For several years Keira Walsh has been among the world’s best defensive midfielders — Chelsea and England run more smoothly with her pulling the strings, breaking lines and controlling games. Even with multiple winners’ medals, she is still learning and adapting.
This season Walsh is operating further up the pitch and her attacking numbers have climbed. A telling contrast: in seven WSL games last term she had one shot; in eight games this year she has 14, including her first Chelsea goal — a spectacular long-range strike that fired Chelsea ahead against Tottenham.
Walsh credits a tweak in mindset and encouragement from Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor and assistant Cami Abily to shoot more. “It’s maybe not position and playing further forward, but Sonia and Cami are always telling me to shoot,” she said. Walsh has always favoured creating the assist or the “assist before the assist,” but she has consciously started to take more shots rather than overplaying.
“The way I play defensive midfield, it is more about breaking lines and trying to break presses, and contributing a little bit more in attack,” she added. “When it opens up, Sonia’s encouraged me to take the ball forward, and if I feel like a shot is on, then it’s being free to do that.” She noted most of her goals come from outside the box — all four of her WSL goals since 2020/21 at Man City and Chelsea have been long-range efforts. “In the position I play, a lot of it will be on the second phase or drop-downs, and maybe from set-pieces with the drop-downs there as well,” she said.
Walsh joked about her left foot — “the left foot’s not so great, so I try not to do that too much” — and referenced other midfielders who shoot from distance, naming Moises Caicedo. She also compared herself modestly to Sam Kerr on being in the right place at the right time for finishes.
Tactically sharp, Walsh reflected on facing her former coach Gareth Taylor and what she learned under him. “Tactically, he’s a very good coach. It probably took me a bit of time to adapt to his style… Man City played some fantastic football under him,” she said. She thanked Taylor for the confidence he gave her before major tournaments.
Walsh has also evolved in her appreciation for simplicity and grit. Early in her career she was “obsessed with playing the perfect game” and beautiful football. But tournament experience, including the Euros, changed that view. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you play… Ultimately the goal is putting the ball in the back of the net and winning,” she said. That pragmatic mentality helped England and Chelsea through tough moments on the way to trophies.
Leadership is another area of growth. Walsh captained Chelsea against St Polten in the Women’s Champions League and has been a vice-captain for England. She said being captain isn’t about copying others. “When I’m captain, I’m probably not the loudest in the changing room. I speak a little bit more on the pitch in terms of tactics and how we can solve certain things,” she explained. Sarina Wiegman told her to remain herself when asking her to be vice-captain, and Walsh has learned from leaders like Millie Bright and Leah Williamson — the latter advised her to lead in her own way.
Small changes have helped Walsh continue to flourish for club and country: a willingness to shoot, greater tactical freedom to carry the ball forward, and an acceptance that winning sometimes requires grit over beauty. She remains central to Chelsea’s plans and to England’s ongoing success.