‘I know the emotions of World Cups’
‘We have a duty to say what we see and analyse it to the best of our ability’
When it comes to understanding the pressures of international football tournaments, Alex Scott knows what she is talking about. The former Arsenal stalwart, who retired in May, played in three Fifa Women’s World Cups, culminating in the 2015 campaign when England finished third.
Now she is heading out to Russia, to be part of the BBC coverage of the forthcoming World Cup and to write regular columns for The Daily Telegraph. And her insights, gleaned across a career in which she earned 140 caps for her country, promise to be well worth our attention. “Listen, football’s football,” she says. “Sure, I may not have played men’s football, but I’ve been at World Cups as a player, I know the emotions, I’ve been in quarter-finals, a semi-final, I’ve been substituted and sat on the bench watching us lose a penalty shoot-out. I know what happens, what you need when the pressure’s on. That’s what I can pass on: my experience in those environments.”
Plus she can assess how others are coping. And, while she reckons a quarter-final is the limits of this England team’s chances, what she has seen at close quarters in the build-up leads her to be optimistic that, for the first time since Euro 2004, this might be a group happy to express themselves.
“Training alongside them at St George’s Park, seeing things develop under Gareth Southgate, you can see how the work on a lot of stuff off the pitch is coming together. You can tell it’s becoming an environment the players want to be part of. I remember when I first got into the England side, going to meet ups, you were almost looking to go back to your clubs as soon as you arrived. That changed. The Lionesses got the feel of a club, it was aplace you wanted to be, a set-up you couldn’t wait to join. I can see that happening to the men’s team with what Gareth is trying to do.”
Her first memories of the World Cup were of watching matches in the north-london pub her mother ran. It was 1998 and, in the hullabaloo of the communal screenings, the young Scott only had eyes for one player.
“I was obsessed with the whole thing around Ronaldo. I remember when Brazil got to the final, I couldn’t think about anything else: was he sick, was he going to play? I’d gone out and bought a pair of his boots, the silver ones, the No9s.”
Ever since then, she has watched the World Cup with an intensive focus, soaking up everything she has seen, absorbing the football lessons.
“Hope Powell [the former England women’s coach] instilled that in us,” she says of her habit of observation and scrutiny. “She insisted you had to be a student of the game. That was how you were going to improve. Analysing other teams was the way to get better.”
Latterly, as she completed a degree in journalism and broadcasting, it was not just the tactics on the pitch she was looking at. She was watching the pundits, too. “I think that athlete side of me stands me in good stead when it comes to being on television. Being a footballer was about analysing performance, never being satisfied. So you watch and learn. I like the way Frank Lampard articulates, how Jamie Carragher does his homework and the way Rio Ferdinand has been able to show his personality.”
The fundamental about punditry, she reckons, is to show neither fear nor favour. She had a stark introduction to such necessity at the recent FA Women’s Cup final when, from the commentary box, she was obliged to pass stern judgment on the Arsenal side in which she had grown up, on players who were not just colleagues but friends.
“We have a duty to say what we see and analyse a game to the best of our ability, not just gee up our mates,” she says. “After they lost to Chelsea, I couldn’t say well done girls, never mind eh? As a pundit, I have to tell the truth. I think players will respect that.”
Even so, she appreciates as she approaches her new job that she will be seen by some observers as an interloper, a woman stepping into a man’s world.
“There’s always a responsibility as a pundit whether you’re male or female, the way you present yourself, making sure you’ve got your facts right. Sure, I do feel I am an ambassador for women’s football. The important thing is to be yourself. Yes, I’ll be sitting alongside Frank Lampard, but if I disagree I’m going to disagree.”
Vivacious, quick-witted, a shrewd and articulate critic she might be, but there is an argument she would serve the developing women’s game better were she to take up coaching. The game could use the input of someone of her intelligence and experience. But she has no ambition yet to switch from the studio to the dugout. “I accept we do need more female coaches,” she admits. “But you have to have a real passion. And I always knew I didn’t have it. From the earliest days, I preferred doing an interview with a player than putting out the cones. It might change. But for now, I’m concentrating on this.” And Telegraph readers are about to feel the benefit of her
decision.