The England and Everton midfielder opens up to Martin Tyler on The Football Show
Sunday 31 May 2020 19:31, UK
England and Everton midfielder Izzy Christiansen has opened up to Martin Tyler about how she rediscovered her love for football after coming close to walking away from the game.
Christiansen joined Everton on an 18-month deal in December after leaving European champions Lyon.
The 28-year-old won the treble in France, but suffered the heartbreak of missing the World Cup after fracturing her fibula and sustaining ankle ligament damage in March 2019.
Christiansen admitted she has been close to quitting the sport, but said her time in Lyon convinced her against retirement.
"Football can take you up in the clouds and to the bottom of the sea as well," she told Tyler on The Football Show. "Until you go through those times, you don't really know how to get through them.
"I look back now, I remember exactly where I stood when I thought about quitting the game because it wasn't giving me satisfaction or happiness, and I thought maybe this is best for me, I've got other talents and interests, and that maybe I'm wasted in a game I'm not getting satisfaction from.
"But I dug deep, found my love for it again, and that was in Lyon. I found my love for the game again by resilience and not giving up, and dragging myself onto the training pitch. It's just the feeling of being on the ball, you can't describe it.
"I'd go into the training ground at six or seven at night when it was going dark, I don't think my coach knew, and I would go to kick the ball around. That repetition just made me love the game again."
The WSL season was ended earlier this week, having been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For Christiansen, the 2015-16 PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year, the cancellation has halted her progress at a new club, but she is already looking forward to the next campaign.
She added: "I was looking to put a bad year on a football front behind me and start 2020 with a new club. I was looking forward to finishing off the WSL season, and the target was to get to Wembley in the FA Cup.
"All of these aims and targets have been shattered. It's disappointing but I'm pleased we now know where we stand.
"I've learned over the years that any setback you have you can use as an opportunity to grow. The way I've been looked after since joining the club, I feel so at home.
"I can't wait until we're back in pre-season. These next two months I just hope they go really quickly."
