Laura's FOOTBALL EDUCATION

What do you remember from your very early days being coached? What were the most valuable lessons you learned?

My Dad was my first coach. I remember he coached me from the ages of six to ten which obviously led to a few arguments at home! But then I joined an academy when I was very, very young and that’s when I started to have professional coaches. They taught us how to play with our left and right foot to make us versatile footballers. That’s probably one of the most important things you have to learn when you’re a kid. I think with football, a lot of off-the-pitch discipline is important early on too. If you learn those good habits when you’re younger, it’s so much easier to maintain when you’re adult.

I was 12 when that journey started. I had to wake up at 6am to take the bus because it was an hour away from home. So I’d have school, then football and wouldn’t be home before 6 so it was a long day! But because it meant playing a lot of football, I enjoyed it very much.

Who were your early influences? What players did you look up to when you started and why?

Not really. I often get asked this question but I never had someone I wanted to be. I never wanted to play like someone else.

Can you pinpoint a stage in your career, or an age group, where you made the biggest leap?

I went to boarding school in Austria from 13 to 18, and everything was dedicated to football there. It was a whole programme. It was combined with my schooling but I got into the school because of football. So we trained twice a day: once in the morning before school and again in the afternoon after we’d finished lessons. I stayed there the whole week and then played for my club on the weekend so that’s when it really started to feel professional. That’s when I knew, “OK, that’s the decision.”

How would you say training these days compares to your coaching when you were younger?

I would probably say pressure. Because now, I think we all enjoy football but it’s also our job. Whereas back then, we all just played because it was fun. You have to be on your highest level 365 days a year and also every hour of the day. You have to make decisions which you didn’t really have to make back then. You have some decisions when you’re younger, of course, but not 100% commitment. Even the small details like ‘Do I have a coffee with milk or without?’ - you have to be very disciplined. I don’t really know a life without making these decisions. Even when I was 16, I always made the decision not to go out, whereas probably 90% of the population would go out. For me, it was never a problem - I always made these decisions willingly. I’m not that big of a party person anyway so it was fine!

In terms of managers you’ve worked with, what different ways have you been coached?

I’ve had a lot of different coaches, to be honest. Some of them have been blunt or critical on the human level but on the flip side, they have been great at developing me as a footballer. I’ve also had coaches who can connect on the football level and the human level. That’s such a rare quality to have in football so I really appreciate it when I come across coaches like that.

I don’t mind so much if there’s critical coaching on the pitch if they make sure to understand you on a human level. We are in a professional environment, so we all have to accept if someone is harsh and direct if it’s for the greatest good. I think that’s also what pushes you as a player.

When you’re off the pitch though, it’s also nice to have a human being in front of you, not just a coach. I think that also makes it special when you’re on the pitch because you’re playing for a person. When you really respect and appreciate a coach, I think you can see a different attitude on the pitch as well.

What were your favourite lessons aside from PE?

To be honest I was always there just for the football! I didn’t really enjoy school that much but I did enjoy English because it was a bit more practical than anything else. You have to speak and listen to that language so much, even before I moved here.

Of course, the way you learn English is completely different from how you guys speak it! There are lots of words or phrases I hear and say now that would be considered big mistakes if I’d written them down at school. I don’t think you can truly understand a language until you live in a place and speak it every day, but learning and enjoying English at school definitely made the switch a lot easier.

Do you think anything you learned at school helped your football career?

That we are all just one little piece in a wider puzzle. I think that’s what I’ve always believed and I still do now. I would always put the team first because that’s just how I grew up. I never had the biggest talent so I always had to work hard for everything. Being in a team is how I learned and that’s what I still do now. I always just put the team first.

What do you wish you had known earlier in your career?

That’s an interesting question! I probably would say that I wouldn’t change much because, in life, I like it when it just happens, even with the smallest things. I don’t have to plan my day, it just happens. No superstitions. I do have a bit of a daily routine but I also wouldn’t mind if it changed.