Bouquet for ex-Arsenal manager Tony Gervaise from come-back girl Rachel Yankey

Published: 16th June, 2011
by CATHERINE ETOE

FORMER Hampstead School pupil Rachel Yankey has heaped praise on ex-Arsenal manager Tony Gervaise following her inclusion in England’s 2011 Women’s World Cup squad.

Yankey was a shock omission from England’s 2009 European Championship team but the in-form Gunners winger has forced her way into Hope ­Powell’s 21-woman squad for Germany.

And the 31-year-old told us that Gervaise played a key part in her return to form.

“I appreciated so much how he treated me,” she told the New Journal. “He made me feel a valued part of Arsenal and, without him, maybe I wouldn’t have come back the way I did.”

But come back Yankey has, scoring seven goals in 17 games for Arsenal, and finding the back of the net twice for England in 2010/11. 

It’s a facet of her game that she also attributes to Gervaise, who left Arsenal in 2010.

“Tony used to say to me ‘shoot’ and he rang me up before we started the Women’s Super League and said: ‘Just shoot’,” says Yankey. “Sometimes maybe you need telling. 

“I still don’t score many for England so I’ll just try and shoot and you never know, but I feel confident in how I’m playing.”

Yankey, who holds 109 England caps, is joined in the squad by Arsenal team-mates Faye White, Steph Houghton and Ellen White.

England’s World Cup campaign begins in Wolfsburg on June 27 with further group matches against New Zealand and Japan on July 1 and 5 respectively.