18 hours ago
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"They always say champions are made when nobody's watching."
That is a theory raised and forcefully supported by Mary Earps, who was already a serial winner before her move to Paris St-Germain last summer.
Striving for more success, the England goalkeeper embarked on a fresh journey when she swapped Manchester United for life in the French capital.
"I've kind of gone away from the craziness of England. I get to go away and work hard in silence and just kind of get on with my job quietly," Earps says.
She appreciates having the space to grow as a footballer away from the spotlight, allowing the gruelling work to be put in.
"That was something that always stood out to me when I was young," Earps tells Football Focus.
Earps was a crucial member of England's Euros-winning squad in 2022 and was awarded the Golden Glove as the Lionesses reached the 2023 Women's World Cup final.
Stellar performances earned her the Fifa Best goalkeeper award for two years running - in 2022 and 2023 - while she was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2023.
For Manchester United, she played every league game for four seasons as the club's outright number one and won the Women's FA Cup in May 2024 before heading across the Channel to France.
So why did she leave?
Earps believed the move abroad would make her a "better player" and "require a different level".
"It's been an amazing few years, but I'm always thinking about what more I can do," she explains.
"I've been named best goalkeeper in the world for two years and I did it two years running, which no goalkeeper has done in that time, but I'm thinking I want to do it a third time.
"That's just how I am, that's what always drives me. I'm always competing with yesterday's version of me, and that's what's really important to me, how can I be better than I was yesterday?"
Since joining PSG, Earps has established herself as the first-choice goalkeeper with 12 appearances in the club's 14 Premiere Ligue matches.
They are third in the league, eight points off leaders Lyon, but were knocked out in the second round of qualifying for the Champions League.
PSG's goalkeeping coach Mickael Grondin has praised Earps' intuition and focus.
"I think Mary's personality is like sunshine. She is full of the joys of life and that's important to me," Grondin says.
"She has an instinct about what her opponent is going to do. You can't teach that. Very few goalkeepers, and I'm including the men in this, have that intuition.
"She's someone who likes working hard. She pays attention to every moment, both on the pitch and off it."
Earps, who this month is on England duty for Nations League games against Portugal and Spain, is enjoying the different philosophy in the French top division.
"There are a few things we have identified, like positioning, some different technical aspects of my game, and also a few tactical things as well," she says.
"I've got quite a free role on the ball at the moment, which I'm really enjoying."
However, the language barrier has proved a challenge for the Nottingham-born goalkeeper, who says she has a good understanding of French but jokes that it takes her "five to 10 working days" to respond to team-mates.
"That's probably been the biggest challenge so far - trying to get on the same page in the exact moment when the English and the French doesn't quite mix," she says.
"If you're in a stadium full of people, plus the language, plus the timing, that just adds a whole new level of complication."
