Lucy Bronze: 'Women's football must come up with solution to ACL injury crisis' | OneFootball

I’m very excited for what’s to come in 2023. Interest in women’s football skyrocketed last year, especially in England, but I think this year has the potential to be even better.

Everyone’s buzzing for the World Cup, and as European champions, it’s going to be a slightly different lead up to a tournament than in previous years.

Clubwise, Barcelona are one of the favourites in every competition we’re in. We’ve got a number of world class players coming back from injury too, so it’s going to be a lot of fun on the pitch.

ACL injuries in women’s football

A big topic in women’s football last year was the amount of ACL injuries suffered by high-profile players, and I expect the discussion on that to continue in 2023.

Funnily enough, I did my dissertation on ACL injuries in women’s football when I was at university.

That was around eight years ago, but even then, people knew that it was a major issue. It’s come back into the limelight recently due to the big names on the sidelines at the moment – it’s astonishing that 25 percent of last year’s Ballon d’Or shortlist are currently recovering from an ACL injury.

When I studied it back then, there wasn’t an awful lot of research, so it was quite difficult to get the work done!  It largely is the same now, so that’s something that does need to change.

But I also think clubs, trainers and managers need to take more responsibility, and even players, in how well we look after our bodies.

The women’s game is going in the right direction, which ultimately means that we play more games. The games that we do play are higher intensity, because we’re all a lot fitter, faster and stronger. So the demand on our bodies is becoming more and more.

Last season was particularly busy. Champions League group stages came in, meaning there were bigger games, more often. Euro 2022 was also one of the most competitive international tournaments that we’ve ever had in women’s football.

I think as players, we need the time to look after our bodies better. We need that responsibility from clubs and countries as well. I think there’s currently a slight disconnect between the increase of matches and the care available.

We’re doing a lot better at England now, however. Sarina Wiegman is really good at wanting to make sure that players are rested at the right times and that we’re not being overworked, reducing the chances of big injuries like ACLs.

But I think as a whole, women’s football needs to start thinking long and hard about the ACL injury crisis, and come up with a solution.

Return of Alexia Putellas

One big name returning from an ACL injury this year is two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, and I am very excited to get the chance to play alongside her.

I’ve come up against her multiple times, but the timing of her ACL injury meant I still haven’t lined up in the same team.

She’s doing really well with her rehab, as you can imagine! She’s super professional and works really hard, and we’re all excited to see her back on the pitch soon.

England’s World Cup chances

I’ll potentially be playing at my third World Cup this year, which is amazing. It’s funny as well, because I played in the Under-17 World Cup in New Zealand. To go to a major tournament in the same region of the world, 15 years later, is like coming full circle.

The season going into a World Cup is always interesting, because players start battling to ensure they’re picked for the squad.

We’ve already seen a couple of transfers as a result of players looking for more minutes on the pitch – Beth England to Spurs, and Jordan Nobbs to Aston Villa – and this just shows the determination and the motivation that we have as a squad, but equally as individuals.

There are now so many players who are getting minutes week in, week out, and this just makes the squad even more competitive.

Everyone has England as one of the favourites for the World Cup, understandably. But I can imagine there will be a little bit of change from Euro 2022, with Beth Mead coming back from injury, and Ellen White and Jill Scott retiring.

Sarina’s given chances to a lot of young players, as well, to see if they’re ready to make that step up.

Next up is the Arnold Clark Cup, and we’ve got the match against Brazil at Wembley. I think that’s when we’ll start to see what kind of team will be picked in the summer.