Thrilla from the Villa (Chasity Grant)

Aston Villa’s Dutch forward Chasity Grant reflects on a first season in England that began rockily and finished strongly, crediting a run of good late results to open communication with the coaching staff, the squad and Natalia Arroyo building a plan together after a mid-season arrival she acknowledges is hard on any coach. She describes two lonely weeks in a hotel when she first moved, and a friendship with Ebony Salmon so close she calls her a lost sister and reckons she could find her blindly on the pitch. With the Netherlands she is inseparable from Esmee Brugts and Lineth Beerensteyn, a bond she puts down to shared Suriname heritage, music and dancing. Champions League nights with Ajax prepared her for the WSL’s demands. She enjoyed a first tournament despite heavy defeats, and wants rhythm and happy faces restored under Arjan Veurink.