Erin Cuthbert is your all-action midfielder. Versatile, tough-tackling and passionate, she epitomises everything it takes to create the winning machine that is Chelsea Women.
But like most things in football, her journey has not been - nor still is - linear. It was relatively recently that she made the transition from a more attack-minded forward or wing-back to a midfielder.
"My move into midfield was only maybe four years ago, so around half of my Chelsea career," Cuthbert exclusively told Sky Sports at the launch of the Curl Master ONE, a unique football training device designed to improve a football player's ball curling technique.
"As much as everybody says, 'oh, you're such an experienced player', I totally agree, but in the same vein, I'm still in my maturity phase in midfield where I'm still learning the ropes.
"I have to adapt my playing ability to different players, which is quite exciting and something I really enjoy. I'm almost the flexible one within it and I love my team-mates to shine. If I can bring out the best in them, then I'm one happy person."
Such versatility means it has taken the 27-year-old time to discover her best place in a multi-talented Chelsea team.
Now, with experience and gaining the trust of her managers, Cuthbert has the in-game autonomy to contribute where she feels is best.
"I think my role has grown over the years," she said. "I really enjoy the dogged games where it's close. I enjoy doing what the game needs and having that responsibility and freedom to feel like I can go and get the game by the scruff of the neck in different ways, whether that be defence or attack.
"That's been built over a number of years of trust and responsibility, because I wasn't always a midfielder and I feel like you need to gain the trust of a manager to be trusted in there.
"Once I found my feet and I had a couple of years in that position, I feel like now I can take the responsibility and lead others around me.
"It's great to be a versatile player, but you don't want to be labelled as that your whole career so I wanted to nail something down. I do enjoy the No 6 and No 10 positions, but I feel they're both quite limiting.
"I see myself as more of a box-to-box [midfielder]. I can add a bit in the box and getting forward, but equally, I like to get stuck in and win some tackles for the team.
"Sonia [Bompastor, Chelsea head coach] and Emma [Hayes, Bompastor's predecessor] like to play different formations and different set-ups in the midfield. I'm finding my feet within that and being used as and where needed.
"If they want me to be more attacking in any given game, I can be, and likewise defensively. Having that flexibility that I can manage the balance of attacking and defence myself, that's been a growing evolution of getting that right for each game and what's required. Experience has led me to getting a little bit better at that."
'Chelsea team-mates have helped me become a better player'
This season marks Cuthbert's ninth at Chelsea - the second-longest tenure at the club after captain Millie Bright. She joined the club as an 18-year-old in December 2016, and has enjoyed unbridled success since.
And much like her approach on the pitch, the Scotland international thrives on the competition for places in one of women's football's deepest squads.
"I feel honoured that I've managed to survive nine years," she said. "I love being able to compete on all fronts and being at one of the best teams in Europe, arguably the world as well.
"Every year, there's always somebody coming for your position and that's what I enjoy the most. I enjoy the fight. I enjoy that bit of dog in me that comes out when I'm faced with a bit of competition.
"Do I think I'd be half as good player as I've maybe turned out to be should it not have been for my team-mates? Absolutely not.
"They've pushed me to become better each and every season. Whenever I see a threat, I try and take it in my stride as best as possible and say 'OK, you're not replacing me, you're playing with me'. That's stood me in good stead over the years.
"I'm not naïve to think that I'm the best player in the world, but I control it with my hard work and my application every day."
Despite that humility, her individual accolades last season earmark her as one of the best in the WSL at the very least.
She was included in the PFA's Team of the Season and was named as Chelsea's Player of the Year.
"It's great to be recognised, but I don't think it was my best season," she said. "I still think there was another level of my game that I never found and we weren't maybe playing our best football.
"I had a good season, but I don't think I had a great season. I just maybe cropped up in the right moments at the right times to produce some big moments.
"To be recognised among the players I was amongst, that's crazy to me. That's proper cool and makes me happy.
"I hold myself to really high standards and that's set me in good stead, but I think there's more in me. I want more for myself. I want to see where I can get to and see where my ceiling is, give my best in every game I can and push the team to success.
"But I'd take a domestic treble over a PFA Team of the Year, every day of the week."
So that begs the question - how does Cuthbert go about finding her best levels this season?
"That's the million-dollar question. I need to stay fit, first and foremost. A few injuries held me back last season - unfortunate, contact injuries, which is notoriously what I'm known for.
"But I think keep refining my game, keep asking all the right questions, keep wanting more from the staff in terms of analysis, keep having all the right conversations on the pitch to make me better and the team-mates around me.
"Keep giving 100 per cent in training every day and making it as difficult as I can from a defensive point of view for my team-mates, but as good as I can from in attack for them to score. It just comes through your daily habits every day."
'Taking Scotland back to a tournament one of my greatest dreams'
Cuthbert is a proud Scot who made her international debut just before her 18th birthday and six months before she joined Chelsea.
Scotland recently appointed a new manager in Melissa Andreatta as the team look to make a first major tournament since the 2019 World Cup when qualifying for the 2027 tournament begins next year.
Cuthbert said of her new boss: "I've enjoyed working under her, my first couple of camps have been really promising.
"She knows exactly what she wants, she's very direct and she's not willing to settle. Melissa believes in the group and she's had a lot of belief since she came in.
"It's nice to have that belief back in the group again, because when you miss out on a couple of major tournaments, then your belief in everything drops a little bit.
"Our performance against the Netherlands (in a 1-1 Nations League draw) just before the summer really reflected the belief that we've been building in the group. I was really proud of the performance, and it felt like we were at the start of a really exciting journey.
"I'd love nothing more than to take Scotland back to a major tournament. It's one of my greatest dreams."
Erin Cuthbert was speaking at the launch of the Curl Master ONE, a unique football training device designed to improve a football player's ball curling technique. To purchase yours, visit www.curlmaster.com.
Sky to show 90 per cent of all WSL games from 2025/26
Sky Sports has begun a new five-year partnership with the WSL, showing 90 per cent of all Women's Super League matches from the 2025/26 season. Sky Sports will show 118 live games, including 78 exclusively
From this season, most Women's Super League matches will kick-off at 12pm on Sundays - subject to stadium availability - giving fans a regular and accessible viewing window.
Sky Sports will broadcast matches concurrently across channels, including Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+ and the Sky Sports app, offering greater choice and visibility.
The Sky Sports app also makes it easier than ever to follow the action on mobile with vertical video highlights, match centres packed with scores and stats available for FREE to all fans, plus live streams for Sky Sports customers.
Free-to-watch match highlights from EVERY WSL game will continue to be served up on the Sky Sports website and App.