The 24-year-old was ahead of Mary Earps in England's goalkeeper pecking order at one point, but hasn't even played a game this season
It was seven years ago that a talented teenage goalkeeper, by the name of Ellie Roebuck, made her senior breakthrough at Manchester City and usurped an established England international, former Lionesses’ No.1 Karen Bardsley, to become the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. This season, history appears to be repeating itself at the club – except this time it’s Roebuck who is on the wrong end of the story.
A stalwart in this City side since the 2017-18 season, which she started as an 18-year-old, Roebuck is yet to see a single minute of action this campaign for her club because of 19-year-old Khiara Keating. The gifted young goalkeeper has been head coach Gareth Taylor’s No.1 in the Women’s Super League since the new season began, and after her excellent performances, that looks unlikely to change anytime soon.
It must be strange for Roebuck to watch the situation unfold, with the shoe now on the other foot. She’s done so from the stands for large parts of the season, often not even named in City’s matchday squad because of Sandy MacIver, the Lioness-turned-Scotland international, assuming the role of cup ‘keeper and Keating’s back-up.
Most recently, the impact of her lack of playing time has resulted in her losing her place in the England squad. Sarina Wiegman had included her – and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton, who has only made one appearance for the Blues after a summer move from Aston Villa – in the Lionesses’ October list because of the “credit” they had built up. However, though there was a place for Hampton in December, Roebuck missed out.
For a goalkeeper with her talent, for someone who looked set to be England’s No.1 for years to come when Wiegman first arrived, it’s quite an incredible situation that she finds herself in. So what has happened?
GettyEngland’s No.1
Let’s rewind to 2021. With Bardsley and Carly Telford nearing the end of their respective careers and an exciting crop of young goalkeepers coming through, the No.1 shirt was well up for grabs with England – and Roebuck appeared first in line for it.
The then-21-year-old started two of the Lionesses’ three friendlies at the start of 2021 and all four of Great Britain’s matches at the Olympic Games, which took place one month prior to Wiegman’s arrival as England’s new head coach.
Having emerged at City as a teen sensation, she could boast serious experience at this point despite still being so young, and her talent was there for all to see. This was a player who looked ready to be her country’s No.1 for the next decade, one might've argued.
AdvertisementGettyInjury hits
But then came an injury that would put a serious dent in those hopes. In August 2021, weeks before Wiegman’s arrival and on the eve of the new season, Roebuck suffered a calf injury. It was something City coach Taylor described as “a slight issue” and “nothing too severe”. Yet, she would go on to be sidelined for five months.
Speaking to reporters at the group-stage draw for the 2022 European Championships in late October, she admitted that the first real setback of her young career had been “tough” and “really frustrating”. “I felt like I was in really good form and, coming off the back of the Olympics, I was ready to really kick on and look ahead to Euros,” she said. “It's not meant to be yet, but I'm working my way back. It's been very frustrating and time consuming, a lot longer than I thought.”
Initially expected to be out for four to six weeks, she returned briefly after that period, but another scan revealed a tear to another area of her calf and further complications followed. She lost all range of movement in her knee because of the pain she was in and even struggled to get answers from specialists in Barcelona, before finally getting on top of things at the end of the year ahead of an eventual return to action in late January.
All of this, though, meant she missed out on Wiegman’s first three squads as England boss – and while she was sidelined, someone else was making quite an impression…
GettyEarps’ emergence
Mary Earps had not had an England call-up for almost two years when Wiegman started her role as the Lionesses' head coach. Her last appearance for her country had been a big one – at Wembley, against Germany, in front of a record-breaking crowd. Yet after that, a call from former boss Phil Neville would never come again.
“To go from the highest high and play for your country in the biggest game in English female football history, in front of nearly 80,000 people, to then not get selected for SheBelieves [Cup, three months later] was very difficult for me personally,” Earps told in 2021. “I won’t sugar-coat it, I will tell you straight, it was very difficult. I don’t mean from an ego point of view, I mean [it] genuinely hurt to the core of my being."
When Wiegman arrived in September 2021, she brought Earps back and made the Manchester United shot-stopper No.1 for her first games in charge. Barring a bit of rotation from time to time, Earps has remained first-choice ever since, grabbing her opportunity to impress with both hands.
Indeed, the 30-year-old has transformed into one of the best goalkeepers on the planet over the last two years, with her performances at the Euros in 2022 and the World Cup in 2023 absolutely crucial to England reaching back-to-back major tournament finals.
GettyStruggles for form
Meanwhile, having set very high standards beforehand, Roebuck hasn’t been her best since that troubling calf injury. The eye test is backed up by the numbers on that, too. Comparing her stats in 2020-21, her last full season before the problem, with 2022-23, her first full season back after it, her save percentage was down – overall, in the box and for shots outside of the box.
The 24-year-old's passing accuracy also decreased, that ability on the ball one of her biggest strengths as a goalkeeper, while her confidence in collecting crosses had clearly taken a knock, as evidenced by the significant increase in drops she registered in 2022-23, having not totted up any in 2020-21.
After starting 10 games by the end of the 2021-22 season, Roebuck said ahead of the summer’s Euros that she had “felt good” since returning, but added: “I'm not by any means where I want to be in terms of match sharpness and things like that. There's so much room for improvement and I know that anyway, so I'm up for that challenge and every day I'm pushing to be better than what I am.”
That may have carried over into the 2022-23 season a little, but to say it has been a surprise to see Roebuck not play a single minute of football in this current campaign is an understatement.