Lucy Bronze: Time with Barcelona drives new kind of norm in England coaching

Lucy Bronze feels she and Keira Walsh's time with Barcelona has seen them 'drive a different kind of norm' in England training.

Right-back Bronze and midfielder Walsh both left Manchester City and joined the Catalan side last summer, the former before and the latter after helping England win the Euros.

They went on to be part of a Barca side that won a fourth consecutive domestic league title and, last month, lifted the Champions League - which Bronze admits gave them, as well as in Walsh, "massive confidence" ahead of the World Cup which begins next week.

The 31-year-old said: "My role at Barcelona is different to what it has been in previous teams.

"Every Barcelona player only wants to play with the ball, so the responsibility to defend falls on me much more than elsewhere, which is different to England.

“It gave me a different take on how to play football. I think Keira is the same. has never been there before.

"I think we were able to add that when we got back to the camps, not necessarily the style of play but the expectation and the kind of quality you expect from a team that wins trophies like the League of champions and playing with the best players in the world.

"(Winning the Champions League) gives me huge confidence in Keira and myself - it was his first, even being my fourth (after three with Lyon), it's something that gives you a lot of confidence before the World Cup."

The centerpiece of this summer in Australia and New Zealand will be a third World Cup for 105 bronze caps, after playing two legs that ended in the semi-finals.

At Canada 2015 – where Bronze scored in round of 16 and quarter-final wins, having what she describes as her 'Chloe Kelly moment' – England lost 2-1 in the last four against Japan, before securing third place.

And then it was the same score in the semi-finals of France 2019 against the United States, winners of both tournaments.

There was also a semi-final loss to hosts and eventual champions Netherlands at Euro 2017, before England lifted their first ever trophy with the Euro triumph last summer at home.

Bronze has previously said that she didn't watch the finals of these World Cups because she was "heartbroken", a feeling she says she still has.

"(It's) because every World Cup I've been to, we've been so close," Bronze said.

"The difference between us and USA the day we played them was a VAR decision, a penalty. It's two things in a game, it was crazy, crazy close."

While she now has international silverware on her CV, Bronze pointed out that "the mentality has always been the same - I think I always knew I was capable of being in a team of England who could win something".

On the United States, which England beat 2-1 in their last encounter, a friendly at Wembley last October, Bronze added: "I don't even think at the time ( during the 2019 World Cup) there was a difference between us.

"I think they had very good form in this tournament, similar to what we had at the Euros.

"I think that's how World Cups and Euros work, the team that's in shape tends to have, I wouldn't say luck, but that slight advantage.

"We had that on all the teams in Europe last year. I think the United States had it in many tournaments before.

“Very soon we will be able to see who is in good shape and I don't think people will only talk about the United States and ourselves.

"There are a number of teams with a lot of talented players and I think we are with those groups of talented teams."