Safe Hands: Mary Earps (Manchester United and England)

The goalkeepers’ slot goes to Mary Earps in her first season at Manchester United. She narrows her favourite save to two: a double save against Arsenal on her home debut, and a long-range strike from Rachel Furness at Tottenham that she was certain was going in and somehow tipped over. Her route into the position is, she admits, a cliche – back garden with dad and brother, a local girls’ team when mixed football ended, everyone taking a turn in goal, and a saved penalty that settled it. She rates her distribution and communication above her shot-stopping. The most pointed answer is on the worst part of the job: goalkeeping analysis delivered by people who never played the position, and a mental toughness that gets misread as arrogance.