The She Kicks Locker Room: The Before & After with Keira Walsh

Manchester City’s twenty-year-old midfielder keeps her match day deliberately plain: rice, chicken and beans, plenty of water, and getting ready quickly in the dressing room so there is time left to gather her thoughts without rushing. Club or country makes no difference, because she wants to win them all and prepares identically. For a holding player, she says, it is all about composure, so she avoids working herself up and concentrates on what was done in training and what Nick Cushing has asked for. Nerves she accepts as useful, and calms by thinking about her own team’s strengths rather than the opposition. Afterwards there is an ice bath, food as soon as possible, and a recovery day spent walking the dog.