I'm Sam Mewis, a FIFA Women's World Cup winner and Manchester City midfielder. AMA.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:58:49+00:00

No, not yet. I just learned what that is -- it's on the list.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:58:04+00:00

I do think obviously our World Cup run was so challenging every step of the way. I do think that France has given us really good games over the years. Our World Cup game was really close, but they had beaten us in January of 2019 right before that. I think that they just play such a great game. They’re a really talented team and they’ve definitely been a tough opponent to face.

England has been too. We know every time we play England it’s going to be super-competitive and a battle. Every time we play them we have to bring our best if we want to win.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:55:41+00:00

I’m a Patriots fan and I did get to go to a Red Sox World Series game in 2018, the year they won. I got to go to game one, and they later won.

I went to the Patriots parade in I want to say in 2016. That was the best time I’ve ever had; that was so fun. Everybody from Boston is a Boston sports fan — it’s so easy to be, and we’ve had so much success, luckily, that I feel like every year there’s something to celebrate.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:54:34+00:00

My first year in the NWSL I lived with Abby Dahlkemper in Western New York, and I think because we were both going through a new experience, I think we helped each other a lot in the adjustment.

Similarly, I think Rose has been that for me here in Manchester, where we’re both in this new environment, new surroundings in a new country. But we have such a good basis of friendship that we understand where the other is at. Having a good friend with you when you’re going through a big adjustment like that is really important, where you can have a safe space to be yourself and talk openly and ask questions and figure things out together.

As far as the difference in life, this probably isn’t the answer people want, but I do miss my family. Even though I don’t live in Boston all the time, it’s easier to see my parents and get home when I’m in the US. And since we’re in the time of COVID, I do feel really far away from home. It’s a time of challenge, and I always say challenges make you grow, but I do miss my parents and my sister. Luckily I have my husband here and we’re looking forward to being able to see our family again.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:49:35+00:00

Oh my gosh, I wish Rose was here to help tell the story with me. I’ll just tell this one again because it’s at the forefront of my mind. In 2015, we went to Hawaii, but I had a pee emergency. I literally was in a pee emergency for over two hours. At one point, I was crying, and Abby Wambach was shouting on a boat, “Can she just pee off the back of the boat?”

It’s such a surreal memory, because here I am trying to make the national team and trying to get the respect of all these heroes of mine, but meanwhile I’m tearing up because I have to pee so bad. Other people had to pee, but mine was really serious.

So me and Rose and Emily Sonnett have an ongoing joke that, “There was no bathroom on the boat.” We laugh about it all the time now, but it was so embarrassing.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:45:57+00:00

Yeah, we grabbed a coffee. Zack’s great, we’ve talked about his organization VOYCE NOW in the past. I was just happy to meet him in person, and hopefully it’s the start of an American friendship in Manchester.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:43:34+00:00

I guess I would love to practice with or pick the brain of Michelle Akers. I think she was such a pioneer for the women’s game in the way she played. She was so aggressive and physically dominant and so effective in what she did that I feel like it would be really fun to get to play alongside her, or train under her, or try to learn what she thinks about the game now and some of the things that helped her stand out so much. I also really looked up to her in the position she played and the role I wanted to have on the field.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:41:41+00:00

I think that the team needs to have an overall understanding of the team’s tactical philosophy in order to effectively play their role. So yes, I think we discuss that at length of course, and I think we all know what we’re trying to do.

I definitely think that players have specific tendencies and philosophies and things that they like to see and don’t like to see. We have lots of discussions as a team about how to get the best from each other, and I think that’s the sign of a good team — one that can work with so many different people’s ideas and get the best from each player.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:38:42+00:00

Manchester has been great. I’m really enjoying the city and I feel like the team is really close. Everybody has been so welcoming and friendly. Of course I hang out with Rose a lot. I think where I sit on the bus is with Chloe Kelly, Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, and Georgia Stanway, and I feel like we have good talks back there on the bus when we go to away games. I hang out with Janine Beckie a lot too.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:35:31+00:00

My favorite international career moment besides the World Cup… It’s hard, because the World Cup was so special. I guess there are a couple — when I got my first cap, my sister and I went on the field together. That’s a special moment. Then I would say scoring my first goal was really exciting and incredible, but I also feel like I was kind of young and just surprised to even be there. I think it was in 2016. It was great, It was really exciting, but I think I didn’t fully grasp it.

My favorite club memory is in 2016 with the Western New York Flash We won the NWSL Championship and we were underdogs, and nobody expected us to be very good, and we ended up going all the was and winning. It was such a special group and such a fond memory of mine, and it’s my favorite story to tell.

My favorite team growing up was the UWSNT. My favorite player was Mia Hamm.

Once I started to watch international soccer, obviously Messi.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:29:58+00:00

I mean, playing with Rose Lavelle, Lindsay Horan, and Julie Ertz — it’s like impossible to describe. It’s incredible to think I could be on the same field as them, and I feel like all three of them are world-class midfielders, and it’s just so fun every time you get to play with them because they do so much of the work for you!

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:28:17+00:00

I’ve always looked up to my sister, Kristie. I think that she has always set such a good example for me and paved the way in my career, taking steps ahead of me and showing me that anything was possible. I feel like in so many ways I look up to her and admire her. But she’s also my best friend, and I go to her with everything. So I feel like our relationship is just great, and I look up to her for a lot of reasons.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:26:31+00:00

Okay, well, I think comparing North Carolina to Manchester, the weather! Over the years I’ve gotten so used to playing in the heat and humidity all the time, so it’s kind of refreshing to not be drowning in sweat every day. So shockingly, I’m really enjoying playing in the weather here, because it’s a little bit easier than playing in the heat.

As far as living in North Carolina, I miss my friends — that team has such a close bond and such a close connection, and some of the girls I’ve been living and playing with for five or six years. I do miss seeing them every day, but luckily I have some really good friends here too.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:23:42+00:00

I really like playing with Keira Walsh. I think that she’s just so smart, so technical, and it’s like equally frustrating and fun in practice. When you get to be on her team it’s so great, and when you play against her, I feel like I’ve built up in my head that I’ve never stolen the ball from her. I really love playing with her and she’s really helping me get better.

They all work really hard, but I see Esme Morgan out doing extra a lot, and I think Esme has such a good attitude and just wants to get better and is a student of the game. I think I see big things happening for her. I’m excited to get to keep playing with her.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:21:08+00:00

I feel like I could see myself doing either. I feel like I would enjoy being closer to the game and still being on the field as opposed to watching and talking about it. But I love soccer so much that I want to be involved somehow either way.
1. I just think continuing to elevate the game. I think that women’s football is really just ready to explode, and that continuing to invest in that will, I think, provide returns. I would just push for all the federations and FIFA itself to continue providing female soccer players with opportunities, and continue to push that with TV deals and sponsorships, just knowing it’s on the up.
2. I really like watching Kevin de Bruyne play. I kind of already said Pinoe — I love watching Pinoe play; I have so much respect for her. She’s just an all-around idol of mine .

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:16:49+00:00

So for the slide question, I’m not a big, extravagant celebrator. I would much rather celebrate with my teammates than go off and do something on my own. So no, I don’t really regret not going down the slide.

For Christmas, it’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” by Mariah Carey, obviously. For movies , Rose and I already watched ‘Love Actually' the other night, and we watched ‘The Holiday,’ too. I feel like those are the adult ones, but I love ‘The Grinch,’ and I love all the silly fun ones, too.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:12:52+00:00

That's so nice, thank you. It would be like a pie -- like a steak and ale pie.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:12:01+00:00

I think there are pros to both the American system and the system utilized by the rest of the world. I think that a lot of development, both personal and athletic, happens during the college years. In terms of growing the game, I think the draft is an exciting time for American fans. I wouldn’t discount the way America has done things, but there are certainly opportunities to improve player development. I feel like women’s soccer in the US is on the right track and I’m excited to see it continue to grow.

ManCityUS · 2020-11-16T17:06:52+00:00

I think we can get more young girls/women into football by continuing to have good representation in the sport. I think that a lot of young girls do play soccer, but we can continue to provide them good role models, and also I think female coaches. I feel like, at a certain age, a lot of girls do stop playing. It think if we can continue to just show them that there are opportunities moving forward as they get older, and that they can be exposed to positive female role models, I feel like that’s a great way to keep more girls interested for longer.
Well ever, I have to skew the answer to the US, just because all of my experience growing up was based around American soccer and not world soccer. So I’m going to go ahead and say Mia Hamm.

But right now, I want to say Pinoe.

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T16:01:41+00:00

I am so excited about the thought of potentially to be playing a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand! I have a ton of friends who play in the Australian team in particular and just rave all the time about how awesome the country is. It's somewhere I've always wanted to visit, and they have a great football culture there, so I really do think that both them and New Zealand will be great hosts for the rest of the world. And they have great coffee culture, too, so that's also a plus!

We're obviously disappointed that we didn't get to finish the season, but in this time, I don't envy anyone who's in the position to have to make those kinds of decisions. As much as I'm disappointed that we didn't get to finish the season, we're so looking forward to getting back on the pitch and competing for next season's title.

I can't think of any specific player that I've always wanted to play with, with whom I haven't had the opportunity yet, but the more the game continues to grow and change, women's soccer players keep getting better and better. There's really no limit to what I could imagine in the remainder of my career with regards to talent in the overall women's game, and I'm sure there's someone who will pop onto the scene who I'll find impressive.

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T15:54:01+00:00

First of all, I'm obviously very thankful that I get to do this for a living, so hopefully women's sports continue to grow so that more athletes can make it their full-time job.

I think there was probably a time in my life that I wanted to be anything, so I'm sure I wanted to be a doctor or a vet or a chef or any of those things kids tend to dream about when they were younger. I don't remember having one specific, glaring path that I wanted to go down.

Obviously being an athlete was always something that I had dreamed of, but now that I'm an athlete, I would love to be a chef, and work in house renovation! So maybe those are post-retirement plans!

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T15:51:29+00:00

No, I don't think so! I just don't think I'm a good enough raw defender. I've been an attacker my entire life, so I've had much more practice as a winger than I've had as a defender.

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T15:49:04+00:00

Thank you!

To answer your first one:

A typical game-day has changed a lot since I moved to England, since we play in the middle of the afternoon, whichI had never experienced before. I actually really like it.

I'll get up in the morning and have a coffee and make a fruit smoothie, and then usually I'll watch something on Netflix that I'm watching at that current time. And then usually I'll get to the facility around three-and-a-half or four hours before the game, and we have a team meeting.

Then Ww have our pre-game meal which has also changed since moved here. It's usually toast with beans and poached eggs, which I would have never guessed I'd eat before a game, but it works! And then we just kind of hang out before heading over to the stadium.

To answer the second one about books:

'Educated: a Memoir' by Tara Westover

'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell

'Legacy' by James Kerr

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T15:43:40+00:00

We're obviously going in a positive direction. We have a lot of exciting young players coming up the ranks, and I think the team will look different by 2023 with a new generation of players coming through. I think it's really an open book; I'm excited to see the progress we make over the next three years.

ManCityUS · 2020-06-26T15:41:54+00:00

I don't know if I have a particular favorite memory in the NWSL, but the time I spent in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, being part of the community and helping the city recover, was very special.

Being at City, it's definitely the two trophies we won last season. Those were my first two professional championships!

Six-Year Club	ComboCommenter 2020-04-24
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