We Are Chelsea - How It Started: Johanna Rytting Kaneryd

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

This week, Caz De Moraes is joined by Chelsea winger, and Swedish international, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd. She tells us all about how she grew up playing for a boys' team in Sweden with her twin brother, signing her first professional contract at the age of 15 and how she eventually ended up getting her dream move to the Blues, off the back of Euro 2022. She also opens up about setbacks she has faced along the way, including two ACL injuries, and how she plays better when she's angry.Remember to subscribe and leave a review, wherever you get your podcasts!Send us your questions using to [e-mail] watch the full episode on Youtube, click here: https://www.youtube.com/@chelseafc/videos#WeAreChelsea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

of course if you're here you want to win everything it doesn't matter what kind of game it is but of course we know that champions league is something that for us as a team we want to do together and i feel like that that is the missing missing piece hello and welcome to we are chelsea the podcast for the chelsea women's team i'm kazda mores and part of the reason for doing this podcast is to inspire the next generation of players, but also give you all an insight into what it takes to reach the very top. We're going to find out how it all started with the biggest stars from the Chelsea team. Their origin stories, what inspired them to get into the game, and what setbacks they've had to overcome along the way. And our guest today is midfielder and Swedish international,

Johanna Kenrod. Well, Johanna, hello, and welcome to the podcast. How are you? Thank you so much. I'm very good. How are you? I'm very well. I'm very excited that you're on because we're going to delve into a little bit about how you got into football, your journey so far and then how you've found things at Chelsea. But first of all, for all the viewers listening, I just want to make sure that I'm getting your name right. Johanna Conrad. Wow, really impressive. Yes. It's perfect. Okay, very good. I try and get names correct. I love it. I'm pleased. When you move to Chelsea in 2022. What was your impression of the facilities and the grounds? I mean, first time I came here before I signed, it was like, wow, everything was super, first of all, super big, much bigger than I thought it would be. I don't know how many pitches there is here, but I mean, it's a few. And everything was just super professional. Yeah, I got a really, really good first impression. Well, we're going to talk about Chelsea a little bit

later on but firstly i want to talk about how it all started for you and i want to take you back to a very young jahanna in sweden whereabouts did you grow up paint the picture what was it like what were you like as a little a little todd yeah so it all started in kolsva it's a small little village where i'm from i think it's like around 3,000 people living there so we lived in this house with my mom and my dad and then yeah my twin brother and i always went outside we had like a football pitch outside of our house. You're a twin. Yeah, I have a twin brother. I did not know you were a twin.

No one knows that, actually. That's very cool. Yeah, and then, yeah, it all started here. Basically, we were outside playing football from a very young age. And my dad was playing football at that time as well. And my mom, I think she was playing, yeah, not like super on a professional level, but they were playing for fun. and then yeah we were there every day I loved it since I was a kid and then I started to train

I think I was five years old my dad was the coach and me and my twin brother yeah played in the same team so it was me and the boys so yeah I loved it since since the beginning and did you play with the boys because of your brother or because of maybe the lack of a girls team was there many opportunities for girls to get into football at that time when you grew up? Not really. Also, because I'm from a really small village, it's hard to get a team of 15-20 girls. So, I mean, in that age, I think we were around three, four girls playing with the boys' team. And then when you came up to a certain age, yeah, you can start to have a group of girls with different ages.

Yeah, I played with the boys for a long time, actually. Were you ever a little bit competitive with your brother? Oh, yeah. Every time. I think, yeah, it was not easy, but like either for him or for me. We were, of course, he's always been like my best friend, but on the pitch, we had, have our fights, of course. I always find that with siblings, but then I imagine with a twin, it's even more, you're kind of direct you know you grow up going oh who walked first who talked first who did

this first so i imagine it must be quite a strange or a different perspective yeah definitely especially like i was always quicker and like faster than him but then he came up to when we came up to a certain age he started to get like quicker stronger and i've yeah i hated that yeah i bet i bet um tell us about the first team that you played for as a junior and what was it like? So I played for Kualsvayev where I'm from and of course we are like I said from a it's a really small village so everyone knows everyone and it was yeah when I look back to it I'm super happy that I grow up there because yeah it was just wonderful playing football football was like the biggest thing somehow the community everyone came together somehow

and I, yeah, I really loved it. I mean, we weren't the best, but we had a really good group of people and good coaches. I mean, you need that for, especially when you're a kid. So, yeah, I'm super happy about that. And I think I turned, yeah, maybe around 10, 11. I was getting better and better. And I think, yeah, I had to look for a new challenge. so I went to a team called Forch BFF

which is like the bigger city It's 20 minutes from where I'm from So I started to play with a girl's team That is two year old Yeah maybe two years older than I was at that time And then around 12 I started to To play with the women's team In Division 2

So it was me and my mom's friends basically So yeah it was a challenge but yeah I loved it I love that you and your mum's friend just brilliant it was me and all the

other older girls you touched on the fact that you were you were much quicker than your brother but what were you like as a player in those early years was it the speed

that you remember yeah definitely the speed I love to I always been loving to run with the ball and I've always been pretty fast so

that's all I've been doing running with the ball dribbling working a lot with my touches with my with my dad i remember he always had the ball and then he just kicked it as high as he could and then i was just supposed to take it down on one touch so stuff like that it's like something you can see now as well of course that's like one of yeah the biggest strengths i have right now with my it's my it's my speed and my one-we-one so i think it's definitely from yeah how much i trained like that as a kid

Who were your footballing idols when you were growing up in Sweden? I mean, if you're from Sweden, you always look for Slatan, Ibrahimovych, not because we're similar at all, but he was just, I remember one goal he scored against Ajax when he did like five of the same, yeah, when he pretended to shoot and then he just kind of a groove thing. So I still remember that goal. I don't know how many times I've been looking at that. But yeah, Slatern is another level for sure.

And obviously you touched on the fact that you were playing with your mum's friends when you were just a teen or just before you were preteen. At what point did you realize that you were good enough and that you could make this your profession? Good question. I don't really know, actually. I think I always know that I love football and I want to become the best and I've always been really,

competitive. If you compare to all the other kids in my class, for example, I was always the stubborn one that always wanted to win. It wouldn't matter what kind of thing we did. So, yeah, I think I always knew that I had it in me. And of course, when I was 15 years old and got the opportunity to go to Tidis FF, to play with all the stars, Martha and Caroline Seeger, Christian Press, yeah, all of these stars. That's when I knew. that yeah this is actually my path well my next question I probably know the answer to it because you said your dad coached your team you played with your twin brother on the team and then later on you played with your mum's friends but I guess my next question was going to be what support

have you had from your family of friends along the way is there anything that I don't know because they sound very supportive they are for sure my whole family has been super supportive since the beginning of my football career and especially my dad and I have had a special relationship. We've been talking for, I don't know how many hours, he always, he still do it, calls me when he's on his way back from his work. So we always talk for one hour and it's been super important for me in my career and like moving from home when I'm 15 years old, of course it wasn't easy to be away from your family and I know I wouldn't be anywhere without them. they have been so supportive and the fact that they let me go when I was 50 let me go

so I'm so dramatic but that let me move and I was 50 years old that says a lot so yeah you yeah that's you need that to you need those people in your life if you want to succeed is that something that you still hold close you still speak to your dad you still speak to your parents before or after a big game do they come and try and watch as many of your big games as they can and your brother is your brother still active in sport in football does he play for a hobby is he very supportive yeah everyone is my mom is here now actually um so she watched the game yesterday and and yeah they come here a few times my brother has been here the most i think um yeah we talk a lot and yeah he's still into football but more for fun um but of course it's it's really

nice to have to know that they are watching my games and they love it and I know that's like their biggest yeah they're looking forward for that every every week the game day so yeah it's super fun and yeah of course I talk a lot before and after the games but it's especially my boyfriend he is a professional footballer as well and my mental mental coach both yeah sending me those voice messages messages before a game and yeah also like after the games and yeah my dad as well we talk a lot after after every game now i want to ask about whether you remember signing your first professional contract what was that like when you realized you've actually made it now you are a professional football i mean i wouldn't say

like my first professional contract was when i was 15 years old and i played for tirsa um but i wouldn't say that's like my biggest memory i think my biggest memory is when i signed for chelsea um and that That's when I knew, not new, but like, okay, I'm on a good way on my journey right now. And, yeah, I feel like that step coming here was the biggest in my career. And that's when I, yeah, actually could look back and be proud of what I've been, like, achieving so far. Nice. I mean, I do really want to get to Chelsea. But before that, there's still a few more steps.

And I want to ask about setbacks because football is, or any sport really, is a journey of ups and downs. And I want to know about some setbacks that you've had along the way. One that sticks out to me is just the ACL injuries, which are such a big topic in women's game at the moment. And you yourself experienced that back in 2018. Can you tell me a little bit about what that was like, any other setbacks that you've had to cope through? and I guess how you persevere through the mental and physical challenges. Yeah, it's actually two ASLs.

I've been through and two meniscus as well. So I think, yeah, three years of my career is, yeah, I've missed so far. So, of course, it's not easy. It's a part of football. I did my first SEL when I was 16 years old. Of course, when you're young, you need people around you. and luckily I had that both my family and friends who could support me but also people who you trust who you know knows what they are doing and yeah I think that was my biggest yeah what I needed was

people around me who I actually trust and I had one physio in the national team who who helped me during my whole career and she's been yeah probably the the most important person in my life. And then, of course, it's not going to be easy. For me, it's always been clear of what I want. And it's, yeah, I want to play football. And sometimes that can also be frustrating when you want too much because your body doesn't react on the best way.

So it's about patience and, yeah, working hard. For me, I find a hobby in, like, the gym. So now that's one of my, like, I love going to the gym, strength training and focusing on my like upper body and stuff like that so i think it's super important to find those kind of stuff that when it can't be out on the pitch with your with your teammates find something else to to get some kind of yeah competitive like set up goals okay can you do three pull-ups perfect next time i'm going to do four stuff like that that worked for me at least I love that.

You touched on the national team. I want to ask you about the Swedish national team. How much do you enjoy playing for your country? And what did it feel like when you first got the call up? Of course, it's a special feeling playing for a national team. It's a proud moment. I still remember my first call-up. And yeah, it was probably the best day of my life.

I really enjoy playing for the national team. and it's a group of like really good girls there so yeah i'm enjoying every minute and of course i've been able to play a few tournaments now which is always always something special as well so yeah i i really like playing for a national team what age were you when you got the first call up it was yeah probably around 17 maybe 18 it was straight before i got injured so yeah i I think I was around 18 or something. And do you have a favorite moment in a Sweden shirt? It must be the World Cup.

It was something special playing for Sweden in this World Cup in Australia. Last year, I think, yeah, the whole tournament was amazing. Now, you've spent most of your career so far playing in Sweden, but let's talk about the move to Chelsea. How did it come about? were at B.K. Harkin at the time, at what point did you realize that Chelsea were interested? I knew for a few months that Chelsea was interested. And then, obviously, we played the Euros. I knew they were watching my games and we had the communication. My agent and Chelsea had

that communication. I was just focusing on playing the Euros and straight after we lost against England with 4'0, like everyone probably remember. I got a call from my agent saying that, okay, it's, yeah, now it's done. So it was just like coming home two days and then after the euros, yeah, I pretty much signed straight away. You talked about how much it meant to you to move to Chelsea because that was your, or that was your defining moment when you thought, okay, my career is on a good path. But what made you want to move to Chelsea?

What is it about Chelsea as a football club? I mean, as soon as Chelsea showed some interests of me, it was pretty clear for me. Like, a clublar Chelsea, you can't say no to. I mean, it's been one of the best teams in the world for ages, I feel like. And it's just a special feeling. I don't know. For me, I didn't even doubt it. So, I mean, I felt like I was ready to take the next step in my career.

felt like I was really enjoying it at Beko Hecken and had two really good years there but yeah you come to a point where you feel like you need the next step so it was the perfect timing for me to yeah to come here and yeah obviously like I said I never never doubted it how did you find those first training sessions right at the beginning and what was it like actually coming here compared to your expectations of what you thought

what was the reality versus the fantasy like? And was it a big adjustment? You're moving to a new country and settling into London. Yeah, it definitely was. Of course, I knew, yeah, I got some kind of info from Magda, who played for the team at that time and Zichia. So I knew that it was a tough environment to be in.

And of course, it was challenging. It was different from what I was used to. both the tempo, the physical part, yeah, pretty much everything. But yeah, I feel like I learned a lot and I really had to be patience because, yeah, not everything can come in once. So I wouldn't say like it's not until now, actually. I feel like I'm, yeah, I can get out more of myself and actually, yeah, be myself. Well, obviously you mentioned Magda, but was there anyone else who you clicked with

when you first got here? Yeah, a few of the girls. Like, everyone is wonderful here. But, yeah, I knew Magdan and Sitcher from before, and obviously, Penile as well. And then, yeah, I mean, pretty much everyone. Erin Cutberg is, yeah, she's so funny. Bettingland, who was at the club at that point,

we also clicked from the beginning. Yeah, it's a few of the girls that, yeah, I really see become, like, my friends, even when the football career is over. What were the challenges in that first season? Yeah, I mean, it's about, like I said, the patience is probably my biggest challenge because I want so much and I want to play every game.

And obviously, in the beginning, it's about learning the new environment and it's going to take time. So for me, the patient was definitely the hardest part of it. When I look back to it now, I can see there it was a clear plan. I've heard it before like it takes one year to come into this environment and it obviously did for me so it's it's most about the mental part for me

because yeah I know I can play football it's more about trust myself build up my confidence yeah everything like that well talking of confidence I feel like your confidence has to have grown since arriving and by the end of that first season you should have been feeling very confident because you won the league and the FA Cup in the first year of being here. It's not a bad first season achievements. Not really. I was talking to my dad about it the other day. I mean, it's a very successful year.

And of course, I'm super happy that we won all of that. It's nothing you expect or, of course, you know what the standards is here. But still, it's not easy. It's challenging. And, yeah, I'm just super happy that I was a part of it. What can you tell us about Emma's impact on you since you arrived at the club? Yeah, she's been probably like the biggest impact in my football career so far. I mean, it's something special about her.

She really sees you for who you are. And with me, she's always been very clear with what kind of player she sees me as. And then, of course, it's about learning in the beginning. beginning and when I look back like last year I can really see myself yeah that's the reason why I'm why I am the player I am today um so yeah she's been super important to me and um yeah I really enjoyed every minute working with her I think every Chelsea fan I think every football fan would love to know what Emma's team talks are like give me an insight what is she like when she gives you a team talk i mean i can't really i can't really explain it because she i don't know

how she does it but somehow she always found this like yeah stuff here to the right thing to say um motivational like um yeah she she knows exactly what to say in the in the right moment uh and yeah i don't know how she does it but uh somehow how she managed to do it and you can see like all the girls are sitting like with their eyes open and yeah it's like firing the ice so yeah it's special to have as a coach what have been some of your favorite moments in a Chelsea shirt so far oh it's a few of course one of the like biggest memories that i come up that comes up in my head straight away is the the game against Leon at Stamford Beach last year when Maran scored the penalty in the last second

and then obviously one on the penalty sure that. Yeah, that one is one of those I will remember for the rest of my life. And also winning the league, winning the FAA Cup. And yeah, we had a few games now. Both Man United at Stamford Beach and Arsenal have been amazing. So, yeah, it's a few games I really looking back to and feel proud. I'm always interested when we have foreign players come to play in the UK. Have the team or maybe the coach, how do they explain to you guys how important the FA Cup is,

especially to, I guess, the fans. Yeah, that's one of the first thing I heard when I joined this. club that the FI Cup is something special and you could it could really tell I mean last year the final was something I've never experienced before and yeah as like like you don't really understand that until you come here and you actually see it yourself so yeah it really was something special touching on the fans how have they supported you during your time in blue and do you think that the Chelsea fans have something special that you haven't experienced before?

Definitely. The fans have been here since day one. And for me, I think my first game at Kings Meadow was like, wow, okay. Because I didn't know how big the arena was and how many fans was going to come. But still, even if it isn't like the biggest arena, it's still something special playing at Kingsmeadow. And the fans make it special because the atmosphere there is just a moment. amazing. And obviously, like, playing at Stanford Beach is, yeah, something different. And I mean, so far, they've been amazing. And, yeah, we have a few of them. That is, it doesn't

matter where we play. If we play in Amsterdam or if we play in, yeah, against Liverpool, they are always, always, always there. And yeah, you can always count on them. In front of a crowd of 32,000, what was it like when you walked out, where you were you expecting that was again the reality and the fantasy did it match up what kind of buzz does it give you is there pressure paint the picture for me it definitely give you that extra motivation i mean when you walk out there and you can just hear everyone even on the on the warm up you could feel the atmosphere like it was music everyone was dancing everyone was screaming it was yeah it was so loud and a player you love that um so for me i of course i always give my 100% but for the fans it's like

101 because um yeah you want to give something back and i definitely felt that against arsenal like everyone is here to watch us and yeah we do this together but so you must be that kind of player because i think that was one of the things that i found so interesting in covid when there were no fans there were some players that you clearly see that you clearly saw thrived and actually I thought oh you're playing much better um so i think it must be on an individual level would you say that you're someone who much prefers playing in front of a big yeah definitely i feel like i grow with that i feel like i um get that extra fire um from from the fans um so yeah of course i i love that but not maybe not everyone do that but for me it's

obvious. And how important is the Champions League to you guys this year and the idea of giving Emma that final send-off, the missing piece to the puzzle? Yeah, it's super important. Both for Emma, we want to, yeah, of course, win that with her. Also for us as a team, we want to do it together. And I feel like that is the missing piece. So, yeah, we'll super motivated about it and of course if you're here you want to win everything you doesn't matter what kind of game it is but of course we know that champions league is something that we haven't won so far you've talked about your mindset being i set little goals whether it's four pull-ups today and then five pull-ups tomorrow what are the goals that you've set yourself

this season this season was pretty clear for me to make more assist and score more goals that was one of the, yeah, the biggest things I was talking about before the season started. And then obviously, as the season went on, it's also about being as fresh as I can. When I'm a player like I am, I need to be fresh. I can't not be that and then expect myself to be on the level I know I can be. So, yeah, I think so far I've been feeling very good, been feeling like I get a lot out of my play and my style of playing. So yeah, I'm really enjoying it at the moment. I guess my next question is going to be on the mental side of the game and how important the mental strength is.

And do you have any, I guess, rituals or anything that you do to keep your mind in check? I'm trying to. I'm one of those players who go off the pitch and see the bad things I did. I was much worse like years ago you kind of need to let that go and the best thing about playing football is that you get a new chance if you do a bad game you get a new chance next game

and like now we play every third day kind of and it's I think that helps a lot I'm still like frustrated about a situation yesterday against Ajax which is like so silly because I shouldn't be thinking about that but it's still like oh why didn't I take the touch

my touch better and like actually there was a moment to score but well well i yeah i'm really trying to focusing on next game and what i can do different um but yeah it's it's a challenge for me it's the mental thing is like the biggest thing in football when you're confident and you feel like you're in good shape you you can fly you can do basically yeah whatever you feel like doing but it's so so easy to fall back and feel the different and feel like you don't trust yourself but yeah that's something i've been trying to work a lot with and especially with my with my boyfriend having him as a yeah like mental coach helps me a lot to talk about and yeah sometimes you don't want to talk about it all so um but yeah it's super important to to

not focus too much about what you did wrong absolutely Are you a big visualizer? I know a lot of players talk about visualizing things, but then others don't really do that. Are you someone who likes to visualize before games or after games? Yeah, I think I do that a lot, actually. I'm trying to visualize how I'm running on the wing and how I'm trying to see myself doing my one-we-one

to finish, do a good finish or whatever. As soon as I go out on the pitch, I don't think about that at all I'm just going with the flow and do what I feel like so yeah it's more about you want to be the best person of yourself every game and

yeah sometimes you can't and sometimes you can't so yeah it's a hard part of football and do you talk to yourself when you're on the pitch because I spoke to Fran last week and it was quite interesting because she was saying oh I talk to myself all the time and if I have a bad touch

And I'm like, you really messed that up. Don't mess up this one. And she was like giving me an insight into how she talks to herself, which was super interesting. Are you someone who does the same? Yeah, not maybe on her level, but I'm laughing because I can really see that. I think I've heard that as well. But yeah, definitely, especially if I do something bad, I'm like, okay, come on now. Let's focus now.

You can't do that again. Like saying that to myself, yeah, a funny thing. for me it's like a way to make it a little bit easier to focus on the next thing instead of be sad or be of course i'm i'm i'm better when i'm when i'm angry so i mean it's good to get yeah i am i'm i don't know why but i get really um we call it in sweden we call it like eldiroven which is like firing your ass basically so that's when you run when you run you can see like the fire behind you that's yeah yeah when i when i have that people know that i'm people who know me that they know that i'm angry johanna thank you so much for speaking

to me it's been an absolute pleasure i know that you need to shoot off so i appreciate you taking the time thank you so much to everyone for listening and remember just a little admin if you want to send in your questions we have an email it's we are chelsea at chelcfc.com thank you so much Thank you. Thank you for listening to We Are Chelsea. During the course of this series, we will be speaking in depth to more of Chelsea's top players and we'll also be bringing you all of the post-match reaction

to the biggest games with the players themselves. So remember to subscribe, give us a review and send in your questions to We Are Chelsea at Chelseafc.com. See you next time.