chloe's FOOTBALL EDUCATION

What do you remember from your very early days being coached? What were the most valuable lessons you learned?

I learned a lot of my trade playing cage football from a really young age. That was football for me, as far back as I can remember: playing in the cages with my brothers and all their friends. I think if I didn't have five older brothers, I probably wouldn't have gone into that environment with confidence or even at all. They showed trust in me and accepted me, which allowed all the other boys to do the same.

My brothers definitely pushed me to be better every day, but also they celebrated how good I was as well, which was really nice. I can stay grounded knowing that they're going to be honest and tell me when I have a stinker! But they’ll always root for me whenever they watch me play.

There was no specific coaching involved in the cage because it was every man for themselves. You show what you're capable of every day on that pitch. You learn as you go, you take risks and you make mistakes.

I think it's about holding your own within that environment. It's not really about who you know: if you're good enough, you get to stay on the pitch. I was the only girl there, so I think I had to show a bit of personality in my performances. That’s where my tricks come in. I just tried to play with freedom and show what I'm capable of. When I went into QPR, I then started getting proper coaching and then I could take those learnings back to the cage.

I still have that love of the kid in the cage who just wanted to go and express themselves. I still have that fire in my belly to go and win the ball back at all costs and really fight for the team. There's no trophy to be won in that, but it's the pride that you walk off the pitch with.

Who were your early influences? What players did you look up to when you started and why?

Kelly Smith, of course. I remember buying her book and trying to watch her as much as I could growing up, and then when I joined the club, I could ask her so many question. Her and Rachel Yankey were the players I looked up to the most at Arsenal. When I went up to the first team at Arsenal, Yanks was a great role model for me and went into a lot of detail in training. She looked after me but also challenged me as well. She really pushed me to be better every day.

On the men's side, I know a lot of people would say Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo but I just loved Adel Taarabt. I used to watch videos of him all the time on YouTube. He's an unreal player and I try to bring a little bit of flair to the pitch like him. Being a PPR fan, you don't have much to celebrate but with Adel Taarabt, you can celebrate every time you want watching him play.

Can you pinpoint a stage in your career, or an age group, where you made the biggest leap?

It was probably my first loan spell to Everton from Arsenal. That was a massive learning point in my career and a massive step out of my comfort zone in terms of moving away from home at 18. Leaving London for the first time in my life to go up to Liverpool was a big adjustment, but I knew it was for my development. Making that move allowed me to push on with my career at a really important moment.

I was learning from amazing players like Kelly and Yanks at Arsenal, but there came a time where I needed to go and show what I was capable of and make mistakes on the pitch to grow from, because I was quite immature in the way that I played.

After that, I'd probably say my ACL injury. I learned a lot about myself and how I can push myself to whole new heights, physically and mentally. Sometimes you can look at an injury very negatively, but I look back and know it's something that really shaped who I am. Just around the corner from such a low moment in my career was one of the highest moments of my career, winning the Euros with England.

Knowing that you have players who have experienced the same injury in the past is amazing. I leant on the likes of Jordan Nobbs - I remember she called me straight after I did my knee. Hopefully, I could help someone else in that position too now. It's just really nice that women's football is a community where we can come together to really look after each other in moments of injury.

What managers have you worked with, and how do they differ?

It’s so important for a manager to understand the player as a human being and I think Renée is top at that. I could tell that from my first conversation with her. I understand football is a game that's very competitive and you have to keep as many people happy whilst still being successful, for the good of the team. Once you build the relationships, you understand that. As a group, we can do great things as a collective, but we also have to work individually. What can we all bring that means we’re better than the team in front of us? I think managers who have experienced the game as players know how to work with others in difficult moments as well. I enjoy the arm around my shoulder approach, but also I like being pushed to get the best out of me. It's about balance.