Vivianne Miedema: ‘Women’s football is proud to be inclusive but it is starting to slip. We need to act’ | OneFootball

Vivianne Miedema made her senior debut as a 15-year-old in the Netherlands, and 13 and a half years and more than 300 goals later there are few players better qualified to comment on the evolution of the women’s game than the Manchester City forward. She is deeply concerned by the growing number of incidents of so-called fans abusing players.

“We’re always saying we’re proud in the women’s game that we’re very inclusive but somehow that is starting to slip away a bit,” Miedema says. “If we don’t act really strongly right now then it might be too late.

“As a player and advocate for women’s football, I’ve always been one of the ones shouting that we need to wave our own path in women’s football and we need to be really careful in how we want to grow and develop. Because the easiest thing is to change completely into men’s football. But if we are so proud of the environment we’ve created, we need to be really, really careful in the next steps we’re making.”

Miedema issues that warning in a candid interview at City’s training ground, 48 hours after Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds was subjected to a “inappropriate comment” from a spectator at Arsenal on Sunday, and just over a month after her teammate Khadija “Bunny” Shaw was subjected to racist and misogynistic abuse, which remains under investigation by Greater Manchester police.

Miedema knows that the majority of women’s crowds are “still a lot of lovely, loving football fans” but says: “The situation in the football world is certainly not where we want it to be. I think Bunny prioritising her mental health [and deciding to miss a match] after what happened is probably the strongest thing anyone could have done in that situation, which me personally and the team respect her for massively. What we can do is be there for Bunny and keep voicing that things do need to be better.”

On the pitch, Miedema, the Women’s Super League’s record goalscorer, enjoys linking up with Shaw, last season’s Golden Boot winner who is leading the WSL’s scoring charts again this term with 12 goals in 14 appearances. Miedema says they have “funny competitions” in training, battling to see “who’s the better finisher”, but knows they can combine effectively.

“We’ve got complete opposite strengths, which is probably the reason why we actually can work together really well. At times it’s been difficult because I’ve had my injury, Bunny’s had her injury, so only in the last couple of games you can now see it starting to click. I’m really, really excited to see wherever that can lead us. If you look at the quality we have on the pitch, especially going forward, it’s unreal. The moment that starts clicking then I’m pretty convinced we can still beat anyone.”

Miedema says she had “needed something new” when she joined City last summer after seven years at Arsenal. Knee surgery in October, weeks after City’s 2-0 victory over the defending European champions Barcelona, sidelined her until mid-January, when she embarked on a run of five goals in four games. City have also had to contend with the absence of Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, Shaw and others.

“Welcome to women’s football,” Miedema says with a wry smile. “It’s obviously one of the reasons that all of us players keep asking for a better schedule and more breaks. Respect to the whole club and the team on how we’ve dealt with it. We’ve been trying to stay really positive but yes, sometimes it is a wee bit like: ‘Oh, what if everyone was fit?’ because we all still remember that game we played against Barcelona with a fully fit team. Where would we have been? But it’s part of football.”

Another thing that Miedema knows is part of the game is managerial changes, after Monday’s surprise sacking of Gareth Taylor. City’s former manager Nick Cushing has taken interim charge for the remainder of the season. Miedema speaks respectfully about Taylor as she says: “We know that big decisions have to be made at times. It’s still difficult, as a group. My personal relationship with Gareth was really positive. I’ve really enjoyed playing under him. I’m really grateful that he’s actually made me enjoy playing football again.

“But we also know that the next day we come in, we just need to be prepared for whatever comes next, and I think Nick kickstarted that really well this morning. All of us who were in today are really, really excited to just work towards that final now on Saturday.”

Cushing’s first game is that League Cup final against Chelsea. Miedema scored the winner in the final against Cushing’s City in 2018 – “I might actually mention that to him tomorrow morning,” she jokes when reminded – to secure the first trophy of Joe Montemurro’s tenure as Arsenal manager, before adding the WSL title the following season. She recalls that 2018 final as one “that shaped a lot of the Joe era at Arsenal” and hopes history can repeat itself.

The 28-year-old says of Cushing: “A lot of girls are really, really positive about him. This morning he handled the whole situation really well. He got energy into the group straight away. First of all I think [he was] really respectful of where Gareth has brought us in the season. We’re still in three [cup] competitions, still fighting for that Champions League ticket in the league as well [City are fourth in the table].”

Saturday’s game at Derby’s Pride Park is the first of four consecutive meetings with Chelsea, their Champions League quarter-final sandwiching next weekend’s league game. “We know each other so well,” Miedema says. “Maybe at one point we’ll actually get fed up seeing each other and playing against each other. We know their qualities, we know how good they can be. But we also need to trust ourselves and go in with full confidence.”

Header image: [Photograph: PA Images/Alamy]