England legend gives key advice on how to stop Sweden star's 'superpower'

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Kelly Smith was part of the England squad which reached the final of Euro 2009 and has worked with some of Sweden's biggest quarter-final dangers as an Arsenal coach
The Euro 2025 quarter-final between England and Sweden carries a strong Arsenal flavour. Lionesses captain Leah Williamson will be going up against club colleague Stina Blackstenius, while there are several other current and former Gunners on both teams.
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All this makes Kelly Smith brilliantly placed to assess the threat of Peter Gerhardsson's side. Former England striker Smith is part of Arsenal's coaching staff, working day-to-day with the likes of Williamson and Blackstenius, and also played with England's captain when the pair were at opposite ends of their careers.
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"There's a lot of pressure on Leah, being England captain," Smith tells Mirror Football, describing Williamson as a "very intelligent" person. "The responsibilities that she has with the media and outside stuff, she's got to galvanise the squad and keep them together.
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"Obviously there are other leaders within that set-up, but she's very outspoken and not afraid to give her opinion whether it's positive or negative. You want someone who's going to bat for your team like that and she's certainly got all those attributes to lead the country and hopefully beat Sweden tonight"
Sweden go into the tie off the back of three straight wins in the group stages. And, while England will need to stop striker Blackstenius, there could well be danger from elsewhere too.
"You have to possess the ball so Sweden don't hit you on the counter-attack and play long balls over the top into space in the channels for Stina, because that's her superpower," Smith adds. "Running in behind, timing her runs. Obviously she's so quick that it's hard to keep up with her if Sweden get those opportunities to play those long balls.
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"But Sweden have other threats too, they're very good at set pieces with [former Arsenal pair] Amanda Ilestedt and Lina Hurtig. Very dynamic in the air, good and strong, so England will have to watch out for set pieces and not give too many free-kicks or corners away because Sweden are very good in those areas."
Smith is speaking via EE, whose 'Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign aims to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. While the impact of the Lionesses' 2022 Euros triumph has been plain to see, with fans kitted out in England shirts all over Switzerland, the former striker is keen to emphasise that - while some things have got easier in women's football since her childhood, others are now tougher.
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"After 2022 there was a lot of uptake of girls playing football, and this campaign is to highlight the benefits of football, building resilience and confidence in young teenage girls," she says. "Because in this day and age with social media and the pressures of it, it helps build skills to protect them against [those] pressures.
"I know when I was growing up, obviously social media wasn't around then but football gave me so much belief within myself, happiness, confidence, resilience. It's a team sport so you're working together for a common goal to try and win games or just having fun with your friends. It really build up my confidence, because I wasn't the most comfortable and didn't really have a lot of friends so football enabled me to have a football family, so to speak, and it really built my confidence up as a young kid. So I was grateful to be a part of this everyone needs a squad campaign because it's vital that girls are involved in football - it gives you so much."
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Some of England's players at Euro 2025 have spoken about how important their bubble has been when it comes to staying focused on the task at hand, and Smith recognises different players will have different approaches. "Some players I know take themselves off social media for those six weeks that they're away, four weeks or however long they're in the tournament and get their management team to do it," she adds.
"When I was playing, it wasn't prevalent. It wasn't there. The back end of my career it was, but I think I was old enough and mentally in a better place then. It's a harsh world now and it could really affect you if you're not strong enough mentally. So football gives that escape and confidence for young girls and and women on social media.."
Kelly Smith is supporting EE's 'Everyone Needs a Squad' campaign to help girls across the country build confidence and belonging on and off the pitch. For more information visit https://eelearnsmart.co.uk/ee-squad/. Additionally, the campaign includes the EE Squad Socials. Taking place at locations across the UK, (Brighton 19th July and London Sunday 27th July) the events provide a vibrant space for teenage girls and their families to play, connect, and celebrate self-expression through football.