Georgia Stanway feels she has already improved immensely since leaving England for German superpower Bayern Munich last summer.
Stanway featured this week in the Lionesses engine room as they retained the Arnold Clark Cup with wins over South Korea, Italy and Belgium in a six-day period. The 24-year-old has become a midfield lynchpin for Sarina Wiegman and was reunited with former Man City teammate Keira Walsh in the win over Belgium.
She moved to Bayern from City only weeks after winning Euro 2022 last August and believes she is already reaping the rewards of embracing a new football culture. After starring in Bayern's run to the Champions League quarter-finals, the midfielder is now comfortable in her new environment and delighted to be back amongst Europe's elite.
"I’m really happy with where I am," Stanway told FIFA.com . "I’ve progressed massively at Bayern. I think I’ve progressed a lot quicker than I expected. I was setting myself five, six months to feel comfortable in the new environment, feel free, get my own playing style. Within the second game I felt all of that already, which was great for me and the club.
"I think I’ve managed to ride the wave from the Euros with my form. I’m very happy with my Champions League statistics - three goals, three assists in the group stage, which is massive for me.
"For the last two, three years I haven’t been part of the Champions League, so it’s been great to get back in there and also to showcase what I’ve got."
On the international side, Stanway still looks a certainty for the Lionesses plane down under to Australia this summer, barring any unforeseen fitness issues. And the Barrow baller believes the squad has the potential to challenge for major honours once again, although she is anticipating a fightback from the European nations England defeated last summer.
"I guess we’ll find out at the World Cup. We have a massive opportunity to showcase who we are on a worldwide level and not just a European one. I think the European countries are outstanding at the moment.
"You look at Germany, Sweden, Spain – they’re top, top teams whose individuals are all playing at a top level.
"USA are (England's biggest rivals for the trophy) we’ve got a little bit of rivalry with them. They’ve been in a transitional phase, but their whole team is top class. Their forwards are unbelievable – we saw that when we played them at Wembley.
"Germany as well. They’re a team who always puts up a massive fight. They’re structured, they’re tactical, they’re technical.
"They cover every aspect of the game. Potentially that [Euro] final could have been different if different players were on the pitch. Germany had two injuries – that played a part."
Unlike Euro 2022, the 2023 World Cup finals will take place as far away from home as possible, with the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. But Stanway believes the support network provided by the England players' families during the last tournament was a crucial ingredient in the teams' success and is hoping they will still be around the camp in the summer.
"The thing I’m a little bit apprehensive about (at the World Cup) is that I would love to get our families over there," she added. "That’s the biggest part of the Lionesses and the culture that we've built. We’re a very family-orientated team.
"That’s what Sarina has instilled in us from the start: whatever we do, we do it with our families because they’re the people who got us there. That was massive for us at the Euros.
"We spent most days with our families, they were in the hotel before and after games. COVID put a stop to it at one point but otherwise we would invite them over for barbecue afternoons, chill around the hotel, go out.
"Doing things like that, having your family around is so important because you forget about football. And sometimes with your family, you don’t even have to chat at all, you can just enjoy each other’s company. So I really hope we can get our families out to Australia and New Zealand."
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