Magdalena Eriksson is discussing her expected duel with Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema on Sunday and, typically, the analysis extends far beyond the respective merits of zonal and woman-to-working marking. A chat about Chelsea’s short trip to face Arsenal and their formidable striker swiftly segues into reflections on the contradictions of captaincy.
The Sweden defender is proud to wear the armband for the defending Women’s Super League champions, but in a squad packed with strong characters and big names leadership is a delicate art that needs balancing with long-held principles. “My philosophy is that we’re all equal and on the same level,” says Eriksson, who has just signed a three-year contract extension.
“Being a teammate and a leader is a fine balance. I want to be a good teammate and make everyone feel like they can be themselves in our environment. If needed I’ll step up and do what has to be done. But my aim is for everyone to feel good and be an equal with the rest and just drive the standards from there.”
Such is the 27-year-old’s celebrity back home this template is freighted with added responsibility. “I feel I’ve become a role model for the younger generation, especially in Sweden,” she says. “I get a lot of messages about people seeing me as a role model and it really warms my heart. If I can inspire anyone to become a leader, that’s just amazing.”
Defenders throughout the WSL envy Eriksson’s ability to frustrate Miedema. The Arsenal striker has not scored in her past four games against Chelsea and another blank would give them a chance to reassert their title challenge in the most competitive of WSL championship races.
“Arsenal and Miedema are in such good form, they’re going to be tough, tough opponents,” says Eriksson. “But I love facing players like Miedema, it inspires me so much. I love to be challenged. She’s an amazing striker who always, always, makes it tough. We’re going to have to be on our toes, play really solidly as a team, be compact and structured. Hopefully we can stop her.”
Chelsea kick off two points behind Sunday’s opponents but with a game in hand, and in a congested top five any of Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Everton are capable of taking their crown. “Whoever wins the title is going to have made the biggest achievement of any champion so far,” says Eriksson. “The WSL has become so competitive. It’s tough but it’s also very exciting. It’s the league you want to be in.”
While Miedema tops the WSL scoring charts with 10 goals, Chelsea’s own strikers are yet to fully hit their stride. Beth England and Sam Kerr have three goals apiece while Eriksson’s life partner, Pernille Harder, has scored twice. On paper that represents underachievement but Emma Hayes, who will once again be without the injured Fran Kirby’s creative excellence, sees things slightly differently, particularly in respect of Kerr, who has taken time to adjust since arriving from Australia last season.
“Sam’s the ultimate team player. She’s selfless, she has no ego, she’ll give everything she possibly can to make sure the team’s successful, sometimes to her own detriment,” says the Chelsea manager. “One of the big things we’re working on with Sam is recognising when to do things for herself versus looking after others. Sam’s xG [expected goals] across the league is better than anyone except Miedema, I’m really pleased with her and it’s about working on little details.”
Even so, Hayes accepts she must resolve the frustrating paradox behind Kerr’s goal shortage. “Sam spends a lot of time thinking about her teammates,” she says. “She wants to lay it on a plate for everyone else. It’s really hard to find that quality in someone and I love that about her, but I also want her to think about herself.”
Hayes is likely to leave Kerr or England on the bench and she suggests the latter has had long enough to recover from a form disrupting achilles injury. “As the PFA player of the year, the bar was already set high for Beth,” she says. “My job’s to win games, not make players happy, so it’s up to Beth to make sure Sunday is the start of another one of her unbelievable scoring runs.”
The chat reverts to leadership. “Magda and I are united in our ambitions for this club,” she says. “She’s a wonderful leader and we both understand that to win successive trophies you have to drive a culture of daily dressing room standards. We do everything we can not to get complacent.”
Maybe equality and excellence are not incompatible after all.
