Within two seconds, Keira Walsh knew. Fast forward barely 10 more and every Lioness knew too. The most tragic element of women’s football’s grim engagement with serious knee injuries is that everyone has grown used to the telltale signs.
These elite sportswomen know the drill by now: the “I’ve done my knee” face; the sprints of the medics; the plastic orange stretcher that carries them off to face a daunting journey.
The personal loss demands our sympathy. Ignore all other context for now. Walsh is a magnificent footballer who worked tirelessly for recognition and relevance and then fought to be the heartbeat of her national team.
Serious injuries such at these draw a solid red line through it all, individual ambition and glory ripped away in a second. You cannot mentally prepare for this because, if you did, you would never truly be able to produce your best. It is a demon that lodges itself into the dark corners of your mind and must be ignored.
In an interview with i on the eve of the tournament, Walsh discussed her difficult experience in the 2019 World Cup. She was criticised for her performances, including significant social media abuse, and readily admitted that it affected her mentally. Australia was written in her mind as the chance not to make amends (she owed nobody that) but to make peace. Where does that peace exist now?
But we cannot dwell on Walsh for as long as we would like and her talent demands. The pressure never stops and that becomes a tragedy on its own: England will now have to succeed without Walsh. As popular as she is, and no matter how much her teammates and friends will wish her well, Walsh’s health must be put to one side.
The grim irony for Sarina Wiegman is that she is becoming sadly accustomed to this post-injury reorganisation. The spine of her team from the European Championship – Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead have all been laid low by similar injuries. That would be impossible for any nation at the tournament to deal with.
Major tournaments are the time for new heroes to emerge – step forward the irrepressible Lauren James – but nobody wanted to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Someone wrap Mary Earps in cotton wool and lock her door from the outside. She is the last remaining vertebra.
This one arguably hits hardest of all. Williamson’s absence is keenly felt, but Millie Bright got herself fit and Alex Greenwood is the best central defensive partner with Rachel Daly at left-back. Mead was the Golden Boot winner in a home triumph, but Alessia Russo can play a more selfless role and Beth England finally saw minutes against Denmark.
With Walsh, the same does not apply. It is not just that this latest setback occurred in the heavy, pressurised air of World Cup football that inevitably offers less chance for adapting and amendment in training. It is that Walsh was the only irreplaceable outfield player in this squad.
She is gloriously multifunctional: the passing master, capable of dipping into space and passing on the turn but also a security guard against the counter attack to which England increasingly look more vulnerable than we would like. Walsh links together defence and attack like nobody else and Wiegman, off the record and when at her most honest, would concede as much.
Laura Coombs deserves a mention. It was she who filled in, out of position and so asked to acclimatise on the job, to reasonable effect. England let Denmark back into the context, which will peeve Wiegman, but that had more to do with the ball not sticking up front and loose passes in defence than any fault on Coombs’ part.
But that scream, that forlorn look and that audible admission from Walsh all matter moving forward. England will progress from the group stage, but that was only ever the first step of their ambition.
A potential meeting in the quarter-finals with Germany – if England even reach that far – has now shifted firmly in the favour of the vanquished European Championship final opponents. You cannot make do and mend in marginal battles. Four words that might linger long in the memory over the next fortnight: “I’ve done my knee”.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/xqBaR03
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