Katie McCabe is one of those special humans who knows that cold is a mental state. Of course she is.
The Arsenal midfielder says it just like that too: “It’s all mental, isn’t it?” Yes, McCabe can wear shorts when it’s sleeting and the Met Office is slinging blizzard warnings. And she can leap into a post-match ice bath like it's a warm-weather plunge in a Chilean lagoon. Because (and this is not a pun) it’s all mental.
“The thing with an ice bath is that you can add it as an activity on your WHOOP,” explains the 28-year-old, who has been an ambassador for the wearable technology company since well before Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo got involved (“I’m an OG,” she states with a tone as playful as it is assertive).
“And when I do an ice bath, I see my heart rate spike up like so high,” she says, laughing. “The longer I’m in there, it continuously goes down. But it’s interesting to see the body’s response to it versus your attitude.”
There are few other players more obsessed with marginal gains than McCabe. Without indulging in pedantry, margins is probably too broad a word to describe McCabe’s ultra-competitive streak, as is the word competitive. Let’s call it passion: unbridled, sometimes unfiltered.
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Wherever the Republic of Ireland international can wring out an advantage, however seemingly inconsequential, she will twist at the fibres until they break. Whether that’s tracking every second of her sleep cycle, poring over her protein intake or getting under the skin of her opponents with what detractors might consider petty antics: bundling into rival players as they’re setting up a free kick, using an elbow, metaphorically chomping on their ear until she hits the fuse.
“I just play my game to be honest,” says McCabe, more than aware that sometimes she can ignite an ideological fault line on social media after a match. “I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m playing for Arsenal and Ireland, whatever that may look like for opposition fans or opposition players.
“I always have a desire going into every game that I want to make it difficult for my opponents. I play hard, I play physical, that’s my game. You’ll have to ask the opposition players what they think of me. But that’s my game, play hard but play fair and maybe pick up a rare enemy along the way. But what’s most important for me is competing and doing my best and giving my 100 per cent to the team. And winning games, of course.”
Katie McCabe during the 3-2 win over Manchester City (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)Winning games is the topic at hand, or rather, how to win them next season. Arsenal lifted the Continental Cup trophy again this year, defeating Chelsea with minutes left in extra-time at Molineux Stadium, fuelled by the collapse of teammate Frida Maanum earlier in the game. But heading into the final WSL weekend, it’s Chelsea and Manchester City tussling for the league’s top spot, Arsenal, as was the case last season, safe in third with European qualification confirmed.
“For us, it’s the responsibility you have in an Arsenal shirt,” says McCabe. “That’s the expectation: bring trophies to the club. And yes, we won the Conti Cup this year but overall, we’d be disappointed.
"We want to get Champions League football. We want to be playing in group stage games. We want to be playing at the Emirates week in and week out.
"We’re hungry for that, we’re hungry after getting a taste of it, we want more, of course it’s going to be a long summer with international football but I have no doubt that when we get back together as a team pre-season, we’ll be ready to achieve that.”
McCabe certainly will be, despite a summer calendar that looks anything but like a summer without a major tournament. Busy June and July windows filled with crucial European qualifiers need to be dealt with, while a post-season tour of Australia for Arsenal Women cuts into any downtime immediately following the season’s technical end.
Katie McCabe in a huddle with teammates during the comeback win against Manchester City (Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Champions League qualification will be here before the sounds of summer have been afforded time to sunbathe. Shouts from McCabe’s teammates such as Beth Mead have been emotional as players beg for the calendar to be reconsidered.
McCabe doesn’t entertain the idea. Instead, as is her wont, she confronts it. “I think it’s going to get bigger. For me, it’s about dealing with it.”
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The calendar's hectic swings is one reason McCabe has become so invested in charting every molecule of her physical and mental performances via WHOOP, from how much carbs she needs after a match to tracking the stages of her menstrual cycle. While at Arsenal she has experts tailoring a lifestyle to every need and whim, away from the training ground, no such constant support exists. Progressing becomes up to the player.
The midfielder speaks about the app with the same excitable glee she does when speaking about walking out into Emirates Stadium on game day, purring at times about the minute details. We talk about her WHOOP journey in almost a biblical way: pre-WHOOP Katie and post-WHOOP Katie.
“Katie has become more educated,” McCabe says, adding that recovery has become a particularly important part of her regime. “The last couple of years I’ve been able to edge those one percents each time.”
Those strides are notable, particularly amid a squad that has been ravaged by injury crises across the last two seasons, a large reason for their failure to be in the title conversation again on the final day. Last season, McCabe played the second-most minutes of anyone in Arsenal’s squad, behind only forward Frida Maanum. This season has seen McCabe keep that form, totting up the third-most minutes behind only forward Alessia Russo and goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger.
Katie McCabe with teammates Kim Little, Beth Mead and Leah Williamson (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)“That’s all down to WHOOP,” McCabe says, a dash of self-awareness in her ambassadorship role revealing itself in a laugh. But she swiftly pivots, her voice taking on an air of gravity. “I take my performances so, so seriously. It’s not just turning up every once and a while. You have to be there and be consistent. That’s been going on for the last couple of years. I’ve just been trying to maintain that lifestyle but I’m hungry to win. I’m hungry to be successful with Arsenal and I want to win trophies.”
McCabe's dedication to consistency is something that Arsenal will hope to continue to glean next season. McCabe has no desire to part ways anytime soon, the roar of the Emirates Stadium all too beguiling still, as is the frisson she still feels when standing in a huddle with her teammates as Arsenal Forever suffuses them.
A player who won’t be able to help McCabe with her mission of returning the Gunners to consistent predator mode is the WSL’s record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema. The Netherlands international will depart the club at the end of the season, a decision that has garnered mixed reactions The 27-year-old is still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury but her goalscoring exploits and understanding of the game are unrivalled.
McCabe hugs Vivianne Miedema after she scored against Liverpool (2024 The Arsenal Football Club Plc)“It’s incredible," McCabe says of her teammate. "You look at the stats in themselves, the appearances, the goals, the assists. Even the 2018-19 season. I don’t have the word for her, she’s just an incredible, incredible player. I played against her as a 19-year-old for Ireland and she scored a hat-trick against us in an under-19s Euro semi-final. She always stood out to me from there.
“So a few years later when I became teammates with her, the way she trained every day and what she can do, her football IQ, it’s just a natural talent that she has and what she has gifted the club in terms of the goals she scored, it’s just been incredible to watch her journey from the young player to the experienced player she is today.
“She’s outspoken, she wants to drive standards, she’s always been there and she’s a massive part of what she’s brought to Arsenal, she’ll always be an Arsenal legend for sure.”
McCabe, too, will likely go down as a legend. Yet, while her reputation has become one of unbelievable goals and moments of madness, it’s the consistency upon which McCabe’s legendary status should arguably hinge.
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