Man City's Casparij on Manchester, cats and being mistaken for a gardener

In BBC Sport's Eat & Yap series, Alex Scott meets some of the best WSL players to share the food they love and to chat about life on and off the pitch.

Watch the interview in full now on BBC iPlayer

Kerstin Casparij has been setting the pace down the flanks for league leaders Manchester City all season.

On the latest episode of Eat & Yap, while teaching Alex Scott how to create the Dutch delicacy oliebollen, she reveals how she ended up with a cat tattoo, why her girlfriend thought she was a gardener and why team-mate Vivianne Miedema causes her to swear in Dutch.

Alex: OK, so talk to me, what's on the menu.

Kerstin: All right, so you'll see a massive pan of oil, which I know doesn't look too nice, but I've been able to prep some butter and this is for a snack called oliebollen.

Alex: So this is a bit of home?

Kerstin: It is very Dutch and we only have them around New Year's. You can only get the packaging around New Year's as well. Don't look at the calories actually, because that's why we don't have them all year round!

Alex: Some recipes had currants and raisins for this...

Kerstin: I don't like the raisins!

Alex: We're on the same wavelength there! I'll warn you, I'm not very good at hiding things if I don't like them.

Kerstin: Alex, I'm Dutch. Do I look like the type that hides it?

Alex: Talk to me a bit more about life at home because you grew up in what, a remote part of the Netherlands?

Kerstin: So I'm a northern girl. I'm from a province called the Friesland and I'm very lucky that I grew up in a small town where a lot of sports are available. Playing was like a two-minute walk from where I used to live, which was perfect.

Alex: I feel like it was always definite you were going to go on and be an athlete then?

Kerstin: Well, my parents met both playing for the Dutch national team and they both did judo, so there was no choice other for us than to do sports.

Alex: How did the people back home describe you back then?

Kerstin: People mostly described me as loud, very chatty - I'm raging ADHD. I've calmed down a little bit now but as a child I was all over the shop. It was such a good thing, growing up and wanting to become an athlete, because I was so hyper-focused on football.

Alex: Sometimes that's hard to navigate, so how did you do that?

Kerstin: At that time I was really struggling to keep up in school, to get ready for tests and also do all my football. Once I had the diagnosis, I was speaking to psychologists and my parents were very supportive. It takes time and I still have a lot of things to learn about myself.

Alex: Would you say Manchester feels like home for you now?

Kerstin: Definitely. I think the people here are so nice. That's one of the things I heard when I was going to join. I live here with my girlfriend - we've got our cats.

Alex: So you met your girlfriend in Manchester?

Kerstin: We met on Tinder in Manchester. It was great for me because I was a bit lonely, living on my own and I was just excited to meet other people outside my team-mates. I love my team-mates but sometimes you want to see other people as well.

Alex: Sometimes that's the part that's hard to explain. Yes, you are fully immersed in football but it's equally as important to have other hobbies.

Kerstin: My girlfriend always says: 'You've got such a football perspective' and also just work-life balance. It's so different than she has, working nine to five and being off at weekends. Your work is not your life, not your personality and it doesn't define who you are. Being able to see that side of it and her allowing me to step away is really nice.

Alex: You said you met on Tinder?

Kerstin: Yeah and to be fair, I was debating whether to go on Tinder. This was at the point in my career where I wasn't that known.

Alex: Did I read you didn't put any photos up on Tinder of you in football kit?

Kerstin: I didn't put any bio - I didn't put any pictures of football. So Ruth had no idea that I was even sporty. She thought I was a gardener because I was tanned… She had no idea about football so it was fun to introduce her to the world and now she's a massive fan. She knows all the gossip! Sometimes she comes home and she tells me these things and I'm like: 'How do you know this?'

Alex: So you've got Ruth, and now two cats?

Kerstin: Kiwi and Mango. Both fruits. I got Kiwi because I was on my own and I was very lonely. Then I met Ruth a couple of months later and we're both away quite a lot so we thought we should get Kiwi a brother.

Alex: And next level, you have a tattoo.

Kerstin: Yes, I've got a tattoo of them. Should I show you? I've got a tattoo of them looking into a wine glass just because they're cute and silly.

Alex: Are you fully immersed in Manc life? What kind of slang words?

Kerstin: I kinda just copy everyone else.

Alex: What about when you're back with the Dutch team?

Kerstin: I definitely struggle having to switch to Dutch again, like finding the words because I only speak Dutch with my mum.

Alex: What are the team meetings like in Manchester City then? Is it fully English or do you have translators?

Kerstin: It's all English. I know some that do struggle a little bit and when they have a meeting with the coach, they do have a translator to make sure they're being heard. To be fair, team meetings are really good. Andree [Jeglertz] really made a point about it being really open. We're all in a massive circle rather than an auditorium so when you speak you can actually look directly at each other. We really work together and everybody has a voice.

Alex: You do team bonding stuff?

Kerstin: We've made it a very big thing to have a lot of team activities this year. So I'm captain of the team activity crew together with Laura Coombs. We went to Crystal Maze the other day with players and staff, which we've made a big thing. We want to get together with the staff as well, just to get that connection.

Alex: It's how they know you away from the field as well.

Kerstin: Yeah, exactly. More of your personality. Sometimes it can be a bit of a step to approach someone in a leadership role and to get everybody together and just do something fun away from the club in your own clothes creates such a nice bond. You actually have conversations that you might not have at the club.

Alex: I think you've done a cooking class didn't you? How did that go?

Kerstin: It was a success - it was Italian dishes. Some people made amazing risotto, they were getting the lemon in and it looked unreal. Some people burned it and some people were screaming that it was sticking to the pan.

Alex: Come on, name names. Who's the bad cook?

Kerstin: I'm not going to expose my team-mates.

Alex: Let's talk about temptations and cravings, because people are starting to talk about Manchester City potentially lifting the WSL trophy this season. Are you believing? Why are you laughing at me?

Kerstin: I mean, it's kind of funny because we were in such an underdog position going into this season. I felt like everybody was talking about Chelsea, Arsenal, [Manchester] United. It was kind of nice being left out of the conversation and I think we really took that as motivation.

Alex: What do you think has changed?

Kerstin: It's little tweaks that matter the most, and also Andree's playing style. We get so much freedom, and also trust and responsibility. Previously it was a good system but a bit robotic at times. We do all the analysis and he gives us everything we need but if something's a bit different, he can't change that from the side. Leaving that space allows us to be adaptable on the pitch.

Alex: What do you put your form down to?

Kerstin: I've got such a strong desire to show everybody what I can do and be the best that I can be. I'm really enjoying our offensive style of play this year and linking up with Bunny [Shaw] and Kerolin and all the other incredible forwards that we have. It's just been a joy to work. I go every day with a smile on my face.

Alex: I've always wanted to learn about different cultures and I suppose you have that at Manchester City?

Kerstin: That's one of the things I love about football in general. We travel to these amazing places, but also my team-mates are from many different continents and cultures. It's been an eye-opener because I'm from a northern town in the Netherlands. We didn't have a lot of diversity growing up, so meeting these incredible people has been really inspiring.

Alex: There are some cheeky elements to your game, which I absolutely love. Is this you trying to put the opposition off?

Kerstin: To be fair, I'm a bit annoying when I'm marking, like trying to push away. I'm not the tallest, I'm not the best at heading so I'm a blocker. Just be the annoying little fly, the little mosquito that doesn't let them head the ball.

Alex: You've now got Dutch team-mate Vivianne Miedama at the club - what's it like having her at club level?

Kerstin: She's a fantastic player. In training, it looks so easy and she looks like she's putting in minimum effort and she bangs it into top bins. I swear at her in Dutch - no-one knows what I'm saying! She's such a good player to have with all her experience. A little bit of Dutchness can do wonders.