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When a club is preparing for its fourth major cup final, it helps to have somebody in the squad whose tally of Champions League final appearances alone surpasses that. Enter the serial winner Fridolina Rolfö, who has helped Manchester United reach a final at the first attempt in her first season in England. What else did we expect? It is just what she does.
The Sweden winger, who arrived from Barcelona last summer, is speaking to the Guardian about Sunday’s Women’s League Cup final against Chelsea, the holders, and her winning mentality quickly reveals itself when she says of reaching the final: “Yes, we should be proud, but of course we’re not happy – we want to win the final as well.
“This is what we all strive for. The club wants this. We all want to win it and we strive to get there and now we’re there. We’ve been performing really well and we had a great game against Arsenal [in the semi-final], so we deserve to be in this final.”
This showdown at Ashton Gate is in line to be Rolfö’s 14th major final appearance. The 32-year-old has been involved in two Swedish cup finals, two in Germany with Wolfsburg, three Copa de la Reina finals, an Olympic final and five Champions League finals, so how does she prepare for the big occasions?
“I usually try, especially when it’s an afternoon or evening game, to do something throughout the day so I’m not only thinking about the game and getting stuck in my head, so I’m trying to [go] grocery shopping or doing something that can distract my mind a little bit,” the two-time Champions League winner says.
She also tries to pass on her experience to younger players, be that “through communication” or “leading by example”. She says: “I know how you win. I know what I can bring to the team to help in those games. I hope I can help with my experience when we’re getting to those big games.”
Rolfö has played a key part in this cup run, scoring a late winner in the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Tottenham in December, and is in strong form, with four goals and two assists in her past six United appearances. She says of her decision to join on a two-year deal: “I had a really good chat with Marc [Skinner, the head coach] and Matt [Johnson, the director of women’s football] and others and I had a good feeling. I felt like they wanted me here.
“They needed experience and so on, and I felt like: ‘OK, I can bring something to this team,’ and I had a great feeling for the team. I heard many positive things and I was also impressed by the last season, how good they were performing, so there were many reasons and I felt like: ‘OK, this is the team I want to play for.’ In the end, it was an easy choice.”
Nonetheless, she says it was “hard to say goodbye” to Barcelona, with whom she won four league titles: “It was sad. I was there for four years and I had a great time. But I’m also happy that I took the decision to come here.”
United were delighted to capture someone of Rolfö’s calibre, especially on a free transfer. She has 107 caps and 33 goals for Sweden but has spent most of her career in Germany and Spain, so how is she finding her first spell in English football?
“I like it a lot so far. It’s been very competitive. The league is so much fun – it feels like you get challenged every week.” Also on the horizon is a European quarter-final against another of her former clubs, Bayern Munich. “It’s fun that we get the possibility to play both Champions League and the cup. We’ve got a young team and it feels like we’re enjoying playing together. So far it’s been a great first year here in Manchester United and now the most fun parts are coming.”
Rolfö has predominantly played in a front three for United, which is where she has most commonly been deployed throughout her career, despite adapting superbly to play as an attacking left-back for Barcelona. “I get more out of my qualities when I’m in a more offensive position,” says Rolfö, who started her career as a central midfielder. “At United, I feel like I can help more in front of the goal. I know how to position myself and also I can bring my experience there. But I still like to play left-back [too]. I really like to defend as well. I’m a pretty flexible player.”
She could be up against a former Barcelona teammate on Sunday in Lucy Bronze, as Chelsea contest the League Cup final for the seventh year in a row. Last month United lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup after extra time. “We know how successful they have been the last couple of years,” Rolfö says. “They are on a really high level, but I still see our chance to win the game.”
