Keira Walsh and Aggie Beever-Jones on Chelsea's pre-season

0:04Welcome back to Upfront. I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. Well, for those of you watching on YouTube, it's pretty obvious where I am. But for those of you listening, I am sitting in front of Sydney Opera House down under in Australia here for Chelsea's preseason. They started with a game against Auckland in New Zealand before coming over here to take on the A-League All-Stars. So I sat down with a couple of players to find out how it's all been going, as well as looking ahead to this season. After a pretty tricky year last season, Chelsea have made plenty of changes. We've seen lots of stars leave. We've also seen lots of stars come in, both young and established.

0:38So I'm going to find out how they're getting on in the squad.

0:53Welcome to the pod, Aggie. Thank you for sitting down and chatting to us. Firstly, we are in Australia. How's it been? what's it like doing pre-season have her in the world yeah i mean i'm absolutely falling in love with the place i absolutely love it this morning we went to bondi as a team which was really cute um ellie's been a great tour guide she yeah organized the coach we got there some of the girls went in the sea which was lovely and then um it's just been 10-10 i think coming from new zealand as well was really cool to kind of see the new zealand lifestyle and then come here um and then on top of that the training's been really good and we're really excited for the game That's a lot of pressure on Ellie, isn't it?

1:31She's done really well, though, to be fair. Your contract extension was announced a month ago. It feels obvious to ask how excited you are about the season, but it wasn't that long ago that you were the youngster coming in and breaking through, and now you're still young, but you're one of the older heads that have been here for a while. Yeah, it's weird. I think you said it perfectly. To me, I still feel like I'm that 17-, 18-year-old kind of kid who came in from the academy, me but obviously just turned 23 and I was like especially with our new younger signings it's like oh god I'm a little bit older now but um no I was super excited to obviously sign and for the content to come out and yeah it'd been a long time coming and I think coming off the back of last season where I struggled a little bit of injuries and finding consistency again it was really nice to kind of have that as like a you got through it well done like get on to the next season and And I think so far we've done really well in terms of getting to know one another, being on the pitch.

2:31And then even the game the other day, I thought was really good quality. And I think the challenge tomorrow will be a really good game. Just going back to you, I was going to ask about that, you know, having that kind of season where it's been hampered with injuries and you're in and out, it must be really frustrating. Does having a new season just feel like a bit of a fresh start where you can kind of go at it now? Yeah, definitely. I think as well, it was my first. probably like injury that in my career so far which had probably side-lined me a bit more um than I initially thought and I think trying to come back and be like I want to play I want to play and looking back now probably being I should have just taken more time for my body to kind of be in a better place that is so hard especially when we're not having a good team as a good season sorry as Chelsea and me wanting to be like I want to come in and try and help that but I just think we have to park last season and move forward and I think I think it it can it can only get better for us in terms of what we want to achieve and how we come back from setbacks and me personally just staying fit and healthy and hopefully we'll do that next season.

3:35I guess it could be quite expected you know a new manager comes in after such a long time of you know everyone used the word dynasty around MH been there so long and for Sonia's first season to be like couldn't have gone better pretty much it's almost understandable to have that kind of maybe stumbling block a little bit as as you've been a manager of her style things are coming into place players leave players come so maybe this season feels a little bit more like you can really go for it now need a bit of better understanding as a team yeah definitely I think yeah the first season obviously Sonia came in and everyone was so keen to impress and like obviously we won the treble which was incredible and like you said I feel like when you're at the top like you have to stay there and that's the hardest part um and obviously last season wasn't up to our standard but like almost what you said I felt like it was going to happen at some point and it was just how we bounced back and I think we struggled in doing that.

4:24But I think this year hopefully it's something that we can build on and we had to get to a low point to then hopefully learn and grow. But yeah, I really have every belief and faith in the team that we have this year and hopefully we can build on that. I think the signings we've made, Katie's come in really, given that experience, same with Melvine. She's come in and, yeah, is a ball of chaos in such a good way. She's brought such a good spirit to the team and I think there'll be excellent signings for us. But yeah, it's definitely an exciting season and who knows what will happen. But I mean, hopefully we can make our mark.

4:59I think as well, fans often look at their team in isolation. They don't look at the fact that other teams are also investing, getting better, making your job to stay at the top harder and harder each season. Do you feel that? Yeah, but I think that's just the competitiveness of the league and the nature of where the whole women's football is going. I think the WSL is such a global, it's one of the best leagues in my opinion. And across the whole board, I think the expenditure of the league as well with more teams, I think showing the growth. I think London City being a prime example of doing something a little bit more niche, but investing in a completely different way.

5:34And I think to me, if I take myself away from it and I look from a neutral, it's super exciting. I think you would always almost guarantee the top four. and now you're looking at other teams, even London City, the Tottenham's, Liverpool's, the teams that are questioning and being able to be at the top four. And I think for me, it makes it way more exciting. I think no game's an easy game. And I think we can all sit here now and go, we want to win, we want to win the league. But whoever claims it, claims it, you know. And I think it will be a super exciting season all round for pretty much every team.

6:05I mean, for us covering it, we're super excited with all the names coming in and all the squads strengthening. I think for you as a player, you must be excited about the challenge you've come up against and new faces. Yeah, definitely. I think even the Alexia move to London City, I think, is crazy in terms of how much London City can attract those type of players. And I think to have some of that calibre come into the league and be able to make her mark, I think, is going to be super exciting. I mean, we're going to have to try and nullify her and what she can do. But I think it's exciting and I hope other teams look at us and go, oh, they've got a great team and it's going to be a tough battle too.

6:38I think as well you know there's been some big names obviously left some fresh faces have come in youngsters and established players how important are trips like this for that cohesion before the season to you know take you away from your comfort zone and maybe bond you guys a little better yeah I think it's so important I think the first summer without a tournament for a while for a lot of girls and being able to have that reset away from football and then coming back into Chelsea and And then flying across the other side of the world is a pretty cool way to kind of kickstart our campaign. And like I said, bringing in the new players and equally having our core group being able to expand that.

7:15I think so important. I think getting to know each other off the pitch is just as important as knowing each other on the pitch. And trips like this really allow each individual to kind of express themselves and equally build those friendships that you don't always get while you're in the busy schedule of one game, one week, two games. the next week and all that kind of stuff so I think it's so important and I've loved pretty much every minute of it so far. I think as well you know after a tough season I know it's cliche but I imagine you do learn a lot from those difficult times when games don't go your way or you're knocked out of a competition you know particularly after the the highs you've had you do learn a lot from that especially going into a new season you know what the hurt feels like right yeah I think personally I've learned a lot but then even collectively as a team we've had a lot of tough conversations where we have we had to be super honest sit down in the meeting room and go what we're doing right what we're doing wrong and I think it just come came back to when we were in a bad place how do we then get out of that and I think we struggled with that um and I don't think we shy away from that and I like to hope we've done our work individually and collectively as a team to have then if that was to happen again how do we bounce back a little bit quicker.

8:28I think for me personally it was one of the tougher seasons from an injury perspective but as well as looking and going this isn't like the Chelsea that we all know. But I think like you said it had to kind of happen almost for us to then bounce back and get to the places we want to get to. So yeah although it happened, myself personally we've parked it as a club, we've parked it and we're going to move forward and hopefully claim back our trophies. Have you found that having those injuries have maybe given you a little bit of a different perspective or you know make you look forward to a new season even more yeah most definitely I think it's the one thing for me football's the outlet of whatever's going on in your day-to-day life and when that's taken away from you it can be quite tough um I wouldn't have been able to do it with a lot of my yeah people around me the physios at Chelsea being one um I annoy the physio to his extreme but it's all because I just want to get back.

9:24But yeah, family and friends too. And I think you are able to then kind of look at life in a different way when you have other things to kind of invest your time into. Yeah, just better yourself really. You know, all being well with yourself and with England. You know, you could potentially be looking at quite a long season now, should the World Cup happen for England. But you know, you've had a very important summer off. I think I imagine a lot of players who maybe enjoyed having that summer off. It's felt quite relentless over the last few seasons. So how do you kind of set yourself up for not looking too far ahead, but also knowing that could be on the horizon?

10:02Yeah, I think it is taking each game as it comes. I think in football, it's such a, it's an industry where anything can happen at any point. And I think I learned that through injury, like never take anything for granted, even just being back on the pitch, even if things aren't necessarily going the way you want it to. But like you said, yeah, it's going to potentially be quite a long season. and the main thing for me is just staying fit and available as much as I can and listening to my body and I think when I'm at my best I'm yeah I'm fit and I'm healthy I'm not thinking too much I'm just letting my natural like my feet do the talking really but um yeah I think it's a long season but ultimately it's the kind of season that I'm looking at going it's going to be a fun one like this is why you want to play football you want to be in as many competitions win as much domestically, let alone at a national level too.

10:50Have you gotten good at kind of when you have a week off knowing how to use it well? Because in football you don't get a lot of time on. Yes and no. I think now that I'm a little bit older, I think the girls will give me stick just because when we're in places like this and want to go explore, I want to go see the cities we're in and yeah, what memories I can make. So I think it's just being able to do that and then finding a fine line. I think when me and me are going to camp, everyone's like, how many steps have you two done? because we're like doing 20, 20 ,000 steps just because we love exploring.

11:20But I think it's just having that balance. I love going out, exploring it, calm to my mind, away from the football and then being able to come on the pitch and hopefully do what I can do. But yeah, it's definitely finding that balance between the two. And lastly, how much do you enjoy how you finish the season at Wales Allons? You obviously tore it up. Yeah, I think every time someone asks me about it, I think it was just a reflection of me trying to come back when the body wasn't ready. And I think that showed on the pitch and then it kind of got to sevens. And as annoying the timing was, I was like, this is when I finally kind of feel fit again.

11:54And that's me at my best. Yeah, and if I'm honest, I was quite reluctant to it at the start, just because I was like, this is completely new. Something that it looked a bit like it was just a joke to me, like obviously the walkout, something that I'm so happy is not in the WSL. But no, it was such a great experience. I've always said when I look back on it, it was a very happy time in my life and just being able to play football again and be happy, look around at serious people like Kira and see her having the time of her life too. So yeah, it was such a great time and a nice way for me to kind of end the season.

12:27And I look back on it and I was a high of like, I had a bit of a rough time, but I got there in the end. So it was kind of a nice way to finish off the season. And format-wise seemed to suit you quite well. yeah I think it's when people ask me to like describe myself I've always said I'm quite a technical player and I think being in the small spaces like I love because it's kind of me and my element and I remember me and LJ were talking in the week like she was like I think you're going to enjoy this like I think we'll be quite good at it um and then I think it was just not thinking too much there was no pressure which again I think was really nice just to kind of play football like when you're a kid and no you don't really think anyone's watching you're just doing stuff for the sake of it.

13:05So it was really nice to kind of remember what football was about and kind of go back to those like childhood memories of like you just play football because you love it. But yeah it was a great time and hopefully you can start this season as you finish. Yeah fingers crossed. Enjoy it. Thank you so much. No thank you. Appreciate it.

13:32the 2026-27 season is right around the corner and where better to get your football fix than the original football podcast since 2007 the football ramble has been bringing listeners everything from highbrow debates. Which Premier League manager would you most like to be your dad? You're going Dychey, surely? Yeah, I've got You've got to. You'll be cutting some rug with your old man, who's Sean Dyche, to a pop B-side at 2am in Nottingham, and you've never been happier. To coverage of the game's hottest stories. Barcelona midfielder Pedri appeared to mistake a cameraman's bald head for the ball during a game against Atletico.

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14:54all right well welcome to the pod thank you thank you so much for um sitting down with us here in sydney how's it been yeah good so far yeah i really enjoyed it um if i throw back to maybe your first ever pre-season i'm all right i'm thinking maybe blackburn 2014 maybe you know around that time yeah it's probably man city was like my first what was your pre-season like then a bit different yeah just a lot a lot of running a lot of running I think that was probably most of the pre-season like 10 years ago and how important are these trips you know I guess particularly Chelsea difficult season last season you've had some big names leave you've got big names coming in youngsters coming in how valuable is it to kind of be taken out of your comfort zone and and I guess bond a bit yeah I think it's nice like obviously every day at Corbyn I think to change environment um I think it also makes it easier to yeah have those conversations and bond a little bit more you with each other all day for like two weeks and you can go for coffee shops you can go like went to Bondi Beach this morning most of us so I think it's just obviously doing those little things and then I think those conversations are a little bit more authentic as well but I think even just being able to connect with our fans over here is really important as well I think obviously you know they can't watch us very often I think with the time difference and we obviously don't play here so I think it's a great opportunity for those young girls to watch us play.

16:15Pre-seasons have definitely changed over the years of seeing teams going a lot further afield I guess it's not it's more than football then as well isn't it it's as the game grows those commercial opportunities grow and as you say your fan bases grow so it must be really different for you across your career how much it's changed. Yeah I think like my first wee season I think I went to France for like a week or so and yeah I think the facilities probably weren't what we've had over here um but yeah i think just being able to travel the world with football and it's a little bit different when you have your clubbed and with national team i think you get a little bit more chance to relax and switch off and go and explore because obviously you know we're not playing a massive tournament so we can um chill out a little bit more than usual um but no i think it's just a very very lucky job to have and there are definitely things that i've done that i wouldn't have done if i didn't do this like i wouldn't come to australia twice probably so yeah I'm really lucky.

17:07You've had a bit of a summer off hopefully a bit of time off and it's been pretty relentless the last few years so how nice was that? Yeah really nice I think it's probably the longest I've had off in six or seven years so I think to just completely switch off mentally I think like physically everyone always talks about you know being ready for the season but I think mentally is probably the biggest thing for most players these days like the pressure we're under and how many games we play I think yeah to just go on holiday and not have to think about it for more than a week two weeks it was really nice and I think it makes you feel fresh ready for the season and yeah I'm ready to go now.

17:42You know obviously the season last season wasn't maybe what many are used to seeing from Chelsea which is understandable and I guess with Sonia having such an incredible first season and I guess you've had the highs and the lows with Sonia and I guess you've probably learned a lot from both of those experiences I guess so how much are you relishing this season now does it feel like you've kind of maybe gone through stuff as a team that will help you going going into the next season yeah I think I think also like I'm a person who doesn't get too high and low I think it's part of football right you can't win all the time and I think as you get a little bit older you get not a little bit more used to that but I think it's obviously something that is part of the job um and I think a bigger picture for women's football like it it is more exciting that one team doesn't win all the time obviously I would love to be on that team but I think if you're talking about the WSL being competitive I think it is important for the game in England that there is teams in and around always competing um this year obviously I would like to be back at the top and want to win trophies but I think we've got a lot of new signings and it's exciting and I think the team's in a good place I think on the pitch and off the pitch um culture wise I think there's been a yeah it's been a really good pre-season so far and I think Sonia's massive on that so yeah just looking forward to starting the season and yeah seeing how it goes it's obviously a long year again with another world cup so yeah just excited and obviously you're touching it there are some moose signing some youngsters coming in at the last studio and also some big names like katie mccabe meldine mallard what's it been like having that added into the squad at that time i like yeah it's nice i think it's nice getting to know the new players obviously i played with julia at barcelona and yeah she's an incredible player and i actually sat next to her in the locker room at barcelona and And, yeah, she's such a nice girl.

19:25And I think she brings a really good energy to the team as well as, like, yeah, she's an incredible footballer. And hopefully everyone will see that this year in the league. Yeah, she's very, very talented. And obviously having Katie as well, I'm a very experienced player. But I think she brings a wealth of knowledge to the team. And I think you can see that in training and communication, the way she talks. So I think all the new players have brought something new and really interesting. And they've really added to the group, which is important. And I'm excited for the season to start. And how important is the likes of your experience when you've had big names leave, big names come in and kind of redressing the balance a little bit in the squad as everyone finds their feet?

20:02How important is it for those of you that have been there, experienced that maybe, to help make that smoother, I suppose? Yeah, I think it's like a chance to kind of set the culture and set what you want with the team and with the younger players and to make sure that the team's heading in the right direction. I think even for me it's exciting getting to know those new players and what they bring as you said we had a lot of big names and big players leave but again I've experienced that through a lot of the teams I've played and it is just part of the job you could be really good friends with someone one minute and then go and play for a different team two months later so yeah I think it's just part of the job and as I said I think the new players really have brought a lot to the team already so I'm excited to see how the season will go with that Yeah I guess when you've got people maybe scoring against you or being on the receiving end of tackles perhaps.

20:50Might be nice having them on your team now. Yeah, definitely. I think obviously I've played against those players a few times at different clubs. So yeah, it's definitely nice to have them on the team. And I think we needed a little bit of that last year. I think obviously I think Katie brings that competitiveness and that edge. And I think sometimes you need that in those big games. And she's definitely a character who does bring that. And by the time this pod goes out, you will have played the A-League All-Stars. how much do you I guess learn about yourselves as a team your fitness the connection within the team from Andy's office I think the aim isn't to be hitting peak form right now I think sometimes people forget that as well we're not trying to hit the ground running in this game it's probably more important to see what we need to improve on and things that didn't go as we won but I think it's more just building connections and trying to find those relationships with players that you haven't played with before and how Sonia wants the teams are playing.

21:46I think it's more about just finding our rhythm rather than trying to have the perfect game. But obviously it's going to be a difficult game. It's the best players in the league. So, yeah. We spoke to Aggie before this. She was saying how fun it's been out here. Said she not make you a lot in training or is that... That's not true. No. I knew she was going to say something along those lines. I'll let her have it. Yeah, she makes me, it's fine. When was the last time you met her? Did she tell you to ask me that? No, but I feel like it might have been recent. Probably, I don't know. I feel like I make her quite a lot, but it's a thing we have.

22:21She tries to make me, I try to make her. Whenever I've got the ball, she does her best to try and tackle me. I can hear her coming when she's playing strike. I'm facing forward, I can hear her running behind me to try and tackle me. I just wanted to put a talk to you so you could redress what she's claiming. Thank you for that. As you touched on there, all being well for yourself and for England, you'll be at a World Cup next season how do you kind of balance that you're obviously focused on the season but you know on the horizon there's this potential big tournament coming how do you try and I guess keep yourself physically in peak form for that but also not get too ahead of yourself yeah it is difficult I think obviously it is something that you kind of do have to keep an eye on I'd be lying if I said that we don't I think you obviously don't want to be too tired when you hit the tournament as you said you want to still be in peak physical form when you get there um but i think that's like important that we trust the people whose job it is here to keep us in that condition and i think mentally as well it's to yeah kind of stay focused and again it's like when is the right time in the season to hit peak form you know obviously it doesn't want to be the first game of the season i think it's going to be a really long year if that's the case um but yeah i think it's kind of yeah just trying to spread it out through the season obviously like i work with a psychologist that's something that helps me stay consistent in my own head and try and find the best ways to be more consistent on the field.

23:49So, yeah, let's see how it goes this year. I'm going to give you another opportunity to address another player who's called you out, Alexia Puteus. OK. She said that you had to cancel dinner plans with her recently and that you blamed the media for it. So would you like to address Alexia? Did you reschedule or are you going to get to catch up with her when the season starts? Is that allowed? in all fairness to me it was the media day i think i finished at like seven o 'clock and i was never going to get from cobham to malibone in 10 minutes so there was no chance that that was going to happen um but yeah i think she's yet to text me when to reschedule so yeah yeah we'll wait and see i feel like you know i'm the one who always texts her to go for dinner so i'm going to wait for an invite from okay from her so that's that's me calling her out and that's when the boulders in your court.

24:33It is. Right, well, thanks so much for taking time to chat to us and the rest of your trip Down Under. Thanks for having me. Yeah, and good luck for the rest of the season. Thank you. Well, that's it from me on this very special episode of Upfront Down Under. Make sure you tune in because Chloe and I are back next Tuesday to talk all things pre-season and look back on what's been an amazing summer. Hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode. See you soon.

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25:33a few taps. Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the GameTime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy, and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for$20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. The 2026-27 season is right around the corner, and where better to get your football fix than the original football podcast. Since 2007, the Football Ramble has been bringing listeners everything from highbrow debates. Which Premier League manager would you most like to be your dad?

26:11You're going Dychey, surely. Yeah, I've got Dychey. You've got to. You've got to. You'll be cutting some rug with your old man, who's Sean Dyche, to a pop B-side at 2am in Nottingham and you've never been happier. To coverage of the game's hottest stories.

26:41We also make time for high stakes games where we put each other's immense football knowledge to the test. 300 million downloads later, we're still the weird and wonderful one-stop shop for fans all over the world releasing episodes every single weekday. So join us for the new season. Just search Football Ramble in your podcast app to subscribe and listen now. Do it!