position in that many of the Spanish players are your club teammates What like conversations did you have with both your English teammates and your Barcelona teammates about how to best support the Spanish players in the Fallout of everything that happened after the final? I mean, I think the conversations with both teams are so different and I remember I spoke with Alex Morgan as well actually because I think the US has always kind of been the standard particularly in women's soccer of how you speak out and how you stand up for yourself and for others And I think as an England team we've always tried to follow in the full footsteps of the US and then then to see Spain almost ask in England for our help and like being on the other side of it was really interesting You know, I think in terms of Society and women's football women's soccer in society. They're a little bit behind and I remember that was England a few years ago So to kind of help them through that process was quite interesting because I know it's a place where we've been before I think the England girls were Always asking what's going on what can we do? I had so many messages not only from English players but from players all around the world because obviously I've got that contact with the Spanish girls and I think for the Spanish girls it was Almost like they were like all like that many people care about us and that many people want to help us because I think In the past it's not really something that's happened in Spain particularly for women's football You know, you exclude Barcelona in the last couple of years and women's football hasn't really been on that same level of growth as maybe they end up Maybe a cell or the FAW or international teams have been on that same kind of projectory that's just gone through the roof But Spain is the talent and the players but I don't think they're realizing the head how good they are and how big they are and how much people want to help them So it was kind of difficult because I wanted to just be like You guys just say something just come out and talk but then I had to remember that they're getting used to that and learning as a team what to do But yeah, I mean thankfully things have kind of gone in the right direction eventually But I mean for Jenny especially I think it's been the hardest. I don't know a really well-personly but Having you know heard from all the girls and everything that she's had to go through is Is insane. It's unimaginable Like you mentioned the end of the cell has kind of gone through its own reckoning With situations not too dissimilar and it's definitely an ongoing process But we have to keep paying attention things are always evolving and Kind of separately. I mean we've seen recently that teams like Nigeria and Jamaica are having issues with their federation still regarding payments at the world cup and Like you said, I think just as players it's important that we maintain these relationships and know that we can all advocate for each other And ourselves. So thank you so much for sharing that I think I think was that as well is that everyone always looked at the US and it was like oh the US Windmill Cups and Colley Lloyd Alex Morgan like Megan Rapinoe and we all know these people almost Not just as footballers, but kind of celebrities in a way like they're huge like they're global So I think so many teams and players think like oh, I can't do that because that's the US and they've done this and they've done that And it's like you don't have to we've achieved what they have achieved to have that same level of respect Like you have that respect and everybody's here to back you which I think a lot of countries now are realizing that You were all in this together. It's not just those one or two three four five names that you know that speak out Everyone can speak out and we can do it together Spot on I'm so glad that you're one of the pioneers of talking about this and that you're You have all these connections all over the world so you can continue sharing this message So I really appreciate you saying that on here. Okay, I want to talk about England now You made your England debut in 2013 when you were just 22 years old You've gone on to play over a hundred times for your country and are now one of the more senior players on the team What has that transition been like from being a young player on the team to being one of the most capped? I think it just kind of went in like the blink of an eye It feels like um First coming into the squad and I was with the players who I looked up to watch some TV And now when I go there it's like a couple of the younger players and newer players are like a little bit scared to speak to me and I'm like It's fine. I'm not gonna bite you But I quite enjoy being I'm like the oldest player and the most capped player But I quite enjoy it. I end up with the younger players now. I think Lauren James is someone who I spend a lot of time with. She's one of the youngest players in the squad And I like just sharing in their enthusiasm. So I think they're the ones who keep me young I don't feel like the oldest. I love that. You're young. heart, Lucy. So the Euros are a long established tradition in European football. The tournament is second only to the World Cup. Your England team won the Euros in 2022, and there were some really incredible and memorable moments like Alessio Rousseau's iconic back heel goal and the semi-final and Chloe Kelly's goal in the final. Can you go back and take us into that moment when Chloe scored? It was the hundred and tenth minute. What happened? Yeah, exactly what happened. I think I was actually kind of claiming like half a sister on it. It was a corner and I remembered that I jumped and the ball was like too low and I kept it in play and I was next to Chloe thinking, "Swingy like, come on, hit it." It was like in between players, goalkeeper, Chloe, I was thinking just do anything, put it in the back of the net. I was literally like a meter away from her and I think I was probably the apart from Chloe, the first one to realise it had gone in. Then I was equally the only one that probably didn't go and celebrate with the team because it was like, "Yeah, this relief of, oh my god, we've finally done it." I knew once we scored, we could see the game out, we're England, we know it. In those times we know what we're doing, but yeah, once the goal went in, it was yeah, pandemonium. So what did you do instead of celebrate? Well, I celebrated, but it was like my legs just didn't move, like I just stayed on the spot. Everyone else was running, Chloe's taking the top off, people were running after her, I think she was, didn't know whether it was offside or, I remember looking around at the lines, the lines woman, I knew that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the goal, so I think that was me just frozen still in time. Like, I think I was probably trying to scream and no sound was even coming out because it was just, yeah. That's so funny. And I was very tired. Yeah, very tired. That's fair. I remember in 2019 when Rose scored in the World Cup Final, I didn't celebrate with the team either. I like stood on the top of the box like this, I like literally couldn't believe that she scored and I felt like I knew right then that we were gonna win and it was just like too much to handle at once. I think being a player who'd been to so many tournaments with England and World Cups and being in these close moments of semifinals and never quite making it, to have that moment come, it was just like, oh my god. And everybody, all the other players on the pitch at the time were quite young, I think, well, excluding Jill Scott. But I think they almost, it was like, oh yeah, this is supposed to happen. Like England was supposed to win the Euro's in England and I was just like, it's not this easy. It's not supposed to be like, it's not that easy. Like I've been to so many tournaments and so many disappointed moments and it was like, they were just like, yeah, we scored with one the final. Wow. I mean, well, that did like, that was such a turning point, I think, for English football, English women's football, I think like broader English football fans have historically been somewhat reluctant to cheer for female footballers. Did you notice a shift after you won the Euro's? Yeah, I mean, even in the Euro's, we sold out every stadium, we went from old Trafford, a couple of over different stadiums to then Wembley, we were selling out and it was like, okay, this is the tournament, this is what's supposed to happen with the home nation. But then it just continued after that. It was like constantly going, or is it Wembley? And like, now it's like, oh, we've sold down. It's like, we always do. It's completely changed. Not just in that respect, but even the way our players are seeing both in football and outside of football. Yeah, it's the landscape of women's football now. The league's completely changed. It's gone to another level. I think Arsenal are a great example of that, what they've been doing. A lot of the teams now are playing a big stadium because the fans and the support has just gone like 10 fold. I wouldn't even say double this like 10 fold. It's crazy. Well, you guys had such an incredible World Cup as well, but in between the Euros and the World Cup, you had four players who started the Euro's final missing from your World Cup squad. Ellen White had retired and then Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Meade were injured. How did you guys adjust going into the World Cup? Do you think you had to alter your style of play, given all those absences? I mean, during the World Cup, we altered our style of play because then we also lost Kiera Walsh for pretty much two games. But yeah, I think it was, it was something that we didn't want to put too much focus on going into the tournament, but afterwards it's easy to say because obviously we didn't win, but it put a huge strain on the team. It was not just on the pitch, but it was like experienced heads, Ellen retired, but also Jill Scott retired. Jill Scott was like this amazing glue person that just brings everybody together. It no matter what's happening. Obviously, Leah Williamson was our captain in the Euros. Fran Kirby's been one of the best players in the world. Beth Meade was the player of the tournament. Like we were missing such key players, which did, yeah, it put extra strain on the other players who were playing. And then a lot of youth coming in who, you know, you want them to have a great tournament and a great experience. So it was definitely a different kind of tournament to the Euros, but I think all in all of them, we look back to get to the final. We lost one nil in the final to a Spanish team with talent that's unbelievable. I mean, I know that first hand. Yeah, it's devastating that we couldn't quite get over the line after being so close so many times, but with all those things going on and all said and done, we did pretty well in the end. Yeah, I mean, I'll say, your manager Serena Vigman seems like she's had such a huge impact on English football in general. And she just signed a new deal to continue managing the team till 2027, led the team to the Euros win, and then the World Cup final and back to back years. What's it like to play for Serena? What kind of manager is she? I think Serena's, she's got a bit of both. Like she's good at coaching on the field, and then she's good at managing off the field as well. She's quite direct being Dutch, a bit of a Dutch stereotype. But it's true. It's true. She asks for your opinion, you give it to her, and she still says, no, I'm right. It's fine. She still listens to you. But yeah, she's very direct. She knows what she wants to do and how she wants the team to play. I think as well, she didn't hear it, a quite good England team and quite a good England squad. But she made the finishing touches that made us take tux to that next level. But yeah, I mean, I think we're all pretty happy that she's extended a deal with the English national team. She seems to enjoy herself very much. I think she's also improving and developing as a person and the manager as well, and well, on this journey with her. So it's, yeah, it's really amazing. I think we're just happy that she's staying with the English, not going elsewhere. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm happy for you guys. She seems like such a great manager. Like you said, your team lost just an incredible Spanish team in the final one to zero. And then also, started to bring this up. You guys recently didn't qualify for the Olympics. It was a complicated qualification process through Nation's League. We would need a whole separate podcast to discuss this. But you've been through so much success in your career. You have so much experience. And now you're this veteran leader. How do you process losing? And how do you help your younger teammates get through it as well? Yeah, I mean, it was crushing the way that we didn't qualify because it was 30 seconds. We were qualified. We're potentially qualifying. And then 30 seconds later, we weren't. And even still now, you know, the European teams haven't fully qualified. I think it's fair to say that it's probably the hardest continent to qualify from. And in past years, we would have qualified haven't done so well at the World Cup. But I think, you know, making the final of the World Cup and then having to pick ourselves back up. And, you know, we play in teams like Holland. It's not, they're not easy teams to play against. But yeah, we left it a little bit too late. And it's disappointing. And I guess for the younger players, it's disappointment that they've never felt in an England shirt because, you know, in recent years, we won the Euros. And we got a silver medal at the World Cup. And a lot of our players are from those two tournaments. So to have to go through a big disappointment of missing a major tournament, although it's not England, it's great Britain. It's still a major tournament. And you want to be part of I guess we've all kind of had to take a step back and kind of sounds terrible, but look at the bright side of we've got a summer where we don't have this crazy congestion of games. We can recover, get back together. We've got Euros that we need to qualify for next year. And we want to keep a hold of our trophy. So looking for us, there's still a tournament in the near future, which we can regroup and put our aim on that instead. Well, yeah, I mean, you just mentioned you'll not have a world tournament this summer. Does that mean you get to take a break? I mean, you've been playing at this level for so long, 118 caps. How do you balance the demands of elite club and country with rare breaks? Yeah, I mean, I think this is the first summer where I get to plan. I'm going I went on holiday with my family for the first time since I was a child. probably like 18 or something because even before we're playing scene tournaments, you know, there's like the U20s World Cup, we have the Euros with the Youth System as well. So I think I'm looking forward to taking a break. I think if you asked me this a couple of years ago, I would have hated, absolutely hated, taken any time off. But I'm at a point now where I realise it's just as good for your body as playing. So I'm looking forward to it, recoup and regurg and next year. You're always pushing the game forward. You're talking about the issues. You always give time to your fans. You're like such an incredible example of a female footballer who's out there really giving her all to the game in every aspect. How do you think about your relationship with the fans? Like, how does it feel to be in a position where you're changing how your country is viewing the game? Yeah, I think it's a bit bizarre, I guess, because for me at the start of my career that wasn't really a thing. And now it's like I've gone through that change of support and where the fans are with us and how many fans there are and everything like that is completely changed and it's kind of gone with the direction of my career. I will say it's a little bit different because also the Barcelona fans are very intense as well. It's amazing the fan base at Barcelona as well as England. So it's kind of like two of the biggest clubs in the world with these huge fans and huge following. But I love the relationship we have with fans. It's obviously a little bit different now. I think years and years ago it was a little bit more personal because there wasn't as many people but now there's thousands every single game. You want to thank everybody, you want to sign everyone, you want to take a picture of everybody but you just can't and it's just not enough time. But the fact that we've got these fans coming to games is amazing. And I think the fans that we have on women's football really are very special, particularly I feel it when I play for Barcelona and for England. I honestly wouldn't trend either of them for any other sets of fans. That's awesome. I love that. If you just had one thing that women's football could focus on in 2024, what would it be? I just want the game to keep going. The players, individual players, to be better in every single position. I want to see an amazing football, every single game that you watch, whether it's the Champions League final or a league game or what have you to see just quality football being played week and week out. I think that's really what I want to see more than anything. I know. You're such a football purist. Just like love the game and you want to be challenging. I love that. I'm obsessed. I know. Lucy, this was so great. Thank you so much for coming on. No, thanks for having me. It was really enjoyable. Was that Narlah Barking? Yeah, she's staring at me. Oh my gosh. How is she doing? She loves it in Spain. She absolutely loves it in Spain. Wow. I loved hearing from Narlah. I loved hearing from Lucy. More son, more Ciestas and more soccer. Thank you so much to Lucy Bronze for coming on the show. What an amazing competitor, an amazing player, and such a fun interview to do. Thank you all so much for listening. We have another great weekend of games ahead of us. I am really looking forward to the FA Cup game this weekend between Arsenal and Man City on Sunday at 730 AM Eastern. You can check our weekly graphic for more details on how to watch the games. I think the real question is, will I get another roast dinner on Sunday? I will be sure to let you guys know. I hope there's yourks you're putting. I don't even need anything else. All I need is that. Don't forget to follow subscribe, like, comment, email. We want to hear from you. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok at Women's Game, M-I-B. Subscribe to our newsletter and our YouTube channel by going to the link tree in our social media bios. It is very, very handy and I actually need to share it with my mom. Thank you so much for being here. We'll see you soon.