When the full-time whistle goes against Tottenham on Saturday, the work won’t stop for Beth Mead.
Usually straight after a game, particularly one as important as a north London derby, the Arsenal forward would like to soak up the atmosphere and celebrate with fans. But the serious knee injury Mead suffered last year means she now she spends the moments after the full-time whistle going through a rigorous recovery programme.
“Although everyone sees me on the pitch and I’ve scored a goal or I’ve got an assist, I have still got to go in and do my tendon programme,” Mead tells Standard Sport.
“I have got tendonitis because I had a tendon graft from my ACL - and people don’t see that. I am in the tunnel doing exercises and weights that people don’t see. I find it hard because I like to be personable with fans, but unfortunately my knee at the moment takes priority.
“That’ll be me for the next year to 18 months, I still have to do every tedious thing probably for the rest of my football career. I do split-stance squat drops with two 16kg dumbbells, drop into them, catch it - so that I catch on my tendon, keep it warm, keep it in a good physical place.
“We have a thing called a flywheel. I buckle myself up, push through it with my bodyweight and it pulls me back down, I’ve got to catch it with my knees again. Then I have things called Nordics, which are to keep my hamstrings firing.”
The work is clearly paying off for Mead, who has made an impressive start since returning for Arsenal. The forward was out for nearly an entire year, missing this summer’s World Cup, but she is finding her feet again and scored the opener in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Chelsea last weekend.
Mead has to follow a detailed programme now because of her knee, but she has been a diligent trainer since the Covid-19 pandemic. It began with her writing things down, such as her nutrition, but she switched to using a WHOOP band.
Now, Mead track things like her heart rate, stress levels and - most importantly for her - sleep. She says: "I do believe that sleep is my number one recovery tool. Touch wood I am pretty good sleeper. I am not fan of looking at any lower than seven hours sleep.”
Mead believes being strict over her recovery and training had her in the form of her career before she injured her knee in November of last year. She was the top scorer as England won Euro 2022 and came second in the Ballon d’Or that year, too.
Now back playing, the forward is determined to fire Arsenal to glory and they are currently second in the Women’s Super League and level on points with leaders Chelsea. They next face a trip to Spurs on Saturday, who host them at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Mead is relishing the derby.
"I walked up to the corner flag and I am getting booed - and it sounds weird, but I actually really loved it!"
“I was lucky enough to play in the game when we played Tottenham there the first time in the League, and they got a great attendance,” she says. “I think it was 30,000 that day and our fans actually sold out the away end. The atmosphere was incredible.
“I walked up to the corner flag and I am getting booed - and it sounds weird, but I actually really loved it!”
A fierce rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham has long existed in the men’s game, but it is still growing on the women’s side. Part of that has been down to the Gunners’ dominance, but there are signs that Spurs could start fighting near the top of the table under new boss Robert Vilahamn.
“In the start we were convincingly beating them and they are now catching up,” says Mead. “They are becoming competitive. There are tackles flying in, people getting amongst it, the fans bringing the atmosphere of a derby game.
“I am a bit of a football geek, I do like to keep up to date with a lot of the scores and games. If I can watch games I will have it on and I think they (Spurs) have played some good football.
“I went and watched them a couple of weeks back when they played Bristol because our goalkeeper is on loan there. They played some really good football and popped it about. It will be a tough match for us, but I am looking forward to it.”
Beth Mead is a WHOOP ambassador. For more info visit https://www.whoop.com/gb/en/
