Not left behind: Rachel Daly ready to lead the line for England at Women's World Cup
Rachel Daly (31) is a striker but for a lot of casual fans of women’s football and of the England team, she is not.
This double life saw her play at left back for the national side during their incredible run to their European Championship triumph last summer, culminating in an extra-time victory over Germany in front of a sold-out Wembley - a sea change for women’s football in the UK, but one that has led to some frustrations for the Aston Villa forward.
This confusion has seen many think of her incredible goalscoring form since signing for Villa after the Euros - a run that has seen her score a goal a game across the league season, including two hat-tricks - as some sort of tactical ingenuity from manager Carla Ward.
If you think this is true, you haven’t been paying attention.
In a recent podcast with Upfront, Daly busted her own myth: “I’ve heard people say that Villa has done so well using Rachel as a nine, who would have thought it?
“Well, I have played there for a substantial amount of my career, so that frustrates me a little bit because I’m like, ‘have you just turned the telly on?’
“I’ve been a forward my whole career.”
Before her move to the Midlands where Ward had guaranteed Daly the starting spot in attack, she had spent the last six years in the States playing for Houston Dash in the NWSL.
Looking at her statistics from her time in Texas, it’s fair to call it inconsistent. From 2016 up until last summer, Daly had never notched a double-figure scoring season, leading to her at times considering switching to her secondary role as full back and cementing her spot in the England team.
That’s what happened last summer under Sarina Wiegman (53), who led her side to their first major tournament. Daly played the whole tournament at left back, helping them keep four clean sheets in the process.
Now, though, just days before the World Cup starts in Australia and New Zealand, Daly is preparing to take that red-hot club form onto the international stage.
She will be a big weapon for Wiegman and more importance will be placed on the versatile Daly with huge injuries to Beth Mead (28) amongst others.
In their most recent friendly - minus the behind-closed-doors stalemate against Canada - with Portugal, their farewell match before departing Down Under, Daly played the first half up top before being replaced by Alessia Russo (24) at half-time - someone who she will be competing with for that starting berth.
No goals on that day for Daly, who has 13 goals in 67 international appearances, but the freedom and confidence she feels in that position will only be a benefit for England when they get their tournament underway next week.
A huge new fanbase found out about Daly from her stint in defence on the pitch and for her cowboy hat wearing off it.
This time, get ready for a new version - the old one. Pay attention.
England kick off their World Cup campaign against Haiti on Saturday.
