Scotland & Arsenal's low-key, high-grade superstar

Kim Little doesn't accidental overmuch publicly. She doesn't station overmuch connected societal media. In truth, she doesn't request to.

A vocation of letting her feet bash the talking means determination are plentifulness of team-mates and coaches consenting to outcry from the rooftops astir her greatness.

A TikTok video of her Arsenal team-mates talking astir her said it all.

"Greatest midfielder of each time" was mentioned.

"Legend" was thrown successful there.

And the connection "underrated" came up much than once.

And present Little is simply a Champions League victor astatine the property of 34 aft capping a stellar 19-year vocation by captaining Arsenal to triumph implicit Barcelona successful Lisbon.

Yet adjacent successful her autochthonal Scotland, her talents person been somewhat nether appreciated.

The information she retired from nationalist work successful 2021, portion inactive playing astatine the apical level, has ne'er been overmuch discussed oregon scrutinised adjacent arsenic Scotland person stumbled severely successful her absence.

But her displays successful the Champions League this play person emphasised conscionable what a prima she is.

"Kim Little is an unbelievable footballer who goes nether the radar each the time," her team-mate and England skipper Leah Williamson said aft the 4-1 distant triumph successful the semi-final against eight-time champions Lyon.

"Unfortunately, the planetary signifier didn't supply her with immoderate of these unthinkable opportunities but she's a subordinate worthy of 7 oregon 8 Champions League titles."

So what makes Little truthful peculiar successful the eyes of team-mates?

The show against Lyon epitomised her all-around spot arsenic a midfielder.

She recovered abstraction to get Arsenal moving, portion getting stuck successful and arriving into the container to get successful positions to score.

Former England striker Ellen White played with Little during her archetypal spell astatine Arsenal - arsenic good arsenic with Great Britain astatine the Olympics - and came up against her successful the Women's Super League too.

"I don't privation to propulsion this connection astir a batch with players, but she is an implicit legend," White said connected BBC 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly podcast.

"She is the GOAT. She is unbelievable. Her method ability, her shot intelligence. Her feet are similar Velcro, the shot conscionable sticks to her. But past her timing of runs into the container arsenic well.

"She's a phenomenal leader. She doesn't scream. She doesn't shout. She lets her shot bash the talking. It's her presence."

Jen Beattie was a team-mate astatine Arsenal and Scotland and besides believes Little's quiescent enactment and cognition assistance to marque her truthful good.

"She leads by illustration - she doesn't overly speech negative, but she's solution-focused," said Beattie.

"She's the benignant of idiosyncratic that you look to during the lucifer and beryllium like, however bash we lick this? What bash you deliberation of that? And she'd ever beryllium truthful calm and collected."

The professionalism that anyone who knows Little speaks of has helped her person unthinkable longevity astatine the apical level.

She signed for Arsenal successful 2008 and made her Scotland debut astatine 16, winning titles and PFA players' subordinate of the twelvemonth grant successful 2013.

During palmy spells successful the United States and Australia successful betwixt her stints astatine Arsenal, she played with immoderate of the world's best.

US goalkeeper Hope Solo called her "the astir talented subordinate I person ever played" with successful 2016.

Nine years on, she is inactive doing it, and is heading towards 400 Arsenal appearances, having signed a caller woody to the extremity of adjacent season.

"The crippled has evidently changed dramatically implicit the clip I've been playing," Little told BBC Scotland's Behind the Goals podcast.

"The grooming has increased, the velocity and level person been increased, and I've ever been precise alert of the carnal requirements I request to enactment astatine the highest level."

Listen to Kim Little connected the Behind the Goals podcast

21/05/25

But it has not conscionable been astir maintaining her carnal condition. Little has adapted her crippled done her career.

Early on, she was a goal-scoring fig 10 and regularly deed treble figures successful a season. Only 5 players person scored much than Little successful Women's Champions League history.

But passim her clip with Scotland, erstwhile they often played without the ball, she took connected much work successful defence and for starting attacks.

In the twilight of her nine vocation she has taken connected a akin role, portion ne'er losing the knack of timing large runs into the box, arsenic demonstrated by her extremity successful the 4-3 triumph implicit Manchester United connected the last time of the Women's Super League season.

This season, uncertainty was creeping successful for immoderate astir her quality to run successful the bosom of Arsenal's midfield, peculiarly fixed her age, their beardown squad and immoderate lingering wounded issues.

"It was frustrating erstwhile radical were questioning erstwhile she had immoderate fewer niggles and was getting backmost acceptable but her presumption is built for her," White said.

"And she conscionable bosses that midfield with her intelligence, her footballing ability, her presence, her talent, her enactment qualities arsenic well."

When Little amazingly announced her planetary status successful 2021 aft earning 140 caps and scoring 59 goals, she said it was thing she had been reasoning astir "for a while".

Having yet got to play astatine a World Cup successful 2019 - she missed Euro 2017 done wounded - it is possibly understandable she felt she had scaled the upland with the nationalist side.

Prolonging her nine vocation indispensable person been a origin and leaving besides opened up much clip successful the calendar for different things - and Little has present gone done immoderate of her coaching badges.

However, determination was sometimes a proposition quitting was partially down to immoderate dissatisfaction with the Scottish FA's perceived deficiency of absorption connected the women's side.

Whether that is the lawsuit oregon not, Little has been a large miss connected the pitch.

It is hard to ideate her ability, enactment and large crippled acquisition would not person made a quality successful play-off defeats by Republic of Ireland and Finland - sides Scotland were astatine slightest level with successful presumption of squad quality.

The information the country's champion subordinate has been absent has not been arsenic intimately scrutinised arsenic mightiness person been expected, particularly fixed the caller deficiency of success.

And though a instrumentality astatine 34 seems unlikely, caller caput manager Melissa Andreatta did accidental she would similar to "connect with" Little.

Her relation successful beating a formidable Barcelona reiterated her worth.

The Catalan nine had won 3 of the erstwhile 4 editions of the tournament, and boast Spanish World Cup winners and superstars Aitana Bonmati, Patri Guijarro and Alexia Putellas.

But Little - who joined the nine the play aft they past won the contention successful 2007 - and her team-mates overcame the odds.

Speaking afterwards, the jubilant Scot said they had tried to replicate Barcelona's movements successful grooming to enactment retired however to combat it.

Several times they failed, until they recovered the solution.

"It was the cleanable execution of a gameplan which arsenic a footballer, is 1 of the champion things," said Little.

"It showed successful our performance. How we approached the crippled was precise controlled and past we had small pointers of content arsenic we knew we would request that."