Just four months lay between Millie Bright’s season-ending injury and the centre-back leading England out as captain at the World Cup.
After damaging her knee in March’s Champions League quarter-final against Lyon, the Chelsea defender quickly made up her mind to undergo surgery to give herself the best possible chance of recovering in time for this summer’s tournament – and ahead of the last-16 tie against Nigeria, she spoke of her “brutal” rehab programme as she raced against the clock to ensure she was fit.
“The running was brutal,” Bright said. “When you have a short space of time it’s just about making sure you get up to speed and making sure your body is in a position that you can actually return to training and return for games.
“I’d got an unbelievable medical team behind me that had put me through all the tests that I needed to step out onto the pitch safely and in the right shape to compete.”
With the Lionesses’ build-up already so badly disrupted by injuries to regular captain Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby, there was even more external pressure for Bright to come back.
While she completed 90 minutes in each of England’s group games, she came in for criticism as her performances suggested she was still lacking match sharpness. She gave the ball away early in the opening win over Haiti and struggled after Keira Walsh’s injury removed the last line of defence against Denmark.
“I think there was a lot of hype around it which I tried to keep quiet, just getting my head down and getting what I needed to get done,” Bright said of her return.
“I knew that I’d put myself in a position where I could compete and play 90 minute games in back-to-back games.
“I think that, one, that’s my mentality and character, but my rehab was brutal and I was put through my paces to make sure that I could withstand it. It’s part and parcel of the game. I feel great out on the pitch and I’ll rest, recover and repeat.”
On those who had slated her displays, she added: “I don’t know about any of the criticism. I’m not on social media for that exact reason.
“For us, we value our bubble and what’s inside our bubble; nothing gets in and nothing gets out. It’s football, everyone’s going to have an opinion, but the only ones that are going to matter are the ones that are within our team, our squad, staff, and players. We have controllables which are our training, our intensity, our mindset when we step out on that pitch.
“We give absolutely everything for that badge and all you can do is give your best when you’re out there. We’re not perfect humans, we all make mistakes, it’s going to happen. I’m not aware of the criticism.
“I think you have to have it. It’s like any sport, it’s like anything in life… it’s how you grow and develop and it’s about what you do with that criticism. You can either let it get you down, disrupt you and damage you or you can take little bits from it and think ‘maybe I can use that little bit’. In anything that you do it’s about growing and learning from the people around you. For me you need it and it’s part of the game.”
Instead, Bright takes notes from her partner, Levi, to whom she sends “three aims” before matches: “It could be as simple as: dominate defensive duels, distribution, composure, it really depends on the opponent.
“He [Levi] is a very level-headed person, he doesn’t sugar-coat anything which in the moment I may not like but it’s for the greater good so I appreciate it. I think you need that, I think sometimes it’s easy for loved ones to be like ‘you had a great game!’ and I’m like ‘mum, I was terrible there’.”
Bright could once again be asked to play in a back three following Sarina Wiegman’s switch to a 3-5-2, with Walsh unlikely to return in midfield as she continues her rehabilitation.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/AdSVrQk
Post a Comment