Alex Greenwood is officially world-class - so why can't she get into the Lionesses line-up?

It was shortly after the 2019 World Cup that Greenwood’s path changed. Then 25 years old, she was signed by Lyon, the dominant force in women’s football in Europe, as they looked for someone to play at left-back. However, in her season in France, which would result in four trophies - including a Champions League title - the England international also showed glimpses in a more central role.

Still, when her brief foray abroad came to an end 12 months later and she returned home to join Manchester City, all the talk was about her competing with Stokes for a place in the club’s XI, just as she was for her country. "It's a healthy competition," Greenwood herself even said at the time. “We really push each other to our limit. We improve each other every year. If we can make each other better, it only makes the team better.”

It was three games into the 2020-21 Women’s Super League season that Greenwood started to appear more centrally. Having moved into the heart of defence midway through the second half of Man City’s second outing of the campaign, she was there from the off the following week and has barely relinquished that berth since.

The football that Greenwood played that year, as City finished just two points behind Chelsea in the title race, was sensational, the best of her career to date by far. Yet, somehow, despite also boasting versatility useful for an 18-player squad, she was snubbed by Hege Riise when she selected the players for Great Britain’s women’s football team at the Olympics that summer.

“To say I was heartbroken initially would be an understatement, it was complete heartbreak, I couldn’t understand why,” Greenwood told The Telegraph. “It wasn’t that I was convinced I was going to Japan - that would be unprofessional - but after the season I’d had, lots of honest people around me said they thought I’d had one of my best seasons as a professional, and I’m usually really hard on myself.

“I had my moment when I was upset, angry and disappointed, and I could have done one of two things. I could have let it run away with me, stayed disappointed, and dwelled on it, or I could react to it and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to prove you wrong and I’m going to work so, so hard’, so now it’s honestly only a positive thing for me.”

That’s because what has happened in the three years since for Greenwood has been huge. She has continued to excel for City and has got her rewards with England – though not immediately. Throughout an even better season in 2021-22, Greenwood partnered Millie Bright in the centre of defence when away with the Lionesses, as Leah Williamson stepped into a midfield role. She looked sure to maintain that place as a home European Championships approached, too.

However, a late switch by Sarina Wiegman saw Williamson drop back in alongside Bright and Greenwood occupied the role of a substitute, rather than the anticipated one of a star, as England’s women won a first major tournament in a dramatic final at Wembley.

“With the Euros situation, I accepted my role,” she said last summer, ahead of the World Cup. “I knew I had to be the best team-mate for the girls and that group of girls was truly special in every way. I can’t speak highly enough of the group. A year later, I’ve played a lot for England since then, started a lot of games and I’m probably at the experienced end of the team now. So, again, whatever my role is again this summer, I’ll do it the best I can.”

Down Under, that role was finally one which gave her some spotlight on a global stage and showed everyone just why Greenwood is rated so highly by those who watch the WSL every week. “The world is finally getting to appreciate the quality she has got,” former England midfielder Lucy Staniforth told the Evening Standard, while Lucy Bronze told reporters in the build-up to the tournament: “Alex is technically probably one of the best centre-halves in the world.”

That much was certainly apparent as England reached the Women’s World Cup final for the first time. No one completed more passes than Greenwood at that tournament and her wicked left foot, deadly from set-pieces or with the vast passing range she boasts, helped make her the joint-second most creative player too, despite her position in a back three.

That’s not to overlook her defensive nous, which was on show throughout England’s historic run, nor her ability to lead. Bright wore the armband for Wiegman’s side in Australia, but Greenwood played a huge part in helping to make the Lionesses so difficult to break down.

It was in the third game of the tournament that the England boss chose to switch formation to one she had never used before in this job in a competitive match, putting Jess Carter, Bright and Greenwood in a back three. The latter was probably the least familiar of the trio with it, given the former two have sometimes operated in that system at Chelsea, yet it wasn’t evident in her play.

Former England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain praised Greenwood for the way she had “stepped into this leadership role” alongside Bright, while the captain was keen to highlight her “calm, competitive and composed” qualities. “She brings that to the team as well.”

The manner in which Greenwood showed up in that tournament just confirmed what many already believed, that she was indeed one of the best centre-backs on the planet and a truly world-class talent. It’s one thing to do it week-in, week-out for your club, but it’s another to add to that by performing on the biggest stage of all, in the most important tournament in football.

It's a rise that Greenwood herself certainly didn’t see coming, given what has had to change for it to happen. "If you wound back to 2019, I would never have said I'd be playing at centre-back,” she said before England’s triumphant Euros campaign. “It's crazy because I can't see myself playing left-back now, so I've probably done a full 360. The biggest thing is I really love playing there. I feel like I've brought the best out of myself. That's probably why I'm so invested in the position."

Two years on, those comments have almost aged wonderfully, bar the idea that Greenwood had brought the best out of herself at that point. There’s no doubt that she has got even better in the time since and, with her still just 30 years old, there might even be another level to reach yet.

And that brings us to the present where, despite all that quality and that impressive World Cup, Greenwood somehow, once again, often finds herself on the outside looking in when it comes to the England XI.

Williamson has returned from a devastating ACL injury and partnered Bright in the back line again, which is now a four rather than a three. Many thought Greenwood would be able to play a part at left-back then, given her previous experience there and the Lionesses’ lack of options in the role. However, that spot has gone to Carter, who has enjoyed her own impressive rise.

It's a good problem for Wiegman to have, there’s no doubt about that, but it must be an incredibly frustrating place for Greenwood to be in once more. She’s a world-class centre-back who improves any team, and the sooner England can find a way to get her back in that line up on a regular basis, the better it will be for them.