Kenza Dali: ‘I will tell my story after the Euros. A lot of lies have been told’

‘I had hard times and this team really gave me back my love and motivation for football,” Kenza Dali says of San Diego Wave as she prepares to open up on a turbulent year.

Over the course of a refreshingly honest conversation, the midfielder reveals why she left Aston Villa to move to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in January, main points why she is playing operating underneath Jonas Eidevall and discusses, for the primary time, the grief that affected her participation within the Olympics. There is, on the other hand, one subject on which she isn’t slightly in a position to enter main points but.

The 33-year-old, who has 76 caps for France, was once one in all 3 skilled stars – along the previous captain Wendie Renard and Eugénie Le Sommer – neglected when head trainer Laurent Bonadei named his squad for the European Championship. Dali is obviously saddened via the placement however does no longer desire a disagreement to distract her compatriots as they get ready for the event. “I will tell my side of the story after the Euros, for only one reason – it’s because I have too much respect for my teammates to put the spotlight on a decision that is difficult to accept because I think there are a lot of lies,” she says.

“I really hope they do well. I have too much respect for the jersey to put out my side of the story now. I know it’s going to be everywhere and they are preparing for the Euros and I don’t want to disturb that. But it’s difficult for me because I’ve been playing maybe some of my best football. It’s really difficult to digest because there are a lot of lies in the story that’s been told but I will tell my side after the Euros.”

Dali has just right explanation why to really feel pleased with her shape since shifting to California. She has been a key participant for San Diego this season, serving to them to a flying get started. The Wave are 2d within the desk, a limiteless growth on their 10th-place end ultimate time period, underneath the steering of the previous Arsenal supervisor Eidevall, who was once appointed head trainer in January.

“When I signed for San Diego a lot of people thought I was crazy,” she says. “They were like: ‘They had a terrible season last season, the environment isn’t great’ … I heard a lot of things. But I’m someone that wants to see with my own eyes and the work of the people behind the scenes has been incredible. The recruitment has been really, really good, and the appointment of Jonas was a massive difference too.

“The funny part is, I heard a lot about Jonas in England and not always nice things. When I joined San Diego, people were like: ‘What is she doing? She’s going with Jonas!’ But I really enjoy the way he is working. He’s really tactical. He really works a lot and San Diego’s performances are credit to him. He built an identity in a short space of time. My relationship with him is great. I’m really enjoying every single minute.”

Dali is going on to precise how a lot she is playing espresso via the seaside alongside the Pacific coast after her spells in England with West Ham, Everton and Villa. Her temper is just right, which is a distinction to ultimate summer time as she competed at a house Olympics feeling disenchanted following a circle of relatives bereavement.

“I lost someone that I was really, really close to, a member of my family,” unearths Dali, who scored in France’s group-stage victory over Colombia in Lyon to lend a hand them succeed in the quarter-finals.

“I don’t want to say who but that really affected me personally. The Olympics were really, really difficult for me because this person used to be at all my national team games.

“I didn’t want to play the Olympics because I was grieving and it happened two weeks before. My teammates convinced me to stay, Hervé Renard [France’s coach at the time] was amazing to me. I ate with the team and participated with training and meetings and then I was going to see my family. So the Olympics were really tough.”

And then she returned to her membership. “After the Olympics I got time off, because of my circumstances, and then I arrived at Villa. I was really happy to come back but the new manager [Robert de Pauw] didn’t want me there,” she says.

“I still don’t know the reason, but he made it clear that he didn’t want me there. So I was like: ‘Wow, this is a shock,’ because I had been really looking forward to [returning to] Villa.

“I waited until the winter. Then they changed manager again [to Natalia Arroyo after Shaun Goater had briefly been in charge on an interim basis] and my contract was until the end of June, so I went straight to the club and said that I’m staying even if the offer from San Diego was massive [because], for me, Villa was home. But I didn’t feel the club wanted me to stay. They didn’t make me feel that I was a priority any more.”

‘San Diego in point of fact put the whole thing in for me to return and, in any case that had came about for me, I in point of fact sought after to be in an atmosphere that I used to be valued,” Dali provides. “This is a completely honest answer that I’ve never shared, this is what happened. Jonas really wanted me. He explained to me his gameplan and where he sees me in his system, and he convinced me. I had other offers but I picked San Diego. I’m glad I did it because I’m enjoying my football again.”

Dali, who helped France succeed in the Euro 2022 semi-finals, is not just playing enjoying for San Diego however, extra extensively, enjoying within the NWSL: “The massive difference is the fact that every team is playing for a title,” she says.

“In England you’re starting the league thinking: ‘I’m going to try my best to finish top five.’ The top four never really change. In America, because of the salary cap and everything that is different here, I feel like everyone has the same level. But I love English football, England is the country of football. That’s why it was really hard for me to leave.

“When I start a competition, I want to win as many games as I can,” she provides. “I’d prefer to lose 5–0 but [know I] tried than to park the bus and concede three. This is not my vision of football.

“Our first objective here was to qualify for the playoffs but, as a group, we want so much more. We’re kind of going step by step. It’s a completely brand-new team. With 11 or more new players, what we’re doing right now is unbelievable. I do think we have the team to compete for something big.”