Ready, Steady, Roebuck (Ellie Roebuck interview)

At eighteen Ellie Roebuck has a World Cup, a professional contract, Champions League starts and a PFA Young Player shortlisting behind her, and is displacing England’s number one at Manchester City. The problem she describes is the one nobody expects: concentration. At Sheffield she faced plenty of shots; at City she may wait until the eightieth minute for the one save that decides a game, which the Opta panel bears out at a save every forty-seven minutes. She reviews every match with her coach and then again alone, and admits to being picky with herself. On being shortlisted alongside her friend Georgia Stanway she is unbothered about who wins – each was hoping the other would.