Jess Carter shutting out external noise as Lionesses gear up for Euro 2025 title defence

Jess Carter does not care what other people think, and neither will England when they travel to Switzerland as defending European champions.

While narratives swirl around the Lionesses’ ability to reclaim their title, Carter and her teammates stand calmly in the eye of the storm fully focused on the task at hand.

It is a scenario Carter is particularly familiar with having won the Women’s Super League in five consecutive seasons with Chelsea, before joining NJ/NY Gotham FC the year after they had lifted the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) trophy.

“Everyone on the outside is going to think whatever they want to think and that's what we allow them to do,” the 27-year-old defender explained.

“We can't control the narrative outside of our camp, all we can control is what we speak about and what we do in camp. We’re solely focusing on the team we are now and being the best version of that team come the Euros.

“I'm not someone who feels pressure personally. We're going to go out, do the best that we can do and that either will be enough or it won't be.”

In fact for Carter, who started all but one of England’s seven World Cup matches in 2023, the title of defending champions has never held weight in her mind.

“I don't think that we ever see it as being defending champions. Every season, every new competition is a brand-new start. It's the Gotham team we have now, it's the England team we have now, it's not England who won the last Euros,” she said.

“It's been three years since the last Euros and so many things have changed. Every team is completely different now than before.

“We just focus on trying to be the best versions of that current team that we are and not dwell on what we have achieved previously.”

In the interests of not dwelling on past success, Carter made the switch from WSL giants Chelsea to Gotham in the summer of 2024. Her move across the pond saw her join the NWSL midway through a season that would see Gotham finish third in the league table, falling to defeat on penalties in the playoff semi-final.

But just as much as success on the pitch, it was her own happiness that informed Carter’s decision to make the move and in that personal search not even the opinion of Sarina Wiegman could influence her judgement.

“Rightly or wrongly, I don't really care what anyone else thinks about it,” she said. “Of course, I would want Sarina’s support, but ultimately club football to me is the most important because if I don't play well at club, I'm not going to get selected for England.

“I made the decision to move to a club based on my happiness and my happiness only. Football is a second thought in my mind.

“Once I signed, I spoke to Sarina and told her why I'd joined Gotham and she was nothing but supportive. I'm really glad she was supportive because it would have made things harder if she wasn't, but she was really great.”

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Carter plied her trade under the guardianship of Emma Hayes for six years while at Chelsea, becoming a central figure in a defence that boosted Chelsea to incomparable success during her final three seasons in west London, featuring in 59 league matches in that time.

It earnt her plaudits across the English game as she moved from a peripheral figure in England’s Euro 2022 squad to a nailed-on starter for their run to the World Cup final just one year later.

And while many would view such domestic and international success as a professional zenith, Carter has found a fresh challenge across the Atlantic as she aims to take her game to the next level.

“I've found it hard [in the NWSL]. Maybe I was just being naïve, but when I joined Gotham, I thought it was going to be a little bit easier than what it is,” said Carter.

“I've always prided myself on my defending, being hard to beat and physically being able to keep up with other fast and strong European players. But fast and strong in America is on another level.

“I knew that everyone would be very athletic, but I thought I would come in and it'd be fine because I'd got myself to a really good level at Chelsea and with England.”

But despite the challenges, under the guidance of Juan Carlos Amorós, Carter is being given the permission to develop new skills she hopes will aid her campaign with England.

“Traditionally, it's always been, ‘Oh, Jess can just defend.’ Being technical on the ball hasn't been my super strength but [at Gotham] that is the way we try and play,” she elaborated.

“My manager just makes me. He says, ‘I want you to play forward. I want you to try more things on the ball and not worry if you mess it up.’

“I don't always feel like that's been the case with previous teams that I've been on. I always feel like it's been, ‘Just defend,’ or, ‘You're not playing this game because we want to be on the ball.’

That ability to defend was first forged not on football pitches but rugby fields where she played until she was 16, and still feels she was naturally better with an egg-shaped ball than the one she is most familiar with now.

“[Rugby] really helped from the team side of working together as a unit, all being on the same page. That definitely helped,” she explained.

“And that aggression as well, being a defender, it is important that I win all of my individual battles, and that is the same on a rugby pitch. As well as relying on others to win their duels, so there is definitely a correlation between the two.”

Carter has not only shown versatility between sports, but also positions on the pitch.

Wiegman deployed her across the backline in Australia as she started games at left-back and centre-back in a back three and back four.

It has been a similar story at Gotham. Despite being brought in with the intention to use her on the right - a position sewn up by Lucy Bronze in the England team - injuries have once more seen her role change.

“I've always said if it means I'm getting on the pitch, then that's what matters most,” Carter said.

“Being versatile is a blessing and a curse. How much better could I be if I just got to consistently work in one position every single day? But at the same time, maybe my understanding is better because I've had to play in different roles. As long as I'm on the pitch, that's better than not.”

It will be a starting role that Carter will target at the Euros with a position having opened up as former Chelsea teammate Millie Bright withdrew from selection.

Carter has fallen out of favour since that heady summer in 2023, not starting a game since a chaotic 4-3 friendly loss to Germany in October 2024.

It was Alex Greenwood that Wiegman chose to partner captain Leah Williamson in England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain, with Niamh Charles finding favour at left-back.

In fact, Carter entered that game as a replacement for right-back Lucy Bronze. It seems Wiegman is yet to determine exactly what her plan is for defence in Switzerland but whatever her role, Carter will know exactly what she has to do come kick-off against France.

“I've always had a good understanding with Sarina in terms of what my role is going into each tournament so far,” said Carter.

“Whether that was the Euros where I wasn't playing or the World Cup then where I played a lot. We take each camp as it goes, but by the time tournaments come if I’m selected, Sarina makes things very clear as to what is expected of me.”

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