Kennedy: I love playing with Greenwood | OneFootball

Alanna Kennedy has spoken of her admiration for Alex Greenwood, calling her centre-back partner ‘world class’.

Kennedy and Greenwood are good friends off the pitch and colossal colleagues on it, showcasing courage, class and conviction in the most water-tight defensive unit in the WSL.

Our No.33, talking on the latest edition of the Official Man City Podcast, was gushing in her praise of the England international.

“I absolutely love playing next to her,” said the 29-year-old.

“We have a great friendship off the field which, I think, helps but the communication and understanding of each other on the field is good.

“I also think it’s always nice having a left and right foot centre-back pairing. I’ve spent a lot of my time in the Australian national team having to play on the left-hand side so it’s nice having her there.

“But she’s world-class and she’s so consistent in every game that she plays in and she leads through her actions and obviously she’s a vocal leader as well but leading in her performances every week that she puts out. She’s an unreal player.

“We talk about football a lot together away from the pitch and I think having that friendship, communication and level of understanding helps and I think when things are going well we enjoy the little moments, too, whenever we do score we always run to each other first because maybe the build-up came from the back so we give each other a pat on the back.

“I always appreciate playing next to her.”

Thanks to the performances of Kennedy and Greenwood as well as a starring stopping cast, City have the meanest defence in the WSL.

We’ve conceded just 12 goals across the 2023/24 season as we continue dreaming of a second-ever WSL title, after our previous success in 2016.

Kennedy says there’s real desire and determination throughout the team to keep it tight at the back in a bid for glory.

“It's an unreal record,” she added.

“There’s an unspoken emphasis on the pride we have in a clean sheet.

“I think in previous seasons we have been frustrated with some of the performances that have probably cost us some games so, as defenders, we came into this season wanting to make that a priority.

“It’s been amazing to have seen that upheld. It’s the best record in the league and so we are really happy as a backline but also a team as a whole.”

Watch Alanna Kennedy as the next guest on our Official Man City Podcast, which launches today at 18:00 (UK) on CITY+.