Carli Lloyd excited by Man City adventure
MANCHESTER, England — Carli Lloyd’s eyes light up as she talks about the opportunities that have opened up through her short-term move to Manchester City Women.
Two days in and the United States captain has already been dazzled by the lavish soccer facility where she will train, play and spend much of her time in England — the $300 million, 80-acre City Football Academy that Lloyd says is on “another level” to anything she has previously experienced.
[...] there’s the more personal experiences on offer, namely the possibility of a short flight to Barcelona to watch Lionel Messi and Neymar strut their stuff at Camp Nou and even spending a day watching tennis at Wimbledon.
The next three months are set to be a real eye-opener for the FIFA Player of the Year, who landed in northwest England early Monday to embark on her first playing stint outside the United States.
Lloyd is one of the superstars of women’s soccer: a two-time Olympic champion and a world champion in 2015, the heartbeat of the U.S national team, a scorer of 96 international goals, and the winner of the last two world player of the year awards.
An email from Man City manager Nick Cushing had landed in the inbox of her management company in late December, checking if Lloyd wanted to visit City while she was already in England on a Christmas vacation.
Within weeks, she had signed up to play for City — the English champion — in the Women’s Super League from April to June, a congested period that also takes in the Champions League and Women’s FA Cup.
The quiet international schedule, and City’s reputation and state-of-the-art facilities on its campus that houses all of its various teams — from the under-8s to the senior men’s and women’s teams.
The team eats breakfast and lunch together at the campus, players have to wear their kit at all times, they can’t use their cell phones in the meal rooms, and the use of Wi-Fi is banned in certain places.
Lloyd expects the style of play to be less physical compared to the American league, but “with more emphasis on the tactical and the technical.”
“Spreading the message (about women’s soccer), that’s key,” she said.