Manchester United captain Katie Zelem has labelled Casey Stoney as ‘one of the best managers’ she has worked under, adding that she ‘works too hard’.
The midfielder has been with Stoney at United for just over a year now and was appointed skipper over the summer after Alex Greenwood joined European giants Lyon.
Asked where her current coach ranks among the many others she has worked with in her career so far, the 23-year-old was quick in her assessment, saying: “Casey’s one of the best managers I’ve worked under.
“Because she’s so recent out of the game, she has a better understanding.
“Little things off the pitch she deals with so well and because she’s been there herself, it just makes it so much easier for her to understand the situation.
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“She takes on a lot of work herself, but she’s a good manager and a good coach and you really don’t find that very often.”
Stoney herself went into detail about how involved she is at the club this week, telling the media: “I manage my recruitment, my scouting, every player a scout I meet. I know my budgets. I talk to marketing, social.
“It’s not that I want control over everything, I’m not a control freak, but I think we want to be represented in a certain way.
“Your team reflects you. I’m keen on reflecting myself and this football club in a really positive way.”
It’s not a case of Stoney becoming very hands-on since the club were promoted to the FA Women’s Super League last year either, as Zelem explained.
“Casey will never change, no matter what team she’s working with,” the midfielder said.
“She’s the first person here and the last person to leave.
“Whether we’re playing Arsenal or we’re playing a friendly, she prepares the same for every game and you could ask anyone, not just me, she works too hard, to be honest. She never leaves.
“She gives everything to the team to make sure we’re the most prepared and she doesn’t ever want to let us down.”
Stoney’s 19-year playing career saw her forge a reputation as a tough-tackling centre-back who you wouldn’t want to cross.
Zelem jokes that she should “be careful” when asked about what she is like as a manager when things are tough, not wanting to “give too many examples”.
But Stoney’s players speak highly of her player-management abilities and Zelem is no different, admitting that the pair have a relationship where the midfielder is comfortable in challenging her coach.
“I think I’ve been at that point since I met Casey,” she said.
“I think I’m probably one of the only people that would dare to challenge Casey, sometimes I get some dirty looks but I’ve learnt to handle it.
“But Casey’s a new coach and she wants people to challenge her because she wants to become better.
“I think that she likes that we challenge her and her staff challenge her and that helps her improve.
“And maybe I’ve seen something or I’m looking it from a different perspective and she hasn’t seen that so it’s good that we’re able to discuss things so openly.”
