Tobin Heath had almost everything a football player could ask for during his seven years with the Portland Thorns. He won trophies playing with world-class teammates. Her abilities have provoked deafening roars from the world’s largest women’s club fan base. The city has become an authentic home for the natives of Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
The coronavirus pandemic has replaced him a lot. The Olympic Games have been postponed. The NWSL season has been reduced to a summer tournament in a neutral location and some low-risk fall games. The gates of Providence Park will be closed to enthusiasts for a while. Portland is still his home, but much of his life.
The 32-year-old took the opportunity to pay attention to some other component of herself who had been there for a long time: the one who evolved the episodes with Paris Saint-Germain in 2013 and 2014. to Europe one day, this time to England.
Heath knew the country’s women’s league was developing and, like many American women, aspired to be part of the country’s crazy football culture, when the call came this summer to ask him if he would like to sign for Manchester United for a season. , she said yes.
“Every chance you have in life to do something exclusive and that will challenge and push you is an opportunity I need to seize, especially as a footballer,” he said. “Our careers are very short, and you know, I’ve been very patient in my expectation of our quarantine and lockdown in the US. America at some point, you never know what the right resolution is, however, you have to take one, and I decided to come, and I’m actually happy. “
READ ALSO: Manchester United signs Tobin Heath and Christen Press
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A post shared via Tobin Powell Heath (@tobinheath) on Sep 22, 2020 at 11:24 PM PDT
Heath may have run out of trouble in Portland, a position she called “an environment that in the end is perfect” for her.
“The setup there, the people, the commitment to the sport, the expansion of the league, playing in front of the enthusiasts all the time, that is, it is the last in women’s football, anywhere,” she said.
But he also felt a preference for doing something different.
“As a footballer, I’m never satisfied with my stage and I love betting as a player,” she said. “The only position you can do is when you’re uncomfortable and when you’re home for a long time, that’s not all. “
Heath is one of five American stars who moved to England this summer. His national team colleague, friend and off-field business spouse, Christen Press, also joined United; Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle are in the other aspect of the city in Manchester City; and Alex Morgan is in London at Tottenham Hotspur, his moment in Europe after playing for France in Lyon in 2017.
It will be a spectacle to watch them play in some of the most important football clubs, not just in women’s football.
“You have such a young history in terms of football in the US. America, so it’s anything that — it’ll definitely bring one more weight to the shirt, I think,” Heath said. “Honestly, I was really excited when I saw this. Rose and Sam came, because I thought, you know, it was a very awkward time, and you put your career [on standby in the NWSL] and being uncomfortable and making that move, I thought, was huge. this, because it’s not a simple decision.
Many foreign NWSL players have also moved to England. Thorns’ former teammate Caitlin Foord is one of the few Australians to sign for Arsenal; Jess Fishlock of OL Reign is in reading; Rachel Daly of Houston is in West Ham; and Denise O’Sullivan of North Carolina is in Brighton, who will go to United on October 4 for what is expected to be the debut of Heath and Press.
READ ALSO: How to watch the FA Women’s Super League on TV and online
United’s women’s team is in its 3rd season, the lack of equipment in the face of a challenge for many other people in women’s football, and the club not only excuses to solve it, now United is appearing their commitment not only to have a team, but also to make it a vital issue.
“It’s something that continues to depend every day on their setup, and on the way they exercise and how they grow,” Heath said. “I think it shows, with the club that brings christen and me, that they are very ambitious and need to compete now, they don’t need to wait. And that’s exactly what I like to do. “
Although Heath has long been thinking about gambling in England, his taste for gambling is as far away from English as possible. She modeled her game in the magic of Brazil’s artistic wizards. Its catalog of dribble, videos and steps competes with all the greats of the game and surpasses all that have ever been noticed in this country.
However, she was attracted to the development of the Premier League, just as she began her own expansion in the United States. However, Heath was not attracted to United. She has long been an Arsenal fan, encouraged through the dynasty of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry in the early years. Decade of 2000. Su biggest obstacle is the club Heath now calls home. Clashes between Arsenal and United at the time remain legendary.
“It’s already a little strange, ” he admitted with a smile.
“All my football, my presentation, even my coaches, most came from Europe, especially from England,” he said. “When I was a kid, I had to buy, it’s a lot to go out with me, still, literally buy game tapes, groups and highlights and insert them [so I can] see them, be informed about the leagues and the players.
Heath will have many notable teammates beyond the press: Dutch midfielder Jacky Groenen, English midfielders Katie Zelem and Lucy Staniforth, and up-and-coming Spanish side Ona Batlle. English forward Leah Galton also has an American connection: he played school football at Hofstra and I spent two years at Sky Blue FC.
The WSL’s big three, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, have much more skill than that, and breaking their dominance may not be easy, but Heath has already earned many United enthusiasts just by signing. win games for them.
“It is so vital for clubs with all tradition, history, power, influence; We see it in America all the time, which means the badge and the club,” Heath said. “It’s huge for them to have a women’s team, and to see the progress they’ve made and what they’ve put into it is very encouraging for the global game as a whole. We want more of that, and I’m happy to be a component of it.
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