The England hot shot who sleeps cuddling footballs
FOR England’s Jodie Taylor, goalscoring is something of an art form — and one to be studied.
Today, on the eve of perhaps the biggest game of her life, the Lionesses No 9 will be sitting in a hotel room on the outskirts of Utrecht reviewing video clips of France goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi over a cup of her favourite coffee.
Described by manager Mark Sampson as the most clinical goalscorer now playing in women’s football, Taylor’s eyes will pick up on things: what is Bouhaddi like in one- on- ones, does she go down early, is she quick off her line, does she stay standing.
The leader of this Women’s Euro Golden Boot rankings stands as England’s great hope of beating the French for the first time since 1974 when they meet in the quarter-final tomorrow night.
With no stone left unturned, Taylor can relax. She visualises goalscoring opportunities before falling asleep cuddling the match ball from her hat-trick against Scotland that preceded another goal against Spain in the group stage.
‘ I replay goals in my mind, scenarios that might happen, watching other teams play,’ she says. ‘Leading up to the Spain game I did a lot of that, thinking “Right, what’s this goalie going to do?” and half of the time some of it doesn’t happen but I am ready for that one chance that you get.
‘I think I’ve had five shots, four on target, four goals. It’s probably one of the best ratios I’ve ever had, so what a time for it to happen!’
In many ways it is remarkable that Taylor reaches this point feeling little weighing on her shoulders, despite going through years of injury hell.
At the age of 31 and injury free, this is her biggest shot at a major tournament and you would struggle to find a bigger nemesis than France, who have beaten the Lionesses at the last three major tournaments.
But Taylor is undaunted. Perhaps it is a side-effect of the coffee her new ‘local’ cafe serves up a short walk from England’s hotel in Holland. More likely, it is down to a faith in the team led by manager Mark Sampson and the service she has received so far ahead of facing a French defence depleted by suspensions for captain Wendie Renard and Eve Perisset.
‘It’s a great time to play France,’ Taylor says. ‘Their captain is a fantastic defender, one of the best players in the world.’
The last meeting between these two teams saw England beaten by two late goals at the SheBelieves Cup in Pennsylvania earlier in March. ‘ We should have got more from that match,’ Taylor adds. ‘Little errors, small gaps. You can’t underestimate France, they’re a quality side with a lot of experience and they do well against the top teams. They’ll be up for it no doubt. But we’ve got closer and closer — we’re right there with them, and it’s going to be a great match.’ Taylor’s future is uncertain beyond this European Championship. The Arsenal striker may be tempted to leave England’s Women’s Super League to return to America — one of five countries she has played in during a nomadic career. Wherever she eventually calls home, there might have to be a spot for a gold medal and Golden Boot from this summer. ‘A gold medal is the priority for me and everything else is a bonus on top,’ Taylor says. ‘ Let’s win that gold medal first and then a Golden Boot would be nice.’ ARSENAL are dropping the ‘Ladies’ suffix from their Women’s Super League side. The team, who for formal purposes will be renamed Arsenal Women, will simply go by the name Arsenal.