Amber Tysiak interview (SK86) | OneFootball

INTERVIEW: Chris Brookes   IMAGES: West Ham United FC & Sports Press Photo

In a West Ham squad spanning five continents, defender Amber Tysiak can lay claim to three nationalities of her own (do you know them yet?). The Belgium (there’s one!) international, though, has been taking to life in claret and blue so much lately that we might soon start wondering if she was from Canning Town all along…

SK: Since last season ended, it looks like you’ve been visiting most of Europe! How many countries have you been to this summer?

AT: Italy, Spain, France…I went to Prague (Czechia) with the national team, and now England!

SK: You mention Italy, where your mother is from. Do you feel very Italian when you go there?

AT: Yeah, I do, and especially when I hear my mum speak Italian. I understand almost everything because my grandparents always talked Italian to me. Speaking is a little bit more tough because I never had to do it, only to my grandparents, because with my family, we just talked Dutch. But I do feel very Italian, also because when I was younger, every summer we went to Puglia (Apulia), where my mum’s from.

SK: And there’s also Polish! Is that your dad’s side of the family?

AT: Yeah, that’s right. I don’t speak or understand Polish, because I think it’s more like further generations. My surname is Polish and that’s why I have some roots, but it’s different than my Italian part, where I feel like I’m Italian.

SK: Let’s mention the pre-season trip you’re about to go on with the team (for the Perth International Football Cup, along with Man City, Leicester and Paris Saint-Germain). Have you ever been to Australia before?

AT: No, first time, and also actually my first time out of Europe! So, yeah, it’s going to be a great experience, I think.

SK: Apart from the games, what are you looking forward to seeing or doing there?

AT: I think the whole trip. Our team travelling around the world, it’s just a nice experience, just to know each other in a different environment, spending time with each other. To see the animals, the kangaroo and everything, but I’m also a little bit scared about the spiders! They have a lot of big spiders, so I’m thinking ‘oh, no.’ But I think the atmosphere around the games, everything will just be great. We know Australia, you can see the national team is living their football, so it’s nice to have that experience in Australia with West Ham United.

SK: We’re seeing a few Belgian players in the WSL at the moment. Are you all in a WhatsApp group talking about who’s coming next?!

AT: To be fair, we have a group with the Belgian players who play in England! It’s always nice. We have such a good group in the national team, too, we have a good relationship off the pitch, so it’s nice to see more and more Belgian players coming to England; I think it’s at this moment the place to be for women football players. It’s also good for developing the national team, that we play on the highest level.

SK: At West Ham, what has (manager) Rehanne (Skinner), and the other coaches, been working on with you recently? How do you feel different as a player now, compared to when you joined (in January 2023)?

AT: She did a lot. If I think back about last season, it’s completely different to when I first came here. She made the club so professional; it was professional before but she just made every detail right for us, so we could perform in the best way possible. She also tried to play a different type of football, with passion, with intensity, all together. Also, in possession; before, we weren’t that (type of team), and now we want to play attractive football.

So, she did a lot, also for me personally, because I had to fight; I struggled a little bit with injuries, and since she came in, it has only been up for me. She tried to adapt everything as much as possible for me, so I could perform and I could build up, because I came from a semi-professional environment to a high standard, high-demand environment. She helped me through it and she also took care with the staff she brought in to help me to do that.

SK: This has also been your first time moving to a new country, speaking English every day instead of occasionally, so how was all that when you first arrived?

AT: When I first came in, my English wasn’t that good; I wasn’t that confident to talk, just in general. The first week I came here, it’s weird to say because the language wasn’t easy, but I felt like I was kind of coming home, away from home, because this club is just very warm, and every player who steps into this building I think feels the same. The girls, we are so nice for each other, we have staff who care about our well-being and make sure that everything is all right, and if it’s not, they take care of that. So, yeah, from the start, I felt so welcome. I think every girl comes here with a smile and a good feeling.

SK: Any new words that you’ve been learning from teammates?!

AT: You know what? They taught me a lot! Every day, I’m still learning new words. I have some phrases…like ‘I’m fed up’! I write it in my phone because it’s quite interesting, because in my language, we also have those kinds of phrases; some phrases in my language don’t make sense in English, so that’s why I’m trying to learn them. ‘My brain is fried,’ someone said the other day, and I’m like ‘your brain is what?’ Or ‘you will have to bear with me,’ – these kind of things that I try to understand!

SK: Is there anything you’ve gotten to know about West Ham overall since you came here? Do you know the words yet to ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’?

AT: It’s like I mentioned before, it’s such a warm, family club. We are just all one; players, staff, the boys’ side, because we see the boys’ academy side a lot. I think the fans are very, very passionate, even when I go to the men’s games, because we can also go and watch the games there. The atmosphere is incredible, because I’m a football fan in Belgium, but the support here compared to there, it’s such a big difference; they’re so intense and that’s nice to see.

SK: Who makes you laugh the most in the team? Is there anyone you need a break from sometimes because they’re too much?!

AT: Oh, a break?! Not really, actually. I think there’s not really such big characters; we’re such a nice group, like I said before. I live with two of them, Jess (Ziu) and Shelina (Zadorsky), we are one players’ house, so we are quite similar, and it’s nice. When we go home, we can chill together, we can also do what we want to do. We were talking actually yesterday about it, it’s so nice to have each other in a house. We are not with each other all the time but we can be if we want. It’s so nice to have it so you don’t feel so alone, especially for me in another country, I never feel alone. Who’s one of the funniest? I would say Shannon (Cooke), on a daily basis, or Vivi (Viviane Asseyi), I have to laugh with them both, because what they do, how they act is so funny.

SK: Moving to England also meant becoming a full-time player for the first time. You’d been working as a teacher back home, so when you were having experiences with the national team, like scoring those three goals against Armenia (in a World Cup qualifier in 2021), were you actually taking time off work to be there?

AT: Yeah, I was a teacher at that point, too. I played for Leuven, but it was a semi-professional environment, so the money wasn’t that high, so I needed to work alongside it. I had a degree in teaching Dutch and history, I worked for a school in Leuven, so I think it was a ten-minute drive from my school to the pitch. But there were days where it was so tough, I have to be honest. I had to work before training, I had to train in the evening, and I had to prepare myself the next day for teaching my lessons, so it was a tough period. I had quite a good school. When I first came in, I was very transparent and said, ‘There are times where I’ll be away for ten days because of the national team,’ and they were like, ‘Oh, fine, just make sure that everything is all right when you leave it.’ I was lucky that I could do it and that they were open for it, because it’s not ideal, especially when it’s almost every month that I was gone for sometimes seven school days. But I did it, and to be fair, I enjoyed it, too. I’m still young in my career, but I think it’s one of the options for after my career. I’m really passionate about teaching children, so who knows after my career if I go back?

SK: What about teaching teenagers, how easy was it to deal with them?!

AT: You know what? I think because I was a football player and they knew that I played for the national team and everything, I had a sort of natural respect. Sometimes we would talk with the teachers, and some of the teenagers would be like, ‘Is that the one who was in my class?’ I was really lucky that I had that natural respect and they were quite all right with me actually.

SK: Before you joined West Ham, you were here in England for the EUROs two years ago, your first tournament. What feelings did that give you? To be part of a big tournament when you weren’t yet a full-time player, did it almost make it all seem extra real, ‘this is what it can be like’?

AT: Yeah, for sure, it was a little bit of a ‘wow’ feeling. Very proud also because I was semi-professional, in a big football country like England, performing on the highest level. It was like a reality check or something, because I came from so far. Even week in, week out, I don’t take anything for granted, that’s why I’m the player I am now, because I came a long way and I know where I’ve come from. It’s just nice to be a professional football player now.

SK: That tournament had the group game with France, where you got the red card (for a close-range handball when blocking a shot), which seemed harsh at the time. As a young player at your first tournament, how able were you to deal with that? Did it make it easier because there wasn’t much else you could have done in that situation?

AT: It’s never easy, because I was at that point 22 years old, in a big tournament. At that moment, it wasn’t the easiest thing, and not the nicest thing, to have a red card in a big tournament. You don’t want it as a player, but this is the risk as a defender, and I think I learned from that; yeah, I was disappointed, but this is also a decision from a referee, I can’t do anything about it. But I’m sure it made me stronger.

SK: How close does it feel that Belgium are to becoming a team that qualifies for not just the EUROs but the World Cup? What kind of details are changing to help you achieve that next step?

AT: I think in general, there are more young players coming up, and the younger players also want to go abroad more, because you have to be honest, the Belgian league isn’t the best league at the moment; they are growing but they are far from a full professional environment, like here in England. So, I think it’s good if these kinds of young players are developing their game and making a step abroad; it doesn’t matter if it’s Germany, England, Spain, I think they are all good leagues. I think that’s the biggest part, that younger players are coming up and trying to develop their own game. It will only be better for the team.

SK: Is it true that you’re really good at cooking?

AT: Yeah, no…it’s hard to say myself, I think! I’m all right. I do like it if I’m home, but sometimes after training, I’m tired and it’s just some easy stuff. I cook always by myself but not like the big plates.

SK: Do you share that job in the players’ house or does it just end up being you who does it?!

AT: Jess and I actually, on matchday minus one, we cook together and we have a pasta bake with chicken. So, I do it, or she does it, or we do it together. That’s actually the only time we cook together, otherwise it’s just our own stuff.

SK: Finally, away from football, what do you mostly enjoy doing and seeing around London, or even when you’re back in Belgium?

AT: Yeah, here in England, I never thought that an environment could be so important. Now I feel like London is such a nice city to be in; every time we have a day off, I’m never bored, because you can do so many things here. With the girls too, there are so many options. If family and friends are coming to London, then we go into the city and just go and explore, and have some time with them, going for dinner and just looking around. In Belgium, I just spend time with friends and family a lot, that’s what I enjoy.