Alessia Russo cites Thierry Henry & Erling Haaland as goalscoring influences

Alessia Russo has admitted that she used to observe clips of Thierry Henry targets rising up because of the former Arsenal ahead’s means to chop inside, and is now impressed by the penalty field motion of Erling Haaland.

Like Henry, Russo began out as a winger, and has been deployed each out huge and as a central striker throughout her two years at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old was utilised solely as a quantity 9 throughout Euro 2022, and is predicted to step into the function of England’s first alternative striker following the retirement of Ellen White. When it involves being deadly in and across the penalty space, Russo highlighted her admiration for Haaland.

“I used to watch all of Henry’s old clips on YouTube,” Russo The Times. “He’s a goalscorer. He will get in the precise positions, he’s so scientific.

“Now I like watching Erling Haaland. I do know he’s a Manchester City participant however he’s unbelievable. I like watching each Henry and Haaland. I grew up taking part in on the wing and I favored watching Henry slicing in. I like slicing in and getting a shot off however as I grow old I realise that the majority chances are high going to come back contained in the 18-yard field. Haaland scores all his targets from intelligent actions off the again of the centre half and creates half a yard for a end.

“I used to love watching Wayne Rooney. He was a No 9, played with his heart on his sleeve. He was just aggressive, passionate, scored goals.”

Russo shot to national fame at Euro 2022 with four goals from the bench – including an audacious back heel against Sweden in the semi-finals to stunt the Swede’s momentum and put the game beyond their reach. The finish received plaudits from goal scoring greats Kelly Smith and Abby Wambach.

“That was the most effective half for me, to have reward from gamers like Abby Wambach and Kelly Smith, who I used to develop up watching play,” Russo added. “For Abby to touch upon it was a cool second for me as a result of she was an unbelievable striker. But folks began to ask me if I might do a great deal of methods and expertise however I’m undoubtedly not a kind of gamers! The back-heel was a one-off!”