Meidema Manchester City unveiling to the media inside the Etihad
Meidema Manchester City unveiling to the media inside the Etihad
04/08/2024
Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
04/08/2024
Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon everyone, I am here today with our first sign of the summer, Viv Medemar.
00:12Thanks everybody for waiting, we'll start with some questions in the room, go for it.
00:18Hi, Alan from Sky here, good to see you here Viv. Tell us first of all the obvious I suppose,
00:25why Manchester City, was it an easy decision for you?
00:30Am I speaking through this one? Or am I shouting?
00:35I think obviously I've been in the league for a long, long time,
00:40and my gut feeling told me that I really wanted to stay in England.
00:45I've spoken to multiple clubs in England and also abroad,
00:49but obviously when I started speaking to City I got really, really excited.
00:54Mostly by the way they play, also by how other players actually talk about the club,
00:59and about how things were going.
01:02Eventually I think for myself, I wanted to challenge myself,
01:07and I know this wasn't the easy option, obviously moving within England as well.
01:13But I got really excited by the idea of being part of that City team,
01:17and that's really the reason that in the end I followed my gut feeling and I went for City.
01:22You know a lot of the players, but two in particular, Gilles and Kirsten,
01:27were they influential in the decision-making process?
01:31I mean I've known Gilles for a very long time, since she's 13,
01:35and we've always played together.
01:38I think she looks at football the same way as I do,
01:41and the moment that Gilles says she really likes something, that says a lot.
01:45So yeah, she's definitely helped me make this choice a lot easier.
01:49I do know a lot of the English girls already as well.
01:52Obviously I've played against so many girls for the last seven years anyway in the league.
01:56But yeah, that's definitely made my choice a bit easier.
01:59You're still only 27.
02:01Just 28 actually now.
02:03Getting old.
02:04Is the best still to come?
02:06That vast experience counts for an awful lot in the future.
02:10I hope so.
02:11Obviously I've had a difficult season, well season and a half really, with my knee injury.
02:16But I think coming back into national team camp over summer,
02:20I really felt like me again.
02:22I think I found a new appreciation for football,
02:25and I'm really, really excited to actually start here and be part of the team.
02:29I hope that my experience and obviously my qualities can help the girls around me,
02:33can help the team develop, and hopefully we can win a couple of prizes.
02:37And of course it would be Arsenal in the first game of the season.
02:40Yeah, I mean I already made a bet with Beth about it, that it was going to happen.
02:45It's obviously going to be a special game for me.
02:47I'm going to be playing in the Emirates before I'm going to be playing in the Joyce Stadium.
02:52But yeah, it's exciting.
02:54I'm happy to get out of the way I think,
02:56and I hope obviously that we can start the season really well then.
03:00Just finally for me, in terms of the role,
03:03have you spoken with Gareth about where you will play?
03:07Maybe outright sent forward or maybe more with your own role, which you have been?
03:12Yeah, obviously I spoke with Gareth over the last couple of months,
03:15and I got a really good feeling from him.
03:18I think if I look at myself in my career,
03:21obviously I actually started as a left winger, then moved to the nine,
03:25and recently been playing a lot as a ten as well.
03:28I think I'm very versatile in that way.
03:32I like complementing players around me.
03:34I like assisting, and it's not all about scoring goals.
03:37I think I'm quite flexible, and speaking with Gareth as well,
03:40I think we just need to find the right combination and go from there.
03:46Hi Viv, other than your international team,
03:49do you know which side to play with at City?
03:52Difficult question.
03:53I think I'm going to have to say Lauren Hemp,
03:55because she's been saying my name in every single interview.
03:58Now, a lot of the girls actually,
04:00I think they've got so much quality within the team.
04:03I have played obviously with the Dutchies,
04:05but I've played against City a lot of times,
04:07and they just play really good football.
04:10I am obviously excited as well to link up with Bonnie and the rest of the girls.
04:15I think it's a really exciting season coming ahead.
04:18How are you finding Manchester so far?
04:20I've only been here one day.
04:22I was actually complaining earlier that I thought it was really busy already,
04:25but obviously I'm used to London, so I can't really use that excuse.
04:29But I think I'm going to settle in just fine.
04:31I don't like the sun and the hot weather anyway,
04:33which I think Manchester is the perfect place if I need to believe everyone else.
04:38I'm really excited to be here and then to start finally.
04:52Do you have a message for the fans of City who are coming in?
04:56Do you have a message for them?
04:58No, I think as a footballer you love playing in full stadiums.
05:02I think the difference between winning a league title or not winning a league title
05:07can actually be the fans.
05:09All I would say is that please come to the stadium every second week,
05:13because obviously we play away as well.
05:15But come to away games, be there, support us in good and in bad times.
05:19We really appreciate it.
05:21We really feel it on the pitch.
05:23It can help us do that extra step and make us play even better.
05:28For me, I love playing in front of a lot of fans
05:32and I hope they all come to the stadium every game.
05:34How excited are you?
05:36Really, really excited.
05:37As I said, in my career I've always followed my gut feeling.
05:41I just had that gut feeling straight away with City.
05:45I think to finally be here, to get started, I am really excited.
05:49I don't love pre-season, so I'm really happy once the league actually starts.
05:54It's going to be really good to finally meet all the girls
05:56and obviously go on training camp together as well.
06:08I've been texting with Steph Houghton,
06:10because obviously I have taken over the number six.
06:13I said that I'm probably going to have to leave with more goals than she did.
06:16That's still quite a challenge, because she has scored a lot of goals actually.
06:20I think me as a player and as a person, I always look at the bigger picture.
06:25I would love to be able to inspire and help others develop and grow in the game as well.
06:31I will always be sharing my truth and I hope that we can develop together as a club.
06:38If we make the next steps and hopefully win a WSL title along the way,
06:42I think that would be a perfect legacy for me to leave.
06:47Hi Vivienne, you talked about linking up with Bunny
06:50and you've also mentioned about you complementing other players.
06:53Have you thought specifically about how you two will work together?
06:57Have you talked about that with the manager as well?
07:01Yes, absolutely.
07:02Obviously Bunny has had a great season last year.
07:05She's a really good player.
07:06I'm really excited as well to link up with the other players around her.
07:10I think it's going to be a very busy season.
07:14Hopefully with us qualifying for the Champions League as well.
07:16I hope that we can just find that right connection.
07:20As I said, my game is not around just scoring goals.
07:24It's also about making players around me better.
07:26I do hope and I do believe that I can also do that with Lauren Hempf,
07:32with Eban Nishal, with Chloe Kelly, with Fowler.
07:35Obviously with Gilles coming back, me and Gilles have got that natural connection.
07:38I really hope that we can bring the best out of each other.
07:42Coming back from an injury like you've had,
07:44what sort of targets, if any, do you set yourself?
07:46Is it about performances or is it more about fitness and confidence?
07:50How does it work?
07:52It's a bit of both.
07:54Obviously mainly to stay fit and to get back to me.
07:59As I just said, I felt a lot better in the last two games with the national team.
08:03I finally felt like me again.
08:05I want to just build on that.
08:07I know that I can still play football.
08:09I know that I still see it.
08:11I just want to show that on the pitch now.
08:14I think if you ask me that question in January and I've been fit and I've been able to play,
08:19then I can probably tell you more individual targets.
08:23But right now it's just staying fit and being part of the team.
08:28Hi there. Nice to see you.
08:30Can I just ask you about the event in Japan and the update?
08:33Have you ever been part of something like that before?
08:36What do you have to say about the club that you've joined?
08:40It's the first time actually.
08:42Obviously it's a long time ago since I last signed for a new club.
08:45Women's football was in a completely different state.
08:48It's obviously really, really nice to be included.
08:51I think one of my things about playing football is that I want to leave the women's game in a better position.
08:57I will fight for that no matter what.
09:00But it's really, really nice to see that City have made this first step.
09:04Obviously playing games in the Etihad next season.
09:07Again, it's been one of the clubs that I've really admired,
09:10how they've done things over the last couple of years with the women's team.
09:13That's why I'm really excited to be here.
09:17Hopefully next year this time when we sign another big player,
09:21there will be even more people there for the next girl coming in.
09:24You're obviously coming from Arsenal,
09:27who's a club that's been very widely praised for the place they've got their women's team to
09:31in terms of off-pitch interest.
09:33Do you see any similarities with what City are doing to try and maybe achieve those same goals?
09:39I have only been here one day now.
09:42I've actually spent two days with Chidi.
09:44But I think in terms of how things have been done at Arsenal,
09:50of playing in the men's stadium.
09:52It's not the men's stadium, it's the club stadium.
09:54So I think eventually we hope that women's football is going to grow into the direction that we can play all our games there.
10:01But again, as I said, I think City has been one of the leading teams in women's football as well.
10:06We all share a responsibility to bring not just women's football, but also the WSL to the next level.
10:12I am really excited to also see what other teams do in the league.
10:18I think for us and the talent we have in the team,
10:22I think we can only develop and grow even more in the next coming years.
10:28I just wanted to maybe go to elaborate a bit more on what you said,
10:32that joining City wasn't the easy option for you.
10:35Do you have in mind what would have been the easy option?
10:38And what maybe were some of the challenges that joining City after the meeting wasn't an easy option?
10:45I think obviously having spent seven years at Arsenal,
10:49the easy voice in my head said just go abroad.
10:54Go play for a team that can win the Champions League and go from there.
10:59I knew obviously that there were going to be very mixed reactions of joining City.
11:04But as I said, I think I'm a very loyal person, very loyal player in my career.
11:10I've always made decisions based off the whole picture.
11:14So not just football, but also off the pitch.
11:16And this time round, City just covered both of them.
11:21I don't ask people to understand it or to support it.
11:25But I do ask people to respect it.
11:27And as I said, I'm just really, really excited now to be here and to wear a City shirt this season.
11:35And hopefully just get back to my own level.
11:38And in the end of the season, I hope that we're sitting here with a prize.
11:42Were there any clubs abroad specifically that were viewed as the easy option?
11:47I mean, obviously I've been speaking to a lot of bigger clubs.
11:50I have played abroad before.
11:52Obviously, I play in Munich as well.
11:54And yeah, they did give me a good feeling.
11:59And I am obviously very fortunate to have had the choice between multiple clubs.
12:03But yeah, again, I just had to follow what I thought was best.
12:09Thanks, Kit.
12:10Thanks, Kit.
12:28I mean, in football, especially these days, we're obviously moving a lot more to how it goes on the men's side as well.
12:35I've been having contact with clubs for a long time.
12:38And speaking to different clubs, different coaches.
12:41And that's an ongoing process for a couple of months.
12:45And a decision like that is not made overnight either.
12:49Obviously, there's a lot of things to consider.
12:51Especially for me, having built up a life in the UK.
12:54Also, coming back from injury.
12:57And you look at the whole picture and where you think you're going to get the space to allow yourself to be back to your best playing ways.
13:06And yeah, again, City was top of that list.
13:23I definitely do not like the spotlight.
13:25I've been saying that a lot today, actually.
13:29But I also know that with me being me that comes with it.
13:33And especially with us wanting to grow the women's game, that's obviously going to be more and more.
13:38I think I am used to it by now.
13:42I also can be completely honest.
13:44Pressure has always been something that I've struggled with in my career.
13:48And I think coming back from injury, I think a lot of people expect magic.
13:52And they expect you to put your boots on and go out and score a hat-trick.
13:56Which is just really, really difficult if you've been out for so long.
14:01Hence why I really try to not put too much pressure on myself.
14:05And hopefully, again, now in the future I can actually deal with that pressure a bit more.
14:10But I also think a lot of times I can use that as a lot of motivation.
14:13And I hope that this season I can turn into that and play my best football yet.
14:32See you.
14:33Bye.