It will be to Scotland’s benefit that another of Pedro Martinez Losa’s squad has headed into Europe for a fresh step in her career. Sam Kerr, the 24-year-old former Glasgow City and Rangers midfielder was offered the chance to sign Bayern Munich this summer and, after initial skepticism - she thought she had been mixed up with her namesake, the Chelsea and Australian forward - she was thrilled to take up the challenge of a new culture and environment.
There may well be a few things lost in translation in the initial months of her move to Germany but there will be no confusion about what she offers in the middle of the park. And, in order to ensure that she hits the ground running Kerr was over in Munich prior to teaming up with Scotland for last week’s friendlies to sort out all the time-consuming off-field elements that will set the foundations of her time at Bayern.
She won’t have to look far for a bit of guidance in terms of just what a new culture entails. Scotland team-mate Caroline Weir swapped Manchester for Madrid last summer and admitted that she was initially overwhelmed by just how daunting a new language and lifestyle can be.
“I have been practicing my German since April!,” said Kerr. “The language lessons aren’t going as smoothly as I would like them to go but hopefully in a few months I will be used to it. I did French at school which is completely different but I have a tutor and he has been helping me. All the girls do group sessions together so I won’t be doing it alone.
“The club is amazing. Everyone has been very friendly and the girls have been really nice but the focus now is going over and getting started. It [the summer] has been surreal. It has been quite chaotic and very busy but I am loving football at the minute. I am just taking each day as it comes and being involved with the national team and going out to Munich, it is incredible. I am just looking forward to it.
“I have everything sorted. I went over before the Scotland camp to get everything sorted so I know where I am living so as soon as we finished up with the international games I was ready to go over and get stuck in.”
Kerr was part of Pedro Martinez Losa’s squad who have signed off from their recent camp with another couple of wins banked after their victories over Northern Ireland and Finland. It ensures a positive tone going into the September Nations League campaign that kicks off away to England and while Kerr has accepted there is an element of painful viewing as the Women’s World Cup passes Scotland by, she is confident the groundwork has been set for the nation major tournament.
“There is a lot of confidence about the national side,” said Kerr. “I feel that Pedro has put his faith in me. He starts me most games and to come away and play with some amazing players with Scotland is always good. “The timing of this camp means that I feel I am heading to Germany now with a good level of fitness and ready to kick it up a gear.
“But as a team, we feel that we deserve to be in big tournaments. We definitely believe that. We all have friends and team-mates who are away to the World Cup so I would say that most of us are watching. The focus now is all on the Nations League because we want to make sure we are there and enjoying being part of those big tournaments. “If you look at where we were a year ago and where we are now you can see both performances and results have improved.
“We had a summer break so we were a bit rusty coming in but I think we reminded ourselves of the principles of how we want to play. At times we played some really good football and I think what we have lacked in the past is that clinical edge. To go and score five goals from the two games is excellent.
“We will look at the things that we done well and the things that we need to work on.”
