Alex Scott is loving Boston...

Fair Game Magazine interviewed Alex on her life in Boston.


Just past half-way stage in the WPS, in the US, and England’s Alex Scott is loving her time with the Boston Breakers and winning a lot of fans, along the way. Having made the right back position her own (USA defender Heather Mitts has been forced to switch to the left side) and revelling in the attack-minded role that her coach wants her to play in the team, Scott is already being touted as the best full back in the league for her tireless performances, so far. She loves to chat as much as she loves to run and here she graciously offers some smashing and insightful answers to some of our tedious questions….

1. Have your first few months in the US and in the WPS been what you expected?
The first couple of months have been great in the WPS, I cannot believe we are already half way through the season already. Everything is still new and fresh. I have never really been to the US before, so every week we are travelling to different states where we get ‘down time’ after training to go explore and do the tourist things, which is amazing. I am getting a whole new experience with my football and I am gaining all new life experiences, which is something I am very grateful for.

2. Do you feel that your game has changed/improved over the last 3 months of training full time?
In the three months, I feel my game has improved already which was ultimately my main goal coming out here. I wanted to use and abuse the fact that I am training everyday to work on weakness in my game. Everyday in training we get 10-15minutes to work on anything we want, so you often find people go off in little groups and work things like long balls, technical skills, shooting etc. I often also go out early and practice with the goalkeepers, working on my crossing and finishing, which helps them in their sessions before the main session gets started.
But overall, I would say I am a lot more comfortable on the ball and under pressure, my passing has improved a lot, this is a league where if you give the ball away a lot your team will get punished, so you really have to take care of the ball. The games are very physical out here (if you watch the US national team play you will see just how physical), so I have learnt how to use my body well and how to be just as physical in games, like them.

3. How have you found the life of a professional footballer?
You know what? I aint going to lie...... it’s great! I do not have to worry about anything other than football, which is a dream come true. I remember in England, with Arsenal, we would be travelling back from away trips, I would be panicking on the team bus trying to do all my lesson planning to go to work the next morning and teach. I would get home from work, then go out and train, then instead of coming home and relaxing I would be marking papers ‘til crazy hours in the morning. It seemed like I was constantly on the go, but you get into such a routine you are able to cope with it all. So, to be out here now and your job is to train hard for two hours a day and that is it..... I’m like, ‘Wow!’
Sometimes, you do find yourself having too much time on your hands and can get a bit bored (not that I am complaining), so I am trying to use that time to my advantage because you really do not know how long this is going to last. At the moment, I am using the time to learn the guitar and learning to speak Spanish. When I get back to England I will most probably enrol on a few different short courses all to stack on my CV, for when the football (soccer) is over.

4. The pace of the games seems to be so fast and frenetic. How does that compare to domestic games back home?
That was a major change for me coming here. In the English league you have a lot more time on the ball, you can afford to receive the ball then pick your pass. Here, you do not have that luxury, you really need to know where your pass is going before the ball even comes to you. The domestic games back home you can get away with holding onto the ball, but just like playing for England at international level, you just cannot afford to do that, you will get closed down and whacked. Everything needs to be quick 1-2 touch passing if you want to break a team down, unless you are Kelly Smith or Marta of course, who seem to escape pressure like no other players out there.
However, I think the best thing from the English league is that a major bulk of the players in the league - even if they may not be the top national team players - still hold a lot of technical skills and game understanding. I think this comes from the love of the sport in England and having so much exposure to football to watch and learn from. Every week you get to watch the best players in the EPL, whereas here in the US, you just do not get that, people grow up watching and loving the sport in England.

5. It’s only been a couple of trips back and forward and only one England game but how was the travel and quick turnaround before being expected to train and play?
For me, coming back to play for my country was always as important as the decision to come and play in the WPS. I made sure that Boston agreed to this and I think they knew and understood what a major honour I feel playing for England. So, normally it has worked that we play on a Sunday night, then we are on a plane the first thing the next morning, arriving in England on Monday night. Hope Powell and the England staff have also been great, they have really managed and monitored us, making sure that when we are tired and feeling the jet lag not to over train us, managing all our sleeping patterns so we are not walking round the hotel like zombies but still getting us in the right frame of mind that come game time we have done all the right things to be ready to go.

6. How are you settling in – do you like life in Boston?
Boston is awesome (that is such an American thing to say, forgive me). Boston is so multicultural which makes it cool. The way Boston is structured you could forget you are in America. It is built in a very European way. There are so many Universities in Boston (Harvard and MIT to name two) which makes it a very trendy and happening place to be, mixed with a young and vibrant crowd. The streets are always busy, no matter what day of the week it is. There is always stuff going on. I think this is a main reason for me not getting too home sick because, like London, the city always seems to be buzzing, which I like.
Our apartment is also cool, me and Kelly Smith share an apartment, with Heather Mitts living above us on the 6th floor. The apartment has a gym downstairs, which allows us to do recovery sessions on days off. We also have a swimming pool and there is also a social room and a cinema room, so when the WPS games are on TV, the team can all come over, order in some food and we can watch the game on the big screen.
So, all in all settling in has not been a problem. I have to thank the Boston organization because they are the ones that made the transition so smooth for us and still to this day, are trying to help us in anyway they can.

7. Are enjoying playing for Tony DiCicco?
Before I came to Boston, just reading about what Tony had accomplished, made me very excited to be coached by him. To be coached by someone who won the Olympics [and the World Cup – fg] with the best American, national team there has been to date, with the likes of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain - there will always be lots to learn from him. I always am looking to learn and improve my game, so for someone to see my game with different view points and give me different targets to work on is such a good thing.
Tony is a coach that loves the role of attacking full backs, so I am in my element!!!! He is encouraging me to really be a play maker from my position, to get forward and score goals - you do not need to tell me that twice! I feel like I have a lot of freedom.

8. You banged in a great strike last month and have nearly followed it up with a few more – how many goals are you aiming for this season?
I would not really say that I set myself a scoring target for this season. When I was at Arsenal I wanted to score every other game and felt like that was a realistic target but being in this league, the games are so close and it is more or likely that your striker is going to get the only goal of the game. The WPS really does have the best attacking players that women’s football has to offer, so I can 100% say that my 1v1 defending skills have improved and I am trying to stop them scoring on us before I think about myself getting goals. It was a great feeling to get my first WPS goal though and it has really made other teams aware of my shooting capabilities. It is always a good thing when you hear other teams and other coaches being worried about what you can do on the pitch because it lets you know that you must be doing something right. Another goal anytime soon would be great!!

9. Your home field is crazy with all of the markings on it, it’s dizzying to watch on TV. Does it bother you while you are playing?
Wow....... all the lines are crazy, we did get told that the lines will be painted over when the [American] football college season ended but we are still waiting. Ha. I will never forget in my 1st home game of the season against St. Louis. I got a throw in, so I sprinted over to the ball to take it, I threw it in and no one reacted to the throw and players were laughing at me. The ref threw me the ball back, I looked around to my team mate who shouted, "Alex, you are at the wrong line.” I took a throw in from a blue line which is way inside the pitch instead of the normal yellow lines that we play to. I felt so embarrassed. The girls said they are going to put it on the highlight video at the end of the season... cannot wait for that. Not!

10. Who has been your toughest opponent in the WPS, so far?
I would have to say Washington, they really play well as a team, they are really good at keeping the ball, they have pace, flair play and the physical presence in Abby Wambach up front. I think they hold a lot of all round qualities in their team and now they have just added to that by the addition of their goalkeeper Erin McLoud who is one of the best. Playing them is a game where I always come off and my word I know I have been in a battle.

11. What are your team like to hang with? Do you spend quite a lot of time together? And who is the biggest ‘nutter’?
The team are a cool bunch, we hang out a lot, the Americans are really big on the whole team cohesion thing so they really make an effort to make sure we go out to eat, we hang out after games and that we all get on and have fun. I would say we do hang out a lot, I think because most of us are in the same boat, we are all in a new city experiencing new things and we are all kind of relying on each other out here.
I would have to name Christine Latham as the biggest ‘nutter’ on our team, I really have never met anyone like this girl. She is great and one of the people I am close to on the team. She is the character that every team needs to have. Without her, training everyday would be a real boring place to be.
Everything that comes out of her mouth is hilarious, I really do think that someone needs to give her a shot at being a talk show host, it would be one of the highest rankings on US TV, No doubt!

12. Are you fed up with people copying your accent?
Ha, not so much fed up with people trying to copy it but fed up with people not understanding. I really have to try and talk so S.L.O.WWWWW and try and pronounce every word right or otherwise I find myself repeating a lot of stuff. I think the worst copying of my accent I have heard to date has to go to Kristine Lilly. She really loves everything about the accent and tries so hard to copy me and get it right but it really is awful. She will ring me up and leave a phone message in some weird voice, I will ring back and be like... ‘Lil, what was you talking like?’ She will be like, ‘I was trying to talk like you Scottie.’.... LIL do NOT give up your day job!

13. Has anyone been out from home to visit you?
My mum and two friends came over for our first home game against St. Louis. My mum really liked it over here and was already planning her next visit. Faye white and her brother also came over for a week to visit Kelly and myself. Kelly’s mum and dad have been in town also, and we also have more friends coming over within the next couple of weeks. It’s great to have friends and family over, it has also meant a whole lot of walking around Boston and showing them the hot spots. I think I am now qualified to sign up to become an official tour guide of Boston.
[England Coach] Hope Powell, [England team Exercise Scientist] Dawn Scott and [England Physio] Tracy Lewis have also been over at different times to see how things are going and to check out our play before selection for the Euros this summer. It was good for them to see us and be here to experience the new environment that we are all in.

14. Who is more excited to be reunited, when you visit home – you or your dog!?
AWWWW, I love my dog, it's the best present anyone has ever bought me. I miss her loads. A couple weeks ago when we went to England camp and I got to visit my mum’s house for the weekend, before we came back to the states, (my mum is dog sitting till I get home) it was so sad. It’s like my dog knew I was leaving again soon and she really would not leave my side for the whole weekend. I think next year I would like to fly her over here with me because it’s hard being away from her. But that’s all I’m going to talk about my dog because people will think I have turned all geekie and a softie and I do not want that now! He he. But I AM so excited to be reunited soon...love you Ella!!!

15. What question do people at home ask you most about your time so far in the USA and what is your answer?
The question I tend to get a lot is ‘do you train everyday’?
The answer is yes we do. We train for around 2 hours every day. This can sometimes be followed by a weights session. The day before a game we will have a video session on our opponents and sometimes we have team bonding days, that my team never seems to win. It is the best job in the world to have but that’s really how you have to view it sometimes. We are paid to show up to work every day and to give the best we can to the organization. If you do not give the best, just like in any other job, your skills will be reviewed and you will be replaced. You really have to be professional about what you do and remember who you are representing and the duties you have to fulfil to your team and the league. I am just thankful that I am getting to live the life I did not think would happen for women's football in general. I will enjoy every moment why it lasts.

Fair Game : The Women's Football Magazine