Angel City drafted midfielder Miri Taylor in the fourth round of the 2022 college draft. The Hofstra University graduate played for Chelsea and Arsenal as a teenager and has 21 caps with the England youth national teams. We talked about the decision to come to the US for college, the differences between NCAA and English club football, and her impressions of LA so far.
You grew up in Gillingham, in southeast England. How did you get your start in soccer?
[When I was a kid,] I danced and played football. All my mates at school were boys, so they would go off to soccer and I would go and dance. I loved dancing, but I did miss my friends. So I started in this little boys’ team. I would get funny looks from the mums and dads and everyone, but I loved it. All the boys were really, really nice, they were all my friends.
One day my coach said, 'you can't play for this team next year.' My dad got upset, because he thought it was because I was a girl, but the coach said, 'No, she has to go and try and play for an elite girls' team”—he was being nice.
So I played for Gillingham, which is my local center of excellence, for a year, and then Charlton for two years, and then Chelsea when I was 12, and I was there for six years—moving up to the reserves and then, when I was 16, to the first team, where I’d train a couple of days a week and sometimes be on the bench.
[At 16], I was the second-youngest player ever to play for Chelsea. My first appearance was away at Doncaster Belles when I came on for Karen Carney. I was ecstatic. The captain was Katie Chapman, and Millie Bright was there, Fran Kirby, Ji So-Yun, who is a magician. So the Chelsea team was unbelievable.
At the same time, I played with a boys’ elite academy, until I was 18. I went to school alongside playing at Chelsea. Then I went to Arsenal for one year and trained and played with the first team, then went to [Hofstra University].
What did you learn from being in a professional environment at such a young age?
I was in secondary school, and it was exactly the environment that I wanted to be in in the future. I learned a lot about the importance of things like recovery, what you eat, how many hours of sleep you get. When I was young, no one thought about that. It was just, “how good are you at football?” I saw how [my teammates] chose their words, and how they were always on time—little things that really add up. I think I adapt to certain situations quite well because I was just really lucky to be in that environment at a young age. All the girls were amazing. Getting to train with them a couple days a week, watching Ji So-Yun and Fran Kirby and Katie Chapman, who was an absolute beast.
Then at Arsenal, the first team had Jordan Nobbs, Kim Little, Lotte [Wubben-Moy], and Anna Patten, who were just two years older than me. It was really like, if I want it, if I work hard enough, maybe that can be for me.
Talk about the decision to come to college in the United States.
I think it was mostly for the football–academic balance. I always wanted to alleviate, if I could, some financial strain on my parents. Going to America and being told that I would hopefully get a full ride was everything I dreamed of. Playing good football, seeing a new part of the world, meeting new people, getting a degree, it seems like a no brainer, really, because in England that level of play as well as a university degree is not really found, or it's expensive.
I wasn't really thinking about the draft when I decided to go to America; I just thought, degree and football. And then our team was really good. We got to the second round [in 2018, 2019, and 2021] and we had fantastic players, some who have gone pro. There were a lot of [other] foreigners, which also helped me adapt to it—it was a big jump at 18.
How did college soccer compare with the clubs you played at in England?
Well, notoriously in England or in Europe, it's very ball-oriented. A lot of possession, a lot of just beautiful football. So knowing that [American soccer] was fast and strong and it was transition-heavy and it was very strategy-based also pushed me to go to America—knowing that the style was different. I thought it might add something new to my game that, if I didn't go anywhere else, I wouldn't have gotten. So I think I was just excited for that, just to get faster and fitter and stronger. And [having played with the] boys helped that massively.
When I was younger, I played America twice [with the England youth national teams], and you could tell that they were athletes and we were footballers. And I thought, “can we mesh the two? Could I ever be both?” So I went to America with the hope that I could be both.
Do you think that’s changing in Europe, or that it already has changed?
You watch, like, Spain play, and it's beautiful football. But when they play America, they just get bullied. And sometimes they lose just on transition—they can't cope with it. But I think America has changed to be more ball-oriented and I think Europe and England in particular have changed to be fitter and quicker and deal with it. So I feel like both sides have meshed.
How excited were you when England won the European Championship?
It was unbelievable. We were training at the Banc and I was so excited to train. It was the day before a game, everyone was buzzing as usual at training. But that day I was like, “can we please just watch the game?”
But we won. I know a lot of the girls on the team, I played with a lot of them. I was in [the England national team] until U19. It was unbelievable to just watch the reception from all my friends, like at the pubs and all the people in the stadiums—the whole country got behind all the girls and I think it was a long time coming. It finally came home, and I hope it does again.
I love that it's the women who finally brought it home.
Oh, exactly. Especially because the men lost against Italy last summer. That was pain. But yeah, it was long overdue.
Pivoting back to your career, you’ve played a few positions at Angel City. What is your most comfortable position, do you think?
For me personally, number eight. Right in the middle of the pitch. But at university, Simon [Riddiough, the head coach at Hofstra] put me at the number nine and I just wanted to play and help the team—and I want to be versatile as well. So I gave it a go and it worked for the team.
And then here, I've been like a bit of a number nine, a bit of a right winger, and also I played center mid the other day. I love that people feel like they can put me in different positions, but personally I love being at center mid. I've played as a number six my whole life, and then as I've gotten older, I've slowly crept forward.
Playing on the wing, like you’ve often done at Angel City, is so different from all of those.
When I was eight years old, I was a left winger!
But I think with our shape, it's not like an out-and-out winger, where you’re stuck on the wing, it's more compact. Our shape kind of allows people to do what suits them and doesn't just put them wide and isolated. So I feel like even though I have played right wing half the games I've played here, it’s not a traditional right wing. I'm really happy to play wherever—just put me on.
What have you improved on since coming to Angel City, and what are you still working on?
I've improved on fitness—I think you can't help but improve your fitness [in the NWSL]. It's something that, coming from England to America, has been an area that I need to work on. My basics have gotten a lot better, I think—the weight, the height, what foot [a pass is] played to, where the pressure is coming from, where I want the ball. I feel like every day in training, it's like a little jigsaw puzzle that you kind of have to piece together and I think slowly like I am improving. I feel like my positional awareness, because I play different positions, has improved as well.
But I know I have to work on executing everything to the best of my ability, no matter how tired I am or how the game changes. I think consistency for me is a big push. And just like, chilling out sometimes. Sometimes I'm a bit—I play with intensity, and for some people, and myself, it can [look] a bit frantic. I want to win the ball and I’ll push people out of the way, and sometimes I'm not getting in the line I need to to stop the ball going forward. But I feel like that's improved a lot as well, especially with being more positionally aware.
How are you finding LA so far?
I didn't think I'd love it as much as I do. I'm not very good with heat, as you can probably tell from my accent and how pale I used to be! But I love the beach. I feel like everything is in such close proximity, so we can go to the beach and go shopping or to museums. The food is good. I didn't think I would love it as much as I do, because I'm a real homebody. Even though I've lived in America for four years, I just really love England. And LA is so different.
You went to school on Long Island, and now you’re here—so which is better, New York or LA?
LA. I'm sorry!