Alessia Russo said that she has previously been “caught in a trap” when reading hateful comments on social media.
The England forward spoke in response to British tennis player Katie Boulter sharing her experiences with receiving abusive messages online on Tuesday.
Boulter, who was beaten in the French Open by Australian Open champion Madison Keys, admitted that she had received plenty of disturbing messages and comments on her social media accounts as a result of her defeat.
Russo, the Arsenal striker, said that there was “always a target” on England players’ backs at major tournaments, but asserted that she had learned from her past to ignore the noise online.
“Every player might have a different story about that side of the game, but it’s definitely one that can be really damaging,” Russo said.
“I have faced it in the past and I think most players here have. When I was younger, I probably got sucked into it more. I read it more than I should have and listened to it more than I should have.”
“The only opinions that matter are my team-mates, my coaches and my family. You have to remember that they are the people you need to lean on in tough times.
“As I’ve gotten older, I understand more what works for me. In my first Euros, I was on social media and I would have a look, have a scroll, and I got caught in a trap sometimes.
“Going into the World Cup, I completely came off everything and I had people to run my Instagram. I just focused on the tournament. It’s personal preference and whatever works for the team.
“Staying away from it and staying focused as a team is what works for me.”
Russo’s England team-mate Ella Toone is the opposite of her close friend, saying that she enjoyed a social media scroll, but emphasised that it was entirely a personal preference for every member of the Lionesses’ squad.
“Whenever we go to a tournament it’s individual,” Toone said.
“It’s what people want to do. I know that my decision might be different to someone else’s and I have to respect that decision. I do like to scroll on Instagram, but I know other people turn their phones off.
“We have that conversation and all know how each other wants to go through the tournament. We respect each other’s decision.
“If I see something on Instagram I’m not going to tell someone or blurt it out to the team because they don’t want to see it. I think it’s a personal preference.”
I do like to scroll on Instagram, but I know other people turn their phones off
Both Russo and Toone, 26 and 25 respectively, now consider themselves more senior figures in the Lionesses’ dressing room, utilising their experience at club and international level to help newer players - of which there are seven major-tournament debutants in Sarina Wiegman’s squad - bed into the environment as smoothly as possible.
“I feel like you have to step up at moments,” Russo said.
“Obviously this is our third tournament now and we’re 25 and 26. We’re starting to come into our own a little bit in the environment. We are not old and we are not new. We know how things work and we have seen a few tournaments.
“There are a lot of players who are more experienced than us but I think there are times we have to step up and feel more confident to do that. We have the experience and the trust from other players and staff. It’s just a process you fall into naturally, but it’s an exciting time.”
Toone, the Manchester United attacking midfielder, admitted that she was still “looked after” by more senior members of the squad, but said that she had began to lean on her experiences at previous tournaments to help the younger players.
“I still get looked after by all the other girls!” Toone laughed.
“I think from experiences me and Alessia have had in the past, we’ve always been the people that want to make sure the younger or less experienced players coming into the squad feel relaxed and feel OK.
“We want them to feel like they can make an impact. We have such a talented squad. We have bags of talent coming into their first tournament so we want to make sure they are at ease and feel confident within themselves.
“Being at my third tournament now, I want to make sure they are settled, relaxed and can go out there and show the world what they are about. We want to make sure they are comfortable within the environment.”
The Lionesses take on Jamaica at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on Sunday, June 29, in their final warm-up fixture ahead of the European Championships this summer.
Wiegman’s side commence their title defence in Switzerland in Group D alongside France, the Netherlands, and Wales, facing Les Bleues first at Letzigrund in Zurich on Saturday, July 5.
