Jess Naz on her ACL recovery, England dreams and being a style icon

0:00Jess Naz: Hi friends, Sean Linda from Two Black Guys with Good Credit here. Whether you're running a non-profit, a school, or a small business, Walmart Business is here to support your mission. They make it easy to order what you need, from tech and cleaning supplies to everyday essentials, all at low prices and with helpful tools like spend, tracking, and tax-exempt purchasing for eligible organizations. Because when your operations are smooth, your impact can be bigger. Visit business.walmart.com to get started.

0:28Rachel: This sounds so weird having headphones It's nice of it I like it I don't know how I feel about it now You can turn them

0:33Chloe: up and down as well so if it's too loud you can turn it down a bit this little thing up here

0:36Rachel: It's actually okay, yeah Sometimes

0:39Chloe: Hello, hello, hello Hello, hello Hello

0:42Jess Naz: I can hear you Yes You'd swear we've never done this before This is not our fourth season God, I bet you don't miss the last time that I was in your ears do you mate? Nope Oh God At least you were the other end of the pitch I could still hear though

0:56Chloe: Oh I'm sure you could

0:57Jess Naz: Yeah too right Squeeze Yeah it's my job Doing my bloody job Jess is what I'm doing Telling you lot to push up Get the ball away from the Yeah sitting at my half the entire time I was like we've got a championship to win We need to be in the WSL Get your asses up there Don't let the ball near me We'll never get up there Yeah Jess what are you doing back here? Taking a break? Go on I'm only young Anyway let's crack on with this intro Welcome to Upfront I'm Clay Morgan And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan And today we are very, very excited to say that we're joined by Tottenham star and Lioness Jess Naz, my former teammate.

1:34Jess Naz: We'll be chatting to Jess about her ACL injury and recovery, Spurs' remarkable season, targets for the future with club and country and much, much more.

1:47Jess Naz: Last time I saw you, obviously you were just a wee Ben and now you're back in the studio as one of our adult guests. it's crazy I just it doesn't make sense to me still significantly longer than both of us yeah like by like almost like half do you know what I mean whoa like I'm like Jess how did you make it here did your mum and dad like bring you like did you like were you supervised was there a guardian like you know so patronising I don't even mean to sound patronising but I'm like do you want a coffee can we offer you coffee is that safe I'm like yeah I just crazy sorry about this welcome to the podcast thank you so much for joining us yeah it just feels mad that we're kind of being reunited again like obviously my journey ended because i'm old and injured and and your journey like just about to like take off the trajectory has already been incredible what you've done with spurs already been incredible obviously all the data debut that made with the lionesses as well so it feels like so much has happened since the last time that we managed to catch up um so yeah first off i mean how are you doing mate how's how's life treating

2:44Rachel: you first thanks for having me um life's been better to be fair um i think obviously had surgery in Jan recovery's been going well the first couple weeks was dreadful like I was in so much pain but progressing better now I can drive walk without crutches so yeah feels a lot better wow that's quick that's quick progress

3:07Chloe: yeah wow I saw you in the gym yesterday when I was having my little tour of the Tottenham Hotspur training ground and

3:14Jess Naz: security's clearly gone downhill

3:15Chloe: at Spurs I'll tell you that for free mate you just asked her if she got a lift here from her parents I think she's she's absolutely fine with me and I was supervised by Curtis he did supervise very cool gym and what I loved about it as well is you can see the pitch from the gym that must make a difference in terms of just feeling that still connected and everything to the team yeah 100 % people still complain about the windows not being

3:36Rachel: big enough but at least we can see the pitch you know what I mean I mean the first ACR I did was I was in Barnet and I couldn't see anything so I was just stuck in the gym so it is nice to see the

3:46Chloe: girls train yeah I do wonder is that like is that one of the biggest differences just kind of feeling a bit more connected to the team during this recovery yeah I think so I think um we're such

3:56Rachel: a tight-knit group I think that's one thing I'll say about Spurs like we've had such a great family unit um even with new players coming in um so yeah it's been nice I remember like back in

4:07Jess Naz: the days when you when you did your first ACL I think I'd done some kind of like knee something or other so I remember being on the bike and you'd be on the bike too and then we'd have Sarah Buds the physio who's still there yeah she's my lead physio on there she's incredible like she has been on the Spurs journey like she's the kind of person you wouldn't even know the name but she has been integral to Spurs and like getting the team back onto the pitch and just being like a lovely like person who like really rallies you and like that emotional support getting you back um but yeah obviously this is like the second time that you've you've done your ACL um you did your MCL and ACL in 2019 I remember I think there's a good picture of me actually wheeling you through the airport yeah good times was that safe we talk about safety here you were left in the hands of chloe yeah i mean go on jess she did she did take care of me okay well she has sat across from you now so did say less um i mean you were just 19 when that happened and i kind of like i think that's why i always kind of that's where you're enshrined in my memory is this is this like young whippersnapper just about to go on and like do absolute business for spurs obviously we just got into the wsl we've gone away on this um the first international tournament that we'd ever been on and then this happened.

5:19Jess Naz: But how do you feel like you kind of learnt from that experience and kind of used, you know, the resilience and the mindset training and things to kind of help you in this second bout of injury?

5:28Rachel: Yeah, I think the first time I did it, it was such a big shock because I didn't even know when ACL was at the point. So I think just learning that and accepting it took me quite a while. I think also on the back of obviously getting promoted and going over England at the under 19 euros and just coming back on a high. Like I was really excited to start the season in the WSL. And then for that to happen in pre-season, it was just, even the whole pre-season tour was just so crazy. Like playing at 10 o 'clock at night was just, like it was so weird and just new to everyone. So I think, and then doing it within literally 30 seconds of coming on and pitch was just a madness.

6:15Jess Naz: It was heartbreaking. I remember that game so well because we'd just gone out to Spain. It was like the first time that we'd ever... We'd gone from playing in front of 100 people, 200 people who had come down to the games and then all of a sudden we're in this situation where we're abroad for the first time. We're all booted out. We feel super serious. We've taken the coach from the hotel. It was glorious sunshine outside. None of us were allowed out because the sun was like... David was telling us not to go out because it was going to impact our recovery and our strength and et cetera. So we're on chicken and broccoli.

6:44Jess Naz: What about vitamin D? no vitamin d at all um but we'd all got suited on this coach we'd driven to the stadium it was a night game we had fat like the fans in that stadium were absolutely insane we'd never had anything like this at all we get to this game i'm obviously benched it happens you know becky spencer was in she's very good um but like we're all kind of waiting for this like moment to come on and it was such a huge environment for like to be in for the first time and the pressure and stuff but yeah i just remember the heartbreak like seeing seeing what happened and kind of not knowing like what that looked like but I mean the recovery was obviously super long for for that bout but yeah how have you kind of learned from that going into to this time because it feels like like Rachel's saying like the recovery like you're already doing so well but I suppose you have that kind of template of how to to get out of it yeah I think people always

7:30Rachel: ask me is it is it better that you've done it before or or not and I think I think the good side of it is that I learned when I was when I first did it how uh mentally I can push myself and obviously I already know the stages that I have to go through so it is a lot easier this time I think firstly just accepting the injury which was probably probably the hardest thing when I first did it and then the process of okay now that I have selected it what do I need to do to get myself back and I think yeah I think the mindset as well just shifted because I know I've done it so it was a lot easier um I think as well when I first did that I was going through a lot off the pitch but no one really knew what was going on so um Sarah Budd really helped me through

8:18Chloe: that time that was something you spoke about in your versus piece back then even was you were like I've just come from international straight into you know with the pre-season with the the club you know late matches you were already talking almost about loading yeah back then yeah you know and still an issue we're talking about now. We're seeing maybe the impact of that on numerous players in terms of ACL and everything else. Have you noticed a difference in terms of even just knowledge around dealing with ACL injuries from when you did it back then to now?

8:51Rachel: 100%. I think obviously there's a lot more research that's gone into it and even a lot more injury prevention stuff that's been put in place just to make sure that when we go into the pitch, were everything's sort of ready to go into impact or I think the game's just getting quicker and quicker so being able to adapt to them occasions.

9:12Chloe: Do you notice now that has training changed at all now that there is more research and more injury prevention and I guess more specific female athlete training is there any differences in how you train now versus maybe when you were 19?

9:27Rachel: I think a lot more goes on behind the scenes that we I probably don't know about but in terms of I think a lot of stuff before we enter the pitch has been introduced like our pre-act and stuff like that and then obviously I think us as ourselves listen to our bodies which is probably one thing I learned coming back from the ACL sometimes I want to stay on the pitch and be shooting and doing extra drills and stuff but sometimes you've got to listen to the body and then taking in everything so I think to be an athlete obviously there's on the pitch but also off the pitch that really impacts it so recovery nutrition I think that's probably the one percent that will get you there and keep you injury free and stuff like that so yeah do you feel like you have a bit

10:20Chloe: more freedom to say I need a bit of rest now or I'm not going to do like that extra like you don't feel the pressure necessarily to do the extra because you know that recovery is important as

10:31Rachel: well yeah I think there's a lot more open conversations and managers snc's everyone's listening to players and how they feel I think that's the most important thing we want to feel fresh on game day um and training week is probably you train harder than you than you um in the game so the way I train or want to train I want to train I want to play the way I want to play so training can be really really hard and intense and I think that's where we get all our tactics and everything that we want to do on the game and sometimes it can take a toll you know what I mean so I think just listening to players we've obviously got leadership groups which actually help as well that can feed stuff to managers and they can look on our loading and say maybe this week we'll go a bit lighter stuff like that yeah god that's so nice to hear that we were being

11:18Jess Naz: I was never listened to at Spurs I was knocking on Karen and Juan's door listen this one again I don't want to train this much today. I actually had a big night like before. I'd rather take it easy. And then you'd have David going, oh, you've got to do some banded work and you'd have your band strapped around your knees. Just trying to hold your back there. Get back in the closet, you. Not like that. Not like that. Not in an LGBTQ plus way at all. Yeah, and then we had, funny enough, we had Josie Green on the pod last week and she was talking about, you know, like when she used to do the yoga before training and like the whole, like it was like wellness and like whole well-being type stuff which was which was super super helpful um I definitely want to talk like just while we're talking about Tottenham and the olden days and what we used to get up to um obviously you scored that goal that got us promoted to the WSL I remember it like it was I always say like if I ever get married or if I ever have kids like that is the day that I will remember because the celebration and like just what it meant for the club and the history that we'd all made I honestly like it gives me like shivers now even thinking about it um today obviously the journey that Spurs has been on from that moment over in Birmingham Sutton Caulfield wasn't it yeah from that moment to where Spurs is now obviously you guys have been pushing up like you're closer to the Champions League spots than ever before do you ever kind of reflect of like how big a part you've been of the transition of Spurs because I I feel like I was part of a minuscule bit of it but you've been part of this huge journey it's crazy because when

12:48Rachel: I first joined Tottenham I was just playing like I just wanted to play first team football I and when I joined I was literally enjoying playing with you guys and being able to play first team football and be in that environment like I never even thought about getting promoted so when like I think it was halfway through the season and there was already talks about us doing well and stuff I was just like what like in my first season we're gonna get from we're gonna get promoted it was it was crazy and I think the growth of the the club since then has been it's been amazing and I think players that come in now obviously don't know about the journey so I think when I talk to them about it when obviously we're obviously going to demand high high standards but I think for from what we've done since we've got promoted is that we've done a lot in the small amount of years we've been in the league and we're going to continue to keep pushing and pushing and I think um yeah I think both sides and men's obviously been helping us and the facilities we have now like we've got everything now to make sure that we can keep pushing and stay in the top half of the table yeah it's not just top half like the Champions

13:57Chloe: League is being floated into the conversation as well which is uh incredible you know you're not far off those spaces you were rightly in that conversation how is that kind of not received in the club but is it something that's like you try and management try and temper that a little bit or do they go yeah we should be in that conversation I think the the last couple years

14:18Rachel: every manager that's come in has been like I think we've got the quality to be in them places it's just about their consistency and um the growth and I think obviously over the years you've seen we've had some tough years but you can see that when we've got a structure in place and when things are going well you can see the quality we have in the team and that rightly so we should be fighting for them places so it's nice to see this season that yeah we're doing that

14:45Jess Naz: It's definitely been kind of a very transitional period I suppose for Spurs over the last few years obviously you mentioned there there has been a couple of manager changes and it feels like now you're in a position where Martin Ho seems to be getting the best out of you guys I mean what's the mood like in the squad currently because I suppose you've, you know, still six games to play the WSL, got nine points more in your final tally last season and then you're obviously going to Arsenal on March the 28th for the big North London derby. I remember the first one that we did and there were nerves then.

15:13Jess Naz: I remember doing like the stadium tour before the game. We were like, what happened? How have we got here? Oh yeah, it was Jess Nass's goal. But yeah, what's the vibe like in the squad? Yeah, you sort of look to have one of the most successful seasons in the WSL so far.

15:27Rachel: I think everyone's in a good place I think we take every game how it is and even the games that we win we look on things that we can improve so I think everyone's just trying to be better I think Martin really sets high standards and demand in us and I think you can see the passion desire that everyone has and yeah it's so nice to see I think if it

15:51Chloe: I think it's one more win and you will have beaten your points tally highest points tally I think that Spurs will have and most number of wins I think they'll have had in the season if I'm correct but as you said on Martin I feel that from him when you do like post-match with him and stuff he might have like just won 7-3 against Aston Villa and still he'll be like yeah it was good but there's bits and pieces and I think you can actually see that from the squad you can see how much potential you have because you've obviously got a lot of new players in and things have seemed to have clicked really quickly and is that do you think that's kind of down to just the vibe and the squad and how close you are together that people seem to kind of slot in really easily?

16:30Rachel: I think, yeah, I think the family environment we have at the club, I think any player that's come in, we've made them feel very welcome. And I think you can see straight away that it doesn't take them long for them to settle in and you can see how they can perform on the pitch and stuff. So I think that's probably been something that always helped hold Tottenham really high for. I think the family feeling that we have when we have each other's back for everything you can see obviously we've been in relegation battles but we've fought together as a team to get out of it and now obviously fighting to get into the Champions League so yeah.

17:06Chloe: I feel like Tottenham reminds me Tottenham now reminds me of like a 21 year old Jess Naz where you see you on the pitch and you go oh my god this player's gonna she's already so good like can't wait to see what she's gonna be three four years time Tottenham feels a bit like that you're kind of seeing what they could be you can see how well they're doing under Martin at the moment with the new players in and you're just like wow imagine a couple more months a couple more seasons

17:29Jess Naz: together sky's the limit a little bit feels like no definitely um and talking of martin and kind of him building this this sort of team and this squad and like this this new kind of way of doing things it does feel like there's a bit of a fresh era for spurs in a way um and you're obviously one of the first names on martin's team sheet before your injury how do you think your role has changed within the team compared to to last season as you've kind of matured and developed as a as a

17:51Rachel: player um I think for me when I first um spoke to Martin he was saying that I think you can bring so much more and um I think that's that's my role as a manager to get the best out of everyone um and I think to hear that from a manager obviously you know that they're going to push you but for a good reason and try to get the best out of you and I think obviously everyone in the squad you can see they're playing at their best football because we're being pushed and at times it can be hard but I think in the long run you'll see that it will benefit us and we're going to get results that we need to get and even when we might not play the best football we'll find and grind a way to get results and I think the football we are playing is really exciting really fun flowing to see and I think it's been nice to see so much good football being played and then the goals I think we've had it's been hard I think we've never had both the really good football and the goals so I think now that we're getting both I think we're in a really good step and yeah we're just going to go upwards from here

18:58Chloe: It did feel a little bit like say last season or even the first season under Robert it was like attacking wise unbelievable you were creating like so many chances against teams that we weren't used to seeing from Spurs second half of the season defensively I think that was where you struggled and it was getting multiple things right at the same time right That's difficult with a new manager and you need time. It feels like Martin's kind of, I don't know whether it's tactically, but defensively you look much more solid. But then equally when you do go forward, you kind of go forward as a pack. You hunt in a pack going forward and you look quite threatening when you're going forward.

19:34Chloe: So is that something tactically that Martin has looked to try and address both ends of the pitch?

19:38Rachel: Yeah, I think definitely. I think when we defend, we defend together. And when we attack, we all attack. so when we're defending us as forwards start the press and the easiest way we score is that if we press really well and then when we have the ball the easiest way they don't score is that when we have the ball high up the pitch our defence is up with us so we can stop the counters and go for another one so I think little things that he's brought in has definitely made it a lot harder for us firstly to break us down and then on attacks we can keep sustaining attacks because everyone's higher up the pitch and I know Martin obviously it's his

20:17Chloe: first season but you've played under quite a few managers for such a young player do you take little bits from each manager like what's that experience like yeah I think me as a person I

20:27Rachel: really I really just keep my head down go in play football and go home but uh I tried to take little things from everyone uh every manager and I think obviously I had Rhianne uh which was also my England manager so that's someone that I worked with um an international level so growing up I took a lot of stuff from her and I think she probably gave me a lot of confidence in that England age group um so I think I've been grateful for any every manager I've had and just taking things from them to merge together into my into my football career

21:13Jess Naz: Hi friends, Shawn Linda from Two Black Guys with Good Credit here. Whether you're running a non-profit, a school, or a small business, Walmart Business is here to support your mission. They make it easy to order what you need, from tech and cleaning supplies to everyday essentials, all at low prices and with helpful tools like spend tracking and tax-exempt purchasing for eligible organizations. Because when your operations are smooth, your impact can be bigger. Visit business.walmart.com to get started.

21:49Jess Naz: I've always felt like you've been very dedicated. You're kind of like almost like a student of the game. Like you love the tactics. You love kind of just like focusing on it. You've always had that kind of mentality. I mean, is that something you've tried to nurture as it's sort of become, we've had more eyes on it. It's obviously become more serious. It's, you know, when we were playing for Spurs initially, it was kind of, we did it because we loved it and we were all friends and we kind of had this ambition. now obviously it's a business results matter but it feels like your mentality has always been so consistent like how have you how have you done that and kept that that kind of mental strength

22:19Rachel: I think first it's just to love the game like because I love football so much I just want to um watch it or see on things I can prove I think also when I first got injured one of the things that got me through was watching back clips so I used to clip a lot of my stuff and I still have it till today and it's probably clips that you can't find anymore but I've still clipped some stuff um I think just going through that and that's probably kept me in terms of technical side and little things that I can work on or see um just to stay ahead and obviously that one percent they all count and then obviously the game's getting quicker faster more tactics so you also need to be switched on with that there's obviously the football side but you need to be ball smart as well and Martin demands that people that actually know football and know the game because there's going to be times where we're going to need to be in a mid-block and you need to understand where you are and what you fit in this role and the things you have to do so yeah

23:22Jess Naz: and how do you like decompress also because I think like it's such an intense environment to be in but obviously like you have a life outside of football like what are you doing to kind of like just chill or relax with the girls you mentioned that you do kind of a little coffee club maybe with with cop sometimes without the coffee without the coffee maybe a squash you know that kind of thing yes what are you doing outside of spurs kind of like yeah decompress me or

23:46Rachel: i love spending time with my family i think i've got um four siblings so uh they keep me entertained um also like drawing and i'm into fashion so that's probably things that keep me

23:58Chloe: that things away from football that keep me yeah i was gonna i'm gonna ask you a bit more about the fashion side of things but just from a as you say student of the game um when you've been dealing with your injury are you doing that kind of do you do that almost like homework are you like reviewing stuff are you still looking at clips or do you allow yourself to just focus on

24:17Rachel: you know your rehab i think i still do it now to be fair um even i look back at old games and just review things i could have done better or good clips and just be like uh okay this is what i want to work on or like now I'm just thinking obviously I've done my right ACL so this will be a chance to work on my left foot so just little things like that I'm just thinking about and I'm just like I'm so excited to come back on the pitch and just work on my left foot and I'm both fitted when I come back so yeah it'll be all right do you find as well though like in game do

24:50Chloe: you find your ability to problem solve is improved by the fact that you are really study the game

24:58Rachel: yeah I think also one thing I realized throughout the career is also not going too much into it because what I realized as well that when I was very much looking into opponents or things before the game it used to stress me and as a player I'm very much like like to express myself and want to be free and sometimes or creative places sometimes you don't want too much in your mind and you want things to just flow um and I always talk about the flow state like when things are just going well just like you're not thinking about anything things are just happen moves uh crosses skills so I think I've kind of like found the balance yeah and also working with staff so I don't have to do everything all by myself which is probably like the type of person I am I'm a very like independent person and like to do things for myself but um learning to like utilize all the

25:58Chloe: stuff that we have and allows you to relax and not overthink on the pitch yeah love that definitely

26:02Jess Naz: well you're talking a little bit about you know freedom of expression and we touched a little bit about your style obviously you're a very stylish gal Jess I feel like you're one of the start of the minute the most stylish people in in the WSL and I think that's there's a handful of them and you're up there mate so um yeah obviously I mean how did you kind of get into fashion how did this kind of like love of fashion develop and obviously you've got the relationship now with with puma too you're kitted out looking a lot more fashionable than definitely me me and my irish jumper as well um but yeah how did you kind of fall in love with that side of it and the the fusion that we're now seeing between fashion and football too well i think growing up i was just really into trainers

26:39Rachel: and i like i used to keep all my trainers in the shoe box and clean so like it used to be crazy like the other day I had to because I still have shoeboxes and I had to clean all of them like this is too far now it's been like 10 years I need to get rid of shoeboxes invented the rest of these yeah yeah so I think it's just the love of trainers and the different colors and vibes um growing up and then I think football and football on the pitch for me because I'm such a quiet person I think the fashion side is kind of the way to express myself um and I think football and fashion is really like intertwined together a lot I think even now we've got trainers that are like astros and back in the day everyone used to be like nah you can't wear jeans with astros and it's come back in the game so I think yeah football and fashion has definitely come together nicely.

27:32Jess Naz: Who else do you think in the WSL can kind of like match your level of like fashion credentials who you're saying?

27:38Rachel: Match my level is crazy. Yeah go on. I think there's a lot of stylish people I think a lot more people have tapped into the fashion world in women's football and it's so cool to see even not even in this league but in different leagues I think Mallard is really nice really cool really cool dress sense we've got a few players on our team that I really rate Molly got really good fashion sense who else I like Drew's to be fair yeah a trainer game is strong to be fair there's quite there's a few you've got Leah yep you've got Lucy Bronze yep Alex Green wait the list can go on there's actually so many good I think we're quite England's got a quite good fashion yeah your arrival arrival followers

28:25Chloe: are always pretty cool

28:26Jess Naz: quite cool LJ normally mang's up 100 % yeah LJ's up there Rizella Ayan yes decent I think she did didn't she do like Paris yeah she did Paris Fashion Week yeah yeah Christ I mean that's next for you mate catwalking yeah what are you saying yeah i'd actually love it yeah love to do it i'm seeing you like parish fashion week like milan this kind of vibe like yeah i feel like you've got that this energy about you that like i don't know it translates off the pitch and i think you know that's where a lot of i suppose like footballers are kind of building their brand now do you feel like that's like an important part for you to kind of build your personality and your persona off the pitch to kind of like yeah you're just just now as baller but you're also just now as

29:03Rachel: personality fashion style icon 100 % I think it's um good for like the fans to also know a little bit about players and not think that we're robots and everything's football football based um it's also another way for players to like relax and keep their mind off football so yeah I think that's something I've tapped tapped into more I think even speaking I'm not really a big speaker so coming on here is big for me but yeah I think just being more open with the fans and letting people know more about people myself.

29:38Chloe: Do you think about that when you're going in because all the clubs are doing it now you're a rival fits and you're coming into training so something else you have to think about now?

29:46Rachel: I mean I always arrive in style so it's never been a problem for me. It's actually effortless.

29:50Chloe: Are you a fan of okay two questions would you be the type that would want like as a squad to rock up suit and booted in like fresh kits you know the way sometimes when you get to major tournaments and you see some of the teams come out like the swedes always have like these very nice suits the italians always love we have suits as well to be fair we've got hugo boss suits yeah you like that i think it's nice i think it's cool to switch it

30:12Rachel: up i think we look good in the suits as well we've got hugo boss suits i think business yeah it looks

30:16Chloe: really nice to be fair and second question if you were a manager on the touchline would you be

30:21Rachel: tracksuit or would you be because martin loves his style doesn't he yeah he does i don't know to be fair i think it depends what kind of manager you are yeah if you're a manager that likes to like quite animated likes to get up then maybe tracksuits so you're more comfortable but if you're a manager that's very chill sat down then yeah suit to be fair i've seen him

30:41Chloe: come pitch side with like two different jackets like just in case i don't know whether it's a temperature thing or whether it's a style thing but he always looks very freshly cutted out do you appreciate that no he is yeah he is fresh to be fair what was your take on serena riegman's uh

30:55Jess Naz: puffer jacket you know like the yeah it was like i'm gonna bring it up because yeah let's bring up a photo because me and rachel very different views i think it's absolutely legendary rachel's not a big fan of it you probably see it yeah i you know i really like it hang on i need to find it

31:09Chloe: now um i don't even know what to search rachel's very disparaging i was not we just had a different of opinion on the colour. What colour was it? Well, I thought it was a slight unfortunate brown. Chloe said that it was pink.

31:26Rachel: That's a nice jacket. That's like a nude. A nudie pink.

31:31Jess Naz: Yeah.

31:32Rachel: That's nude.

31:33Chloe: I don't look like that. Like a nudie pink.

31:35Jess Naz: Yeah, it's a nice jacket. Okay.

31:37Chloe: Yeah, I don't mind it. She doesn't mind it. That doesn't mind it. she's sitting on the fence with it. I think, I can't remember the other. What's the boss? I love your style I love it it's amazing can I borrow that jacket whatever she likes I like can I borrow it when you're done

31:52Jess Naz: we shouldn't have put her on the spotlight that was you Glo no I really apologise for that speaking of England we've got to discuss your England career your national career you got your first senior call up in May 2024 and you've had six caps since then talk us through that experience of breaking into the Lionesses squad because I saw that gate like when you made the debut the 2-1 win against Ireland. We had to bring that up, didn't we? Yeah, of course. Yeah, 100%. Anything to stick the knife in. But, you know, it was such a proud mum moment for me, kind of like seeing you there, kind of like waiting.

32:25Jess Naz: And I just, yeah, it was really emotional, actually, Jess, like watching it and seeing how far your journey had come. But what was it like for you, more importantly? I was going to say.

32:34Rachel: So it was crazy because that whole week, I wasn't planning to be in the squad. And someone had felt ill. so it turned out that I was in the squad. Serena told me the day before, she asked for a meet and I was like, It's about my jacket. Yeah, what have I done? So she pulled me into a meet and she told me that I'm going to be in the squad and just to enjoy the moment kind of thing. So then I was just like, it's just another day I'm in the squad. What?

33:09Jess Naz: We're not like on the family group chat, like you'll never guess. Yeah, no. Lylas' debut happening now.

33:14Rachel: No, being on the bench doesn't mean you're going to come on.

33:17Jess Naz: But you're still like, you're there. Chloe, you should know that. Yeah. So I was just like, I think she told me obviously

33:24Rachel: because I wasn't going to be in the squad, I was going to be in the stands. So I was just like, this is, I mean, I was just happy to be in the squad and obviously be able to warm up and stuff with the girls. I was not expecting to come on. So when I sat on the bench, I remember me, Aggie, Kiara was sat. And we were literally just vibing. Like, we're like, and me and Aggie kept looking at each other, like, could this be the day? And we were like, it's 2-1. It's a bit, it's a bit tight of a game. Yeah, we're a tough team.

33:52Jess Naz: We are. You are now.

33:54Rachel: It's a bit of a tight game. We're probably not going to come on. And then, Ruth is the S &C. She was like, Jess, warm up. I said, I look back there. What? Me, Jess? Yeah, me. I remember Lucy was like, Jess, like, do you want to come on or not? Like, go. so I started warming up and I was like there's no way I'm coming on like and then I started to look at the um the set pieces I was like oh my god I'm coming on I was like what the hell is going on um yeah and I think I was just proud to step into the pitch and yeah I think just express myself enjoy the moment most mostly to be fair and then I think I almost scored pressing the key and I was like oh my god that would have been mad and then obviously to see Aggie come on as well was nice so it's good for both of us to get our debut on the same day were you like nervous about it

34:47Jess Naz: or was it like more excitement to get on the pitch

34:49Rachel: I think I was nervous waiting to come on but once I stepped in I was like okay it's just locked in yeah flow state yeah

34:55Jess Naz: oh my god I can't even imagine how did you celebrate afterwards like what was what was that like after you like you had to dry off first do you remember the weather that day

35:03Rachel: oh it was so bad it was horrendous I think everyone like everyone was just buzzing for me and Agitifair so I think just messages my phone was literally flooded and it was a late game so it was on back on the coach um I literally was up until like 5am I think just on on as soon as I got back to the hotel called my family because they didn't they didn't come to the game they didn't think I was going to come on but um they watched at home and my agent she actually was like she had a feeling that we was going to come on when um it's a good yeah when she got told when when i told her i was going to be in the squad she just had a feeling she's like she wasn't meant to come down to our game and she ended up coming down so it was nice to see her after the game as well but yeah it was it was mad yeah it was mad where are you storing your caps now like where are they in your house the first one i had uh on my shirt i got it framed i literally got it delivered a couple weeks ago taz agent brought in for me and it's like huge and And it's like, yeah.

36:04Rachel: So I've got that in my apartment right now. I can't even cope with the fact

36:08Jess Naz: that you're living independently either. Because I'm just like, I don't know.

36:11Chloe: I feel like in years to come, she's going to be in rooms going, I played with her. Yeah, I am. I do that now. Right in your coattails she is.

36:20Jess Naz: Back in my day, she used to have this celebration. It was like this.

36:23Chloe: Yeah, the cooking. The mixing bowl. I never understood what it meant. I still don't.

36:30Jess Naz: It was a good celebration. Yeah, are we still doing that? yeah 100 % good okay I feel like we worked on it together uh you always mention this but I don't

36:40Rachel: remember yeah can we keep that in Finn do not cut that bit out anyway moving swiftly on

36:46Jess Naz: obviously there's a big tournament next year world cup 2027 Brazil carnival festival vibes like obviously everyone's kind of gearing up to it no one in this podcast cares about the men's world cup it's a shambles it's controversial as hell and to be honest the sooner it's over the better how badly do you want to be back in contention to be a part of the tournament because it feels like it's going to be the biggest or it's pipped to be the biggest major tournament yet

37:09Rachel: yeah 100 % I think firstly it's just getting back well and healthy and getting back to a place where I feel confident on the pitch again and then we'll just see from there but that would be a dream honestly unreal, absolutely unreal I can't even, yeah Can I also ask what it's like playing at Wembley? Oh, incredible I think even walking out and then even before the game. So the game that I was on the bench and we went out and the fireworks before the game. Unreal there. Oh my God. They're some of the best. Tell you what, I've been to a lot of stadiums. It literally gives me goosebumps every time.

37:44Rachel: Every time. It's so surreal. And I think just the noise in the crowd, it's just amazing. I can't even. Even before the game when we're on the coach and we have to get to the stadium, the amount of fans outside and you see all the signs and everyone cheering I was like I've never

38:03Chloe: ever experienced this before that is crazy yeah I just to you know given how much you love football generally to be able to walk out onto that pitch and play on that pitch must be yeah like I think

38:15Rachel: because I'm in the moment there's a lot of times sometimes I don't really reflect on it so when I speak to my brother they're like even when they talk about you're on FIFA like we used to play that we used to play that growing up and like you're actually on the game you're just like

38:28Jess Naz: kicking off all these things yeah it's just crazy that is wild can you imagine just seeing yourself in a video game like do you when you play FIFA do you do you play yourself yeah I play as Tottenham

38:38Rachel: yeah nice and a lot of people have been DMing me because um I didn't even know I have a special card on FIFA so a lot of people will message me and be like oh I've got your special card you're sick i was like okay what a gap like that is so good what so cool honestly that that's like one

38:56Jess Naz: of those like weird like surreal moments of like how did i get here like well obviously through

39:00Chloe: pure talent but like you're just like because of chloe obviously yeah we must remember to give

39:04Jess Naz: chloe her juice anyway um but obviously there's been so many magical moments in your career so far and there's still going to be so many ahead of you but like how much you've kind of missing football right now does it feel like those kind of moments make you feel like god I need to get back to that ASAP I want to get back to all these magical things even like um after training I sit

39:24Rachel: with a ray out every day and I'm like how was training so like tell me everything that happened like it's so hard missing out on like all the goss or the little banter that happens in training um no but it's yeah I'm so excited and itching to get back but I think the recovery is going well and the girls have been really good as well I think checking up and I think yeah the group's really really good so yeah i'm just excited to get back can't wait for you to get back as well

39:47Chloe: another little bit of gold dust onto sprinkle onto tottenham i mean wow i honestly may i get

39:54Jess Naz: get back asap safely i was gonna say let's not rush her yeah for sure um obviously like this season sort of coming towards the back end of it but you know hopefully gonna be fighting fit and ready to go for for next season um i mean what's the kind of plan what are you aiming for with next season if you're going to say okay what is a 20 what would it be 26 27 oh my gosh like what does that look like for you if you could like paint the perfect picture given you're an artist as well

40:19Rachel: yeah nice um i think for me the focus would just be on output so i think just being more ruthless and I think I've always struggled with which is weird confidence so a lot of the times like I said I have a lot of up and down so I'd have a really good two three games but then sustaining that would probably be something I need to work on and I think even going into the Lioness environment I think the first couple camps I was buzzing like to be in there and then And it was almost like I felt like, should I be here kind of thing? So I think that's something that I've worked with my psychologist at club and putting things into place or setting little goals.

41:14Rachel: And I think just reminding myself how I was when I'm at my highs and ways to get my, things to put in place to get myself when I am low and not to stay low for a long time. I think football is very up and down and you know you can you can prepare for a game and have a terrible game but um it's just about obviously not dwelling on it too much and trying to get yourself in a better place to perform I think that's such a mature answer definitely that's

41:45Jess Naz: always been I mean I think trying to kind of reach that level of consistency every single game and like you said like you can put the effort in you can do the hours you can even go you know over and above the training hours and do all the other bits and pieces you can look back over your clips but like the end of the day like sometimes they're just games that you're like I fell apart and I don't know why it's just like it wasn't the right day or I don't know even like your period or whatever it was or something was just off and you can't like quite put your finger on it um but it's mad that like someone like you who performs at this level and like you've done so well in your career you're still saying you've got imposter syndrome because I'm like yeah just like you deserve that spot on that line s squad like more than anyone else mate the the work rate the effort that this kid has put in the challenges that you've come back from from such a young age like yeah the way that i've seen you grow from like where you were to like where you are now and like mate i can't honestly proud man i was excited watching you come on against my team that says a lot because she doesn't say that about anyone who faces island and i find i found

42:44Chloe: that amazing when uh england played arland both those times how quickly i went to just being like fuck you and but actually when you and aggie came on i was like yeah all right i can i can appreciate that

42:54Jess Naz: you should see how she feels about Melvin Mallard at the moment in the last result I guess if anyone's

42:58Chloe: going to score up you have been playing well I suppose but like so hard

43:02Jess Naz: you know that's hard for me so that says a lot well thank you so much for joining us I don't want to keep you too much I appreciate you probably want to go back you want to get on huddle you want to start re-watching your clips again go back over it and getting back to rehab and hopefully we'll see you on the pitch absolutely ASAP but I really appreciate you coming down because it's been lovely to hear more about what's been going on behind the scenes mate and your ambitions for next year as well. Yeah. Thanks, Jess. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I also get you to sign something as well because like, she'll sell it.

43:30Jess Naz: You better believe I'll be hitting vintage the minute you leave. Should we ask for a selfie next? Don't want a professional clothing. It's what it is. Look, I was part of this. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Upfront. Rach and I are back on Tuesday. In the meantime, you can find us on Instagram and x slash Twitter. I'm at morgy underscore 89. Rach is at girls on the ball and we are at upfront underscore pod you can also find us on youtube at upfront pod see you next week

44:14Jess Naz: up front is a stack production and part of the acast creator network Thank you.