Arsenal’s Alessia Russo on Football, Gratitude, and her US Return

England and Arsenal forward Alessia Russo already knows how she wants to spend her time in the United States.

The team is preparing for a first-of-its-kind preseason tour, first playing the NWSL’s Washington Spirit on August 18th at Audi Field, before a friendly against longtime WSL rival Chelsea on August 25th. But Russo also has other plans for her time in Washington, DC.

“I’m excited to go to Chipotle — I love it there,” she told Just Women’s Sports about a week before her team was scheduled to fly across the Atlantic. “They do actually have a couple in London, but they’re really far out for me. So I’m looking forward to Chipotle.”

Russo has already seen her football career take her to heights she only dreamed of as a kid, winning the European Championship in 2022 with England, making it to a World Cup final the following year, and signing with Arsenal in 2023 after a successful three years starring for Manchester United.

Russo’s footballing journey first took her to the US in 2017, where she cut her teeth in NCAA soccer at the University of North Carolina alongside current Arsenal teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy. In a way, her team’s trip to Washington, DC — about a four-hour drive from Chapel Hill — is a bit of a homecoming for the striker.

“I loved my time at college,” said Russo. “I remember going out there quite young and naive, and I thought I’d kind of throw myself into this new environment and experience. I came out of it with best friends that I still speak to now all the time.”

Even as sold out stands at Wembley have become commonplace for the 25-year-old Kent native — not to mention the increasingly enormous crowds at London’s Emirates Stadium where Arsenal Women will be playing 11 home games this season — Russo’s memories of Chapel Hill are more akin to the average college student.

“We used to have our pre-games all the time at Panera,” she recalls. “Everyone used to think like, ‘Why are we going to Panera again?’ But Lotte [Wubben-Moy] and I used to love it, so I’m sure we’ll take a visit back there.”

While Arsenal’s preseason tour will allow Russo plenty of time to relive her glory days, it will also act as prep for the upcoming WSL season, as well as a way to reach fans that might not otherwise ever get to see their favorite players in person. The club has leaned into those particular opportunities throughout the 2024 offseason, already completing a short tour of Australia.

Russo has cherished the chance to play in front of fans across the globe, but with a tight international calendar and mounting club workload, she’s had to be mindful about getting rest on her precious off-days.

“I think you really need to make the most of it when you do get time to fully switch off,” she said. “[It’s] something that when I was a little bit younger I probably wasn’t as good at, but as I get older, it’s knowing your body a bit more, knowing what works for you.”

She enjoys the rare warm weather holiday, and Russo went on to note the support she has gotten from both the Arsenal and England training staffs, and how load management — especially during preseason — can be a key factor to achieving individual and team goals.

Their test against an NWSL team currently sitting third in the league standings will also be an important step in Arsenal’s preseason plans, as well as a challenge that draws specifically on Russo’s time at North Carolina. The NWSL is known for high transition-style play, moving the ball quickly and hurting their opponent on the counter.

The Spirit have taken that ethos and evolved it this season, creating a sturdy midfield that can retain possession as well as push back on the wings with former Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez taking full control of the squad.

“I think it’s going to be a really tough game, and we all know that,” Russo added. “Also, they’re in their season, so they’re going to be firing, they’re going to be on form.”

But should the match open up, Russo will be ready: “Going to the states, I developed a different side of the game in terms of strength and power and physicality, because in order to fit into the game and into college football, you needed to be strong.”

“I just had to kind of catch my body up with where I…continued