Leah Williamson talks about her ACL recovery and the Lionesses’ journey in the Women's World Cup! ⚽

By the way, that's not a funny situation, they're just terrified. There is no debate about how good at football our next guest is. Yes, please, welcome to the program. Arsenal and the lioness of England. I'm Leah Williamson. Captain. How are we? I'm very well. thanks How are you? I'm fine, thanks now look, obviously, uh, it is, it's the same thing I told Beth Mead when she came on the show. I mean, I have to start with the obvious, it's heartbreaking to not be out. there with the girls right now, isn't it? Yes, it's not easy, it's not easy, it's more like they are my friends.

You know, I want to be out there having a good time. Obviously, I missed football. Yeah, yeah, you're just missing out. at a massive party in Australia, yeah how did you find it? I mean, how do you know? Because I guess this is something you've never done before. You know, you sat down just having to watch the game and you know. Keep telling us how it went, yes, it's difficult, it's as if at the end of the day we were outside. I don't want to throw up too much, but at the same time it's them, they're like my family. so I don't know, it's nice, it's nice to just see them and be proud of them, but I'd rather be involved, yeah, well, we know when was the last time you were involved, I mean, it was, it was a happy anniversary because it was a year , uh, yesterday since you won the Euro, I mean, be honest, how often do you go back and watch that final again?

My cousin found a link where she can watch the full game and she watches it almost weekly, actually, yeah, yeah. I'm not sure she would be happy if I told you that, but I watch it from time to time, just some little documentaries and stuff because I really don't want to forget everything. In fact, I felt like Roe was saying we had your partner. uh tuner and lioness Beth Mead on the show and this sounds really brutal. She was explaining how she got kicked out of the Lioness WhatsApp group as Savage, since this happened to you too, so by the way, not a fun situation just to check, um, uh, no.

I think I was in for a while and then it got to a point where I was obviously in until April, then they started doing all the preparation and I thought it was probably time to go now, so did you go? I'm going to say I took control and said: Do you need me for something or can I just leave now? Thank you, wow, wow, with this program, by the way, Leah, so if someone joins this program and then if someone leaves, Roman takes the responsibility of moving, thank you for his service. yes, exactly, you know we are both captains, we know you know how I should go.

I'm far from being the captain, let me tell you, you don't want me as a captain. Oh, Leah, we've seen it, although I know you like it, obviously. recovering from an injury but we've seen that you seem to be having fun you're at Wimbledon, at F1, you saw the Pinking concert, you've been to Ibiza so you've been having a bit of fun, having a bit of down time. You know what life is like for everyone who has a nine to five and it's free on the weekends. I mean, actually, that was my last weekend off and now I'm back at the right time, it's like a Problematic Footballer again minus less posts on Instagram, I think from now until Christmas, but how did you think of our performances? until now?

Two types of kg games. A victory to zero. If you look at the entire tournament, it's been a little crazy in terms of I know there's been. a couple of games in which there were a lot of goals but everyone played quite cautious football and if you remember the Euro Cup, if anyone can remember that father, our first game against Austria, we were not, we were not the team that played in the final, were we? TRUE? so I'm actually silent, I think it's very nice to go about your business in silence, now talk to me well because I always hear this when it comes to sports tournaments, specifically soccer tournaments, is it about peaking too much? soon? and you don't want to peak too early, you want to get those little results, little results, little results and you want to take a look at that final.

Exactly this is if you were playing your best football on the first day, you would think that I. I've got six weeks to try to keep it up now, so I'm not saying you don't want to play well, but I think if you're not growing as you go and spending it every day together as a team you'd be a little worried about Norway last year, we won eight now I think it's difficult to follow, yes, it must be very difficult because you have to try not to be your backseat driver, you know? You are the former captain, you are watching your team play, but in your opinion, who is the biggest rival?

Do you think it's difficult for girls, do they have a very hard career? If you look at the games, I think in terms of The favorites for the tournament are the USA and then if you're talking about the ability to win, which lioness has 100, then I would say that, because of history or talking about history, you would say that we are the USA, but all the European teams, the Dutch, the Germans, Spain. It's not an easy tournament to play in and I'll tell you that, and then looking ahead, Kira Walsh leaving, how big do you think she is Leah?

I think she's the most important person in terms of the way we play and The Small Bags, you're going to come home in a

world

if you're going to lose someone like that, you know it's a World Cup, it's an opportunity everywhere, everyone has to step up anyway and you're just asking people to go a little further. Now, um, but I think when you lose a player like that, it gives everyone a real I don't know, you know, like I said, it's family, so everyone gets a second wind. I guess I just think well, let's start, you know, really.

I don't know, stepping up to the plate hmm on something strange, on a different topic, everything is more or less the same, there are so many, you look, you look at the list of injuries, right ACL, ACL, ACL, yeah, but how is that injury specifically so prominent within

women

's soccer because there are so many things that I think in the statistics it's like just ACL, like 37 players are missing from this

world

cup, which is that disgusting, but I think There are as many things as our hips. aligned slightly differently than men and all this, all these things that people have said can contribute to hormones, normal things like stress and whatever, but I think it's you know the female game, one day we're a child playing football and then the next day we are professionals like my generation, especially you know, training three times a week and then training every day, playing in the Champions League, the World Cups, the European championships, etc. ., yes, until that becomes more typical of the kids where they were literally raised.

To that, from the day they signed at six, it would happen a few more times because it's like I don't think we're ready for that, that's what I think is a contributing factor anyway, okay, yeah . because I was hearing about the boots and the way they are and stuff like that, they make boots just for

women

, now they do, um, but yeah, you have to think that's all what we base our game on, technically. research that was done on men, yes of course it's true, there's so much going on now that maybe we need to focus a little more on women because otherwise this will happen again and again, sorry to be better, it's very interesting because You're absolutely right, you know, you think about the science behind this.

Everyone says, oh, how come we're always injured? We have all our best players out, it's because the men's game has become based on men, you know what? I mean, even the training, I guess until recently maybe exactly our bodies are completely different and the studies that go into it and as a professional athlete, the studies about it are few and far between, do you think that's something that will progressively happen? ? improve, I think so. I think if you ever need a wake up call, I would say this year with ACLS it's if you do it, if no one wakes up now, then we have a problem, yes, but also Lee, it's a fantastic business opportunity. for you, a bit like the r9, we will have the uh w9, yes exactly, the w-6 will get the W6, so our night was like Ronaldo, he is with the number nine and it was his boots like he didn't have them, but it had its own brand. like Leah could pull her own boots oh yeah 100 oh you gotta do that okay we'll take ten percent I'm going to say yeah we asked this to Beth too she wasn't too short do the ladies have a new song ? which they're defending because obviously you had Abba last time, yeah I don't know and I need to find out because otherwise I'll be out when I come back in, yeah so yeah I need to find out.

I really do not know. I'm going to assume it's something a little more modern because Katie Zellom is a little more progressive DJ than I am. I think it's okay, we'll see, we'll try to do something. some underground work there trying to figure it out and before we go to the score prediction for today England vs China oh I'm going to say two New England okay two to zero and we're going to win it all yeah I have to believe until then we don't do it right, yeah, say it, I think, until we don't, that's all, uh Leah, thank you so much for coming on the show, as always, it's always a pleasure to chat with you and I know you have a children's book too.

It's coming at the end of the month, that's right, I have my uh, I wrote it with my cousin, so it's pretty special to me, actually, yeah, oh wow, so what's the name of the book? uh it's the forgotten footballers wonder team, it's kind of a bit of women's football history, but more like kids on an adventure, which is, yeah, I hope other people feel the same love. Well, you can get it at the end of the month, so I'd love to have you in the studio to talk about it. that when it comes out until then please leave it because Leah Williams said that everyone, yes, thank you