Nicoline Sorensen has revealed Everton boss Brian Sorensen has changed "a lot of things for the better" at the club since his appointment in the summer.
The 42-year-old was brought in to replace interim coach Chris Roberts who last season guided the squad to a tenth-placed finish in the Women's Super Legaue after the sackings of Willie Kirk and his successor Jean Luc-Vasseur. A turbulent campaign at Walton Hall Park prompted a huge overhaul of personnel in the summer, with the new manager overseeing the departure of nine players and the recruitment of ten new talents before September's deadline day.
It was a shake-up that appears to have helped turn the tide for the Toffees, who signed off for the winter break with an impressive victory over Tottenham that saw them move into the top half of the WSL table. And for 25-year-old Sorensen, the new manager has been very much at the heart of Everton's renaissance.
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"I think he has changed quite a lot in terms of things for the better," she said. " We’ve started now to have a foundation and a basic structure that we will be identified as and that is so important for a team.
"That is where we are now and it’s a process that takes take but we feel our foundation is close to where we want to be and we can build it from there. It’s been a really good few months for us."
She added: "Of course we always want to win and we haven’t won every single game but we’re definitely getting closer and its a journey. We need to accept it takes a bit of time as well before the big result will come."
It has been a momentous December for Sorensen, who made her WSL return against Arsenal after more than 14 months on the sidelines with a ruptured anterior crucial ligament.
The winger limped off in the closing stages of Everton's clash with Birmingham City in September 2021 after what initially appeared to be an innocuous tussle with Rebecca Holloway, although it took a number of days before a scan confirmed the extent of Sorensen's injury.
"At the beginning I didn’t think about ACL or any serious injury at all," she said. "I thought it was maybe hamstring or calf. Then some of the girls came in after the game and were saying ‘we’re here for you no matter what’ and I was like ‘what are you talking about I’m back next week’ and I think that was the point I realised that something was up.
"I just felt so empty," she added. "I’d never been injured before so I had no idea of what to go through and I’m actually kind of happy I didn’t know what was coming at me. It was the worst feeling.
"I knew there was a chance I could get back for the Euros because it was nine months away but it became quite clear quite fast it wasn’t going to happen."
Sorensen’s road back to fitness was not an easy one. The 25-year-old had to undergo two surgeries, months of gruelling rehab and weeks of training before returning to the matchday squad at Meadow Park.
But the Dane now hopes her injury woes are behind her and is looking forward to playing an integral role in Brian Sorensen's squad when the WSL returns in January.
"For me it is just about getting back into the team," she said. "I’ve seen these games before Christmas almost as free games where the more minutes I get the better but I haven’t had major expectations for myself.
"I feel that coming back after Christmas it’s a fresh start. I can compete at the same level as all the other girls and I’m almost ready to play a full 90 minutes so I think that’s the real start for me. I’ll be trying to compete for a starting spot and then obviously the big goal for me is the World Cup next summer."
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