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It’s fair to say that the last few years have been remarkable for rising Man City star Ellie Roebuck.
At the tender age of just 21, she has already accomplished more than most of her goaltending counterparts in both men and women, although she is still in the early stages of her career.
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Roebuck has established himself as Man City’s main goalscorer
Roebuck usurped experienced Karen Bardsley over the past eighteen months to become City’s No.1, has an FA Cup winner’s medal to her name and also received the inaugural WSL Golden Glove after keeping ten impressive clean sheets in 16 games last season.
Many would be happy with this move early in their careers, but not for the ambitious Roebuck. She wants a clean sweep of the winners’ medals with City this season and if that wasn’t enough, England’s No.1 shirt too.
Asked what would constitute a successful season, Roebuck exclusively told talkSPORT: “[A] Champions League medal, League medal, Conti Cup medal, FA Cup medal and hopefully an Olympic gold medal and I will be very happy.
“But I’m also going to watch the next year, I want a euro medal and I want to do it all again. I will never settle for that, but I’m sure it would be a great year.
“I’m pretty demanding of myself, but sometimes I sit down and think, ‘I should be proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.’ I do it sometimes, but I always strive to be better.
“I will not really change who I am and I will not change my habits to respond to whatever is necessary. I am the goalkeeper that I am, so I will support that ability and I will continue to work hard here and I hope I get the opportunity [with England].
“When the circumstances are right and the games can continue, [I hope] I can take my chance and prove why I should play. I have confidence in the process and I have confidence in what Phil and the England staff are doing and what I am doing here, so I feel in a very good position to continue.
“Phil is really good and I really enjoyed playing with him. He took me to the World Cup for the experience and that’s something I’m really grateful for and I hope it sets me up for future tournaments now that I have that experience.
“I trust him, I trust his methods and I trust the process. He wants the best for the team and the individuals. I just have to trust him and I hope he will reward me with some playing time and I can go out and show what I do.
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Roebuck has had tons of success in his young career so far
Roebuck is someone who has taken on every challenge that has come up so far and has never looked back since being put in the spotlight against Chelsea in February 2018.
As city scorer Bardsley was forced to injure himself, an 18-year-old Roebuck was ushered into what was a sink or swim moment.
Stepping into a game of such magnitude at any time, no one would have blamed the young goalkeeper for early nervousness or brief moments when nerves overcame her.
However, generally she showed no sign of weakness in what was a defining moment in her career.
The England international made a series of superb saves in one of the WSL’s finest goalkeeper performances in recent years to earn City a point.
Since then, she has never really given up her position between posts.
So it’s no wonder that Roebuck has such confidence in her ability and if she can replicate the form of her idols Gianluigi Buffon and Peter Schmeichel then England have a goalkeeper on their hands.
“Growing up, I was definitely a huge fan of men’s football,” she explains. “Buffon, when I was growing up, was amazing. He was someone I always watched.
“Even though Peter Schmeichel was a bit before my time, looking back I really like the way he played and his impact on the game. For me, these are the two that really stand out.
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Buffon is still going strong at the age of 42
“My goal in joining this club at fifteen was to always want to be number one. If I expected this to happen soon, probably not, but I think once I had the opportunities I took them and really built on them.
“I think I’m in the perfect environment to keep improving and working hard because the support we have around us is huge. I think I am in a great situation so I am delighted with what the future holds.
So it was no surprise when Roebuck was recognized for her superb performances when she received the last inaugural Golden Glove campaign.
“It was a real pride for me,” added the 21-year-old. “I think it was also the first that Barclays and the official sponsors have done, so winning this, for me, was a big achievement.
“I really enjoyed last year; this was the first year that I had a real streak of consistent performances. It was just empty [last season] was cut short because I think we could have fought for the title, but things happen for a reason and this year we will be looking to bounce back and do what we can.
“It was a huge achievement and something that I can strive to build on and earn year after year is the goal. It’s an honor for my defense and we’ve had a very good year so that reflects well and it’s definitely one for the Trophy Cabinet.
City, just like their male counterparts, have their own title ambitions this season in the WSL, but by no means will it be a walk in the park.
Defending champions Chelsea have picked up where they left off last time, while Vivianne Miedema’s talent in front of goal will mean Arsenal will always be a force to be reckoned with.
However, the traditional top three could be crushed by Manchester United of Casey Stoney, who currently sit at the top of the table after an unbeaten start to the campaign, while Everton has also shown he can compete with the best in the league. their day.
Roebuck, therefore, has been anticipating one of the closest title challenges for years and believes the season could unfold right on the wire.
“We want to win everything and win everything every year. This is the club’s mentality from the academy to the men’s first team, ”she concludes.
“This club wants to win trophies and that will always be our goal and we will do it game by game. We are always very positive and confident in our ability to go all the way in every competition.
“The league is getting stronger and stronger every year. We lost points to Brighton and Reading and it’s not because we played poorly, it’s because the league is naturally getting stronger and stronger. These teams will take points from the so-called larger teams.
“Anything can happen and I don’t think the league will be decided on Christmas or April to be honest with you because I think it will go all the way.”
Listen to the weekly women’s football episode of the week with Faye Carruthers on talkSPORT 2 starting at 8 p.m. on Mondays. The show is also available as a podcast, on Spotify and Apple products …
