GEORGIA STANWAY’S Bayern Munich switch has made her more of a leader on and off the pitch despite describing her German as “terrible”.
The midfielder, 24, joked she may have to give her Germany pals’ a swerve at the World Cup should England face them in the quarters this summer.
The Lionesses are ramping up preparations for their Group D opener against Haiti after arriving in Australia last Friday for the tournament there and in New Zealand.
The July 23 clash comes 15 months after Stanway’s three-year Bayern transfer which followed her becoming Man City Women’s all-time leading scorer last January.
The England star, who spent seven years at City, said: “I’ve developed so much on and off the pitch (going to Bayern).
“I have a leadership role which I never expected to happen in such a short space of time
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“The biggest thing is I do a lot more with my team-mates.
“I don’t know if this is something I’ve just grown into but I was never the most sociable outside of football.
“We do so much outside of the game as a team and that has made us stronger on the pitch which is really important.”
Whilst loving life in Germany Stanway is currently getting to grips with the language.
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Attempts to buy a kitchen using German has proved to be both an amusing and mildly tricky experience.
The Lioness, who signed for Bayern last May, added: “I moved to an apartment that didn’t have a kitchen so I waited another month for one.
“I had to ask people to come with me to buy it
“Because it was a little bit difficult and because of the language barrier and things being different – trying to find a shop that sold kitchens was a nightmare!
“But you have to ask for help.”
When asked how her learning of German is going, Stanway joked: “Terrible!
“I have two lessons a week and my teacher keeps saying ‘it’s going to click, it’s going to click’ but nearly 12 months in and there’s no click yet.”
Stanway’s first Bayern term saw her help them lift their fifth Women’s Bundesliga title in May.
But the midfielder admits experiencing a dip away from the pitch following the highs of her transfer and winning the Euros with England.
Stanway, who received her 50th England cap in June, said: “Everything was new so it was all just exciting and the season’s busy enough.
“In Germany you have a winter break and that’s when I kind of had my dip.
“I was supposed to meet Keira in Barcelona for New Year but I didn’t even make it because I was just that tired.
“There’s an expectation that you should be on top of your game all the time.
“Allowing people to have days off and that little dip is so important.”
Stanway’s club colleagues include Germany stars Klara Buhl, 22, and Lina Magull, 28.
The latter was part of the team beaten 2-1 by England with Stanway amongst the standout stars in last year’s Euros decider.
Should the Lionesses top Group D and best Group B’s runners-up, a quarter-final clash with Germany awaits.
The beaten Euros finalists suffered a shock 3-2 warm-up loss to Zambia on Saturday before their opener against Morocco in 14 days.
Stanway reckons she will have to avoid contact with her Bayern pals if England were to end up facing Germany in the contest.
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She added: “We could meet them in the quarters if things go to plan. That could be interesting.
“I’ll probably have to stay off my phone that week!”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
