It was an innocuous Instagram post.
Emily van Egmond’s signing for Melbourne City was announced in the traditional sense on September 26.
But 10 days earlier, a coffee shop in Melbourne’s north posted a photo of her with the caption calling her a Melbourne City player.
Hardly scandalous, the gaffe was funny and light-hearted, with van Egmond laughing about it as she spoke about her move to the three-time champions for the upcoming W-League season.
“Melbourne City’s obviously a first class club here in Australia not only on the women’s side but with the men. [They’ve got] unbelievable facilities and the relationship they share with Manchester City as well. The level of professionalism is second to none and I’m excited to start my journey here,” van Egmond said.
Her move is about domestic and national team aspirations with the Matildas looking down the barrel of another busy year. Friendlies, Olympics qualifiers, and hopefully Tokyo 2020 meant the 26-year-old felt that now was the best time for a change.
“I needed to challenge myself and probably be in the most competitive environment possible leading into that,” she said.
City is hardly a difficult sell to players and van Egmond was full of praise and excitement about the upcoming season with the club.
“The calibre of players they have, they sign internationals every single year, [they’re] the most competitive team year in, year out. Their stats, obviously, are quite impressive. They’ve been a top team now since they’ve been involved so I think that speaks for itself.”
Van Egmond will hope that a new club and the New Year bring a clean bill of health as well. Ankle injuries have contributed to interrupted seasons in both the W-League and the NWSL in 2019.
“I sustained that injury during the W-League [in January] which ruled me out for the rest of the season, and then had to get back for the World Cup, and then it just wasn’t holding up too well.”
In August, Orlando Pride announced that she would miss the remainder of the season to have surgery – a simple clean-out that wouldn’t keep her off the pitch for too long.
“We made the decision with medical staff, not only with the national team but with my club team back in Orlando, obviously Melbourne City’s support as well, to get the scope which was going to be the best solution for me, and I’m feeling really good.”
“I’m really happy with how it’s gone and I’m well into my rehab, so really happy with that decision and just raring to get back onto the park as quick as possible.”
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With the ability to play across the midfield, van Egmond is team first when discussing her preferred position both for the Matildas and at City.
“You love to be closer to the goal and having a hand in scoring goals and assisting players, and then obviously depending on the philosophy of the team, I don’t mind playing deeper in the midfield.”
“You get a lot of touches on the ball, you get to start the play and link the passes and build up from the back more so in that position so it doesn’t faze me, just wherever the coach puts me, I’ll try to do my best.”
Away from her own performances on the pitch, van Egmond’s experience in the game – with six seasons in the W-League and a decade in the national team – means she’s well-placed to discuss the development of the women’s game.
She’s full of praise for the Future Matildas program and the opportunities it presents for players across the board.
“[The program] is a really good thing for the youth, and trying to get some younger players through that system is awesome. For them to have the opportunity as well to be able to play for four or five months against senior national players, international players, it’s just good experience and a challenge for them as well.”
“On the flip side, it also serves a purpose for the national team girls to come back and get good match minutes. It’s good now with the level of professionalism that the clubs are showing I think it’s awesome and I hope we can keep building on that.”
However, she noted that giving players more opportunities to play at consistently high levels is something that needs to be worked on.
“I think the biggest thing is once W-League stops finding that competitive training environment year round which is hard here in Australia. So whether the girls decide to go to Europe or the girls decide to go back to American leagues I think it’s an individual decision for the player and what suits them best, but the most important thing is that girls are playing in competitive games year-round.”
The W-League’s professional standards have improved in leaps and bounds in the last few years, and that is the biggest change in the game in van Egmond’s opinion.
“If we can keep building on that I think it’s got a lot of potential and for the younger girls coming through I think it’s great that they can experience that from a younger age.”
“If they decide they want to go abroad or be called up into the national team they know what those standards are, and I think it’s important to have that culture embedded into women’s football here in Australia.”
