It was during the World Cup in 2023 that things reached a head. Lucy Bronze, the most capped player in England at the tournament, was dealing with contact lenses problems throughout her career. When her lenses sank in Australia, it was enough.
“I ordered a little more but they were the bad because they were a different brand. Obviously, we were in Australia, so it was difficult to get the same things as in England and there was a game where my eyes were so itchy and aqueous.
“At the end of the tournament, I just thought I didn’t really need it. But I feared laser surgery and the risks of something that is wrong. This procedure is reversible, which gave me the peace of mind and felt less risky for me.
“It seems crazy but it made such a big difference.”
During the winter holidays, bronze had a Collamer lens (co-polymer collagen) Evo Established between its iris and its natural crystalline objective. No corneal tissue has been removed, it is biocompatible with the eye. She had entered and released within an hour. “I got out of the building and I could see.”
It seems extraordinary that a career as spectacular as his has been unleashed by this question, but listen to his speaking of his experiences – in the past now, fortunately – and it is remarkable that she has endured it for so long. Even a certain light was embarrassing.
“Reflections, things like that. There are an example years ago when I played to Liverpool in Bristol which became a little folk tale. After having undergone my operation, Gemma Bonner, the captain at the time, was like,” no more contact objectives falling in games “.
“I lost a goal in a header when a girl accidentally brushed my eye. I was from top to bottom of the key line, taking throws, saying to the physios:” The spare part is in my washing bag, under the bench, in the front pocket “. They finally had it but I played with one eye for 10 minutes.”
Lucy Bronze was a key element of the winning team from England Euro 2022
He came to dominate his thoughts. “I would be more devastated if I forgot my contact lenses than my football boots,” said Bronze. “It was so important. I could manage with another pair of boots, but when you can’t see correctly, it’s much more stressful.”
Supporters may not have noticed the change. Bronze was an elite player before. But from its point of view, the transformation was significant. “What difference it makes in the field in terms of seeing faster things when you look around,” she said.
“It was a bit surreal, including all these movements that I made all my life, how clearer things. My vision is actually even better than it was before. It is a shame that I did not do it earlier. I should have done it in her twenties.”
Johanna Rytting Kanerney from Chelsea famous with Lucy Bronze
The reputation of bronze in these younger days was built on its physicity, these powerful running from the right back becoming its brand, the finalist golden ball in Megan Rapinoe in 2019. “I relied on my physical attributes. It is always my strength,” she said.
“It is a kind of change of football per minute. Everyone thought of physical attributes like the key to everything. But in fact, it’s your brain, your vision, how you see the game quickly, see each angle, which is more important than physical exit.
“There are players who can play longer. Thiago Silva is a good example. He is so smart, he has the photos in his head. He might have lost a rhythm yard but he can always read the game because he sees everything clearly, scan, check, organize.
Thiago Silva is cited by Lucy Bronze as an example of a player who has remained at the top
“I always appreciated this side of the game, but I never thought I could do something in which I was really good until the end of my career. I realized that I had to work there because you are more likely to lose your physical attributes than your brain.”
The result is that the bronze game has evolved. It was a process that started in Manchester City. “They wanted the more I come inside as a holder midfielder and helps in accumulation.” He improved these digitization skills. “In the midfield, you have no choice,” she said.
“At the back, you can somehow choose.
Lucy Bronze thinks that her game has evolved during her time to play for Barcelona
In Barcelona, there was even more variety. “I sometimes played in the back three and 20 minutes later, I played like a straight wing. I was more a player in a straight line, from top to bottom, to run and run. As I get older, I wanted to be less predictable.”
Now 33 years old, bronze talks about its ability to “read the game” and understands among its responsibilities “trying to make the most of others” – all part of its evolution as a player. Is the goal of all this to extend the career? “I mean, I think it’s already done.”
What is clear is that hunger remains and that bronze is ready to do everything it can to stay at the top. “I push myself to improve myself as much as possible. Where I am with my game, I think that recovery is now the greatest thing,” she explains.
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Lucy bronze on the safety of women in sport after Emma Raducanu was targeted
Bronze describes itself as “too obsessed” by ice baths, installing them wherever it lives. “I have always been very obsessed with recovery and sports sciences. During the last year or two, I probably took it even more seriously than ever,” she adds.
“As I get older, I just don’t want these young players to exceed me. Look at Cristiano Ronaldo and how he took care of his body to maintain his level. I know I have to recover to make sure I am ready to leave the next day.
“Maybe I overestimated when I was younger. You could never stop. This is the only reason I have injured in the past. I ended up having come out longer than I should have been because I would not stop and do not listen to my body to slow down.
“For me now, it is a question of not being afraid of taking a step back. People think that you are weak because of this. It is always perception. If you do not do enough or if you do not play all the time, you cannot manage it. But it is so that you can manage it longer.
“When I made a injury recently, I managed to stop. Fortunately, the injury only turned out to be seven days, when I had pushed myself, it could have been seven weeks. It is probably the biggest change and everything comes with experience.”
Whether it is recovery techniques, tactical adjustments or implantable objectives, Lucy Bronze always seeks this edge.
