SYDNEY – At the start of every season, Georgia Stanway makes a list. These are the “1 per cents” to achieve on the pitch and off it, to make her a well-rounded person as well as a better footballer.
When she joined Bayern Munich a year ago, she took charge of moving into her new apartment and kitting it out herself. She did not have to – the club would have pulled the strings had she wished – but the move was as much about personal growth as her career.
Since her time at Manchester City, she has employed a personal mentor, the former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick, to help with her mindset.
Chadwick has spoken publicly about his own struggles with self-confidence and once a week, he sits down with Stanway to discuss whatever is on her mind.
“He’s honestly the best guy,” says Stanway. “He is honestly one of the nicest people that you could ever meet. He cares for absolutely everybody. He removes himself out of any equation and is just so focused on wanting to improve the individual and wants them to have the utmost success as a player and a person.”
As England stand on the cusp of a World Cup final, the 24-year-old’s mentality has become more important than ever. Earlier in the tournament, she spoke of her readiness to step up in the absence of Keira Walsh and even now her more experienced accomplice has returned, she remains the glue holding the midfield together.
Amidst the chaos, the injuries and the suspension of Lauren James, Stanway has proven herself as a leader – and potentially a future England captain, albeit it is not something she is thinking about just yet.
“Although I’m still young, I’m in an environment where I’m not young anymore.
“I’ve been to a few major tournaments. I’ve been successful at [my] club in terms of domestic trophies, and individual achievements have been good over the last years, so subconsciously you’ve got to mature and you’ve got to be more of a leader in that instance.
“I kind of lead in my actions, so I want to become a consistent player on the field in my actions, in my technical actions, in getting less yellow cards, as stupid as it sounds, and just being more consistently involved in actions.”
Chadwick has helped with that too. Aside from sending good luck messages before games, he offers stats post-match to help her improve her performances.
“I could come away from a game knowing that I’ve not done so great or I didn’t feel too good, but then the numbers could tell me something different, and then vice-versa. I could come away from the game feeling on top of the world and then my mentor could bring me back down to Earth, and say ‘oh, no, your passing was shocking today’.
“It’s just kind of [about] staying level and staying consistent and being consistent in the way that I am as a person and the way that I am on the field. And I think Bayern has massively helped that because I’ve been able to play since the Euros in a consistent position and being able to make that position my own, and then I come to England and get the freedom, and obviously have the players around me that I’ve built connections with over a long period of time.”
That has shown in the way her role with the Lionesses has evolved. Stanway was once more of a traditional box-to-box midfielder but has had to dig into a deeper role at this tournament, particularly during Walsh’s short spell on the sidelines. It has meant shaking off the lows – the missed penalty against Nigeria and Haiti (that one was scored on the retake) – and not taking the highs too seriously. If Australia target Walsh, it will fall to her to free England from the shackles of Katrina Gorry and Kyra Cooney-Cross.
In the past, Stanway is one of the few players whose moments of petulance have been embraced. There is a touch of the traditional midfield terrier about her, hence the parody Twitter account: “Did Georgia Stanway get booked today?” – to which the answer is often yes. When she is pressed on her discipline, she laughs, not least because she managed to narrowly avoid a booking in the Colombia quarter-final that would have ruled her out of the semi against Australia.
“I’m so relieved about that.
“That’s why I was having my meetings on matchday minus one, because it was ‘right, disciplined Georgia today, especially while VAR is on show, because you never know in football.’
“I thought I’d ruined myself in the last game but thankfully the referee was on my side… I went straight up to the ref and I was like, ‘Ref, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry’ and she was like, ‘it’s OK!’ so I just ran off as fast as I could.
“But I think in terms of me and my choices, I think over the last four games I think I’ve just picked and chosen when I do need to go for it and when I don’t, and I think that’s something that I’ve definitely learned over the last four games is do I need to go for the ball if it’s only a 10 per cent chance of winning it, or a 20 per cent chance of winning it?
“And can I just be a little bit more, what’s the word… sensible?”
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