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Manchester United's Mary Earps reveals her goalkeeping idols as she urges fans to bring the noise ahead of derby

Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps returned to the club this season after a year with German club Wolfsburg - Action Images via Reuters
Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps returned to the club this season after a year with German club Wolfsburg - Action Images via Reuters

When it comes to self-improvement, Mary Earps has always had to be creative. With footage of women’s football in short supply when she was growing up, and no specialist coaching available until her late teens, the aspiring goalkeeper was forced to do her own research, poring over clips of Iker Casillas or Pepe Reina which she would then try to put it into her own game.

“Back then, maybe if you were lucky you would catch the FA Cup final highlights on YouTube but it wasn’t realistic to study people," she remembers. "You were going off what your coaches want you to do. I would always watch the men’s game. I loved the shot-stopping of Joe Hart, the way Casillas dealt with one-v-one battles and Pepe Reina’s side-volley was insane. Manuel Neuer all-round. Now it is probably (Marc-André) Ter Stegen. It’s too hard to choose one."

Thankfully for Earps, and the women's game in general, times have changed. Earps now has intensive sessions working with her coach at Manchester United, Ian Willcock, at Leigh Sports Village.

They have been fine-tuning ahead of today’s FA Cup clash against rivals Manchester City, which includes preparing for penalties if the fourth-round tie goes the distance.

The 26-year-old does not mind spot-kicks, that one-on-one battle where the odds are in favour of the attacker but which also offers the chance to be a hero. In her first game as a kid it was her turn in goal and she saved a penalty. She has been a keeper ever since and loves the role.

“I don’t know about crazy to be a keeper but you have to have something a bit different about you. Some people think I’ve got a screw loose,” she said. “The reality is you are putting your body and face in front of a ball being smashed at you from one to 30 yards. You are putting your body on the line and you have to have something different about you to want to do that, to not want to turn your back and run in the opposite direction. You have to be a bit different but normal is boring.”

England's Mary Earps looks dejected as Germany's Alexandra Popp celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates - Credit: ACTION IMAGES
Earps made her England debut in 2017 and has 8 caps Credit: ACTION IMAGES

Earps’ career has been far from normal. She has been at eight clubs, and spent last season at Wolfsburg in Germany, before returning to England with United.

“It was life-changing,” she said. “The best thing I’ve ever done. From a personal perspective and growth as an individual but also as a player. Playing against that calibre of player every day.

“If you are slightly out of position in training, you are punished. Having to go and work hard in a training session and understanding what was happening and putting in the graft there. I was behind the Germany No 1, everything was in German which played a part in feeling that support.”

Earps returned to United this season following their promotion to FA WSL and it has not taken long for her to be schooled in the ways of the Manchester derby, where tribal passions flare just as brightly as in the men's game.

“I assure you that if it goes to penalties, the Barmy Army will be behind my goal. They will move. There is no way they will allow that to happen,” she said. “When you are playing at home you want a loud atmosphere and that is where we are getting to in the women’s game now.

"In prior seasons it didn’t really feel different if you were home or away. But I think the noisier and more fiery it is, the more fun it is. I buzz off it personally and I think it is intimidating for the opposition. I don’t want to say the more hostile the better but the louder the better because it really gives you a buzz on the pitch and gets you through tough moments.”