Tom Flathers

We got to hear from Kerstin Casparij when she spoke to the press after Manchester City’s recent WSL win over Tottenham Hotspur. The 22-year-old right back joined City over the summer from Twente where she won the Eredivisie twice and the Eredivisie Cup once.  She had previously played for Heerenveen and VV Alkmaar after making her senior debut as a 15-year-old. Casparij was part of the Netherlands squad at Euro 2022 and has 16 caps for her country.

Kerstin answered questions about the sides current form, Bunny Shaw, settling into Manchester and the squad, expectations and the City supporters.

She started off talking about their current form (won last two games) after their difficult start to the season when they lost their first two...

“So, so pleased, to have two wins in a row in just great, obviously we didn’t start well but we believed and stuck to the process and believed in what we can do and I think you really saw that in the last two games.”

And it always helps when you have got someone like Bunny (Shaw) as well?

“Yeah, she is a beast, she is so good, how many goals she has scored? Five, that is a lot, so is doing really, really well, she is a big asset for us.”

How have you found settling in?

“Just great, I think I have said like everytime people ask me it is just lovely but it is, it is so great, I love the city, the girls have been helping me so well and I have really felt like (said Dutch phrase) as we would say in Dutch.”

It has been a bit of a mixed start to the season, what are your and the squads expectations?

“We haven’t really like talked about we want to win every prize, of course we want to win the league, I mean that is something we must want as Manchester City but at least win silverware and finish as high in the league as we can.”

Do you think it is jelling quite quickly given the number of new players that all joined at the same time as each other and the rapport off the pitch?

“I didn’t expect it to gel so well so quickly, I mean obviously the first two games weren’t so good but now everything settling in very well, and we really found our pace and found feet especially for me as a new person, and with Laia (Aleixandri) as my centre back, I think things just gone really well.”

How much you enjoying playing with Chloe Kelly down the right?

“Chloe is amazing, I love her, I love her as a person and as a player, she is so skilled and you can just give her the ball at any time, you know she will do something right with it so I am very pleased to be playing with her.”

How have you found the fans so far?

“Well I feel like they like me, I think, I like them, everytime I try and take as much time as I can to do some autographs and stuff, and everybody is just so lovely, it is just great because I am not very used to that back in the Netherlands we didn’t really have fans we could interact with so that we have that here, and people actually come down to London to watch our games, I think that is just really special, and I would like to thank them all for doing that.”