- Keira Walsh speaks about midfield partnership with Stanway
- The duo played together at Manchester City previously
- Walsh tries to instill Barcelona style in Lionesses' training
WHAT HAPPENED? Walsh and Stanway spent six seasons together at Manchester City before the former headed to Barcelona last season while the latter moved to Bayern Munich. Walsh also spoke about how the midfield duties have been divided between them with Stanway making the tackles while she does the passing at the centre of the park.
The Barcelona star also spoke about her experience with the Catalan giants and how she has adapted to their passing style of play. Walsh further stated that she has been trying to instill the Barcelona way of football in the English national team.
Please enable Javascript to view this contentWHAT THEY SAID: Speaking about her experience at Barcelona, Walsh told Daily Mail, "Going to Barcelona has really pushed me out of my comfort zone on and off the pitch. Adapting to their style, everything goes through midfield, you’re playing loads of short passes. It is very tactical. The intensity and competitiveness was a surprise. Even in the smallest games they always want to win. Going into England, we try to carry on those standards from Barca."
On her midfield partnership with Georgia Stanway, Walsh stated, "Naturally she is probably more of a tackler than me. She breaks up play a lot and she gets about the pitch more, she puts herself around and that’s really important. You need that player in midfield. The way we both want to play the game is similar as well. We both want to be on the ball and playing passes. She makes my life a lot easier but we do have a joke that she does all the tackling and I do the passing."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: In just one season at Barcelona, Walsh won three trophies which include a Champions League, a league title and the Supercopa de España Femenina.
IN TWO PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT? England begin their Women's World Cup campaign on July 22 against Haiti in Australia.
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