TManchester City full-back Kerstin Caspari was asked by his girlfriend Ruth Brown whether he could keep up with elite athletes when they went running together in the off-season, and said: “Yes, even if I slow down for her.'' Okay,” he said with a grin. Brown said with a surprisingly straight face.
Life is going well for Caspari and Brown. They bought a house in Manchester and, apart from finding a new sofa, they're almost done decorating. After their cats, Kiwi and Mango, moved out of their apartment, they developed a strong grip on the stairs and chose their favorite window sills to relax. And they recently completed a cooperative video game, It Takes Two. As we sit drinking coffee in London, we find ourselves cooking for Mr. Kasparigi's family on Christmas Day and preparing to bring them together for the first time on Boxing Day. We are debating whether to do so.
Casparigi's new contract until 2027 guarantees a happy work-life balance, and she too was motivated by a sense of having unfinished business in her third season there.
“Being fair was so easy,” she says. “When Gaz is here [manager Gareth Taylor] When we first talked about it, I immediately thought: “Yeah, let's get that over with.” Let's get that over the line. I wasn't really interested in going anywhere, but I didn't feel like my time in the City was over yet. I feel there is still a lot to accomplish. I want to achieve what I want to achieve at the club, but I also feel there is a lot of room to grow and I think City is the perfect place to do that. ”
There is a love for the city and a love for the city. “It feels like home,” she says of Manchester. “I just bought a house in Manchester…I feel very comfortable and peaceful there.”
why? “It's the environment, it's very relaxed and the people. I'm a northern girl from the Netherlands and I can relate to the northern atmosphere of Manchester. The values of the club, the team, the staff and the people around the club. It's like a big family, which is what I needed when I came from overseas a few years ago.
Taylor said Casparigi has what it takes to be “the best right-back in the world”. When she arrived from Twente in 2022, Lucy Bronze had just left for Barcelona and had big shoes to fill. Caspari had just been converted from midfielder.
“I'm a completely different player now,” she says. “When I first joined, I had only been playing as a right-back for less than a year. At the beginning of that season I changed positions. It was obviously a tough job for me, but Gaz was very good at playing right-back. It's not always good, he's a bit of an oddball, he loves football, he's obsessed with football, but he challenged me and pushed me every step of the way.”
Casparigi said players feel trusted during the first half of games when Taylor sits high in the stands to get a more tactical view, rather than being in the dugout. “We know what we're doing, we train every day, and all the principles are drilled into our brains. If you ask us what to do, we know that right away. That's what we try to do on the pitch. It's all very detailed. Even if you think you can't go into more detail, you can…He's sitting on the stand and trusting us, if we need a little help or anything. If we need to change, he'll come down. If we do well, he'll be able to just be a spectator and get a good look at the game.”
The last two games before the winter break were far from ideal, with City losing 2-1 to Everton, leaving them six points behind leaders Chelsea, and losing 3-0 to Barcelona in the Champions League, ending their hopes of winning Group D. It was. “Barcelona, they were really good,'' says Casparigi. “We may have been a little tired towards the end of the year, but overall we had a very strong first half of the season.”
Alex Greenwood, who was plagued by injuries at the end of the year and required knee surgery, joins a list that includes key players such as Khadijah Shaw, Lauren Hemp and Vivian Miedema. “They're great players who can't be easily replaced,” Casparigi said. “As you can see from the way we play and the way the men's team plays, we are very systematic and we have players that fit very well into these positions.When you don't have a lot of players behind them, can be very difficult to fill in, for example by trying to find someone who is identical to Alex or Bunny. [Shaw] It's quite difficult to get to Henpo.
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“The game plan revolves around players in those positions, so it's not really surprising that we struggled a little bit. On the other hand, we still have plenty of quality, so It should cross the line.”
When it works, it works. Playing in the 2-0 loss against Barcelona in October felt “magical”. “We came back to Europe after a long time and felt a huge need to prove ourselves. We had to show everyone that we belonged. We just had fun as a team. We went out on the pitch without any anxiety or stress or fear.”
But that game feels a little far away, and the winter break couldn't come soon enough for injured players and replacement players. “I hope 2025 is a big year, a big summer,” says the 24-year-old. So it's great to recharge a little bit and look forward to the new year and see my family. ”
This summer will be a big event, as 2017 champions Netherlands will face hosts England, France and Wales in the “Group of Death” for Euro 2025. “It's fun,” Casparigi said. “We have a lot of players who play for very big clubs and a lot of players who also play in the Champions League. I will support us as much as I can, but it will not be an easy job. Sho.”
For now, Casparisi can focus on cooking her first Christmas dinner, preparing for a New Year's Day swim in the Lake District with Brown's family, and finding Panini stickers.
