On Saturday, the European Champions kick off their homecoming campaign against fellow continental champions Brazil at the City of Manchester Stadium (known as the Etihad Stadium at club level). England Manager Sarina Wiegman said it was important for her England side not to dwell on their past successes and instead look to the future.
On team news Wiegman announced: “Hannah Hampton is not available for tomorrow. She has a small elbow injury. She will be assessed and we will see how that goes on Tuesday. Sophie Baggaley came in. Lotte [Wubben-Moy] went home because she felt unwell, so she is recovering at home. Hannah is here and will be on the pitch, modified.”
Wubben-Moy’s withdrawal means that there is another gap in the options for the backline. “Of course it’s always a test. It’s really good that we have four friendlies over the next couple of months. What you also want to do is try out new things, see players, see different combinations. So that is a huge opportunity,” Wiegman said.
Earlier this week, Lucy Bronze was announced as England’s player of the year and her manager was full of praise. “Her consistency and the way she conducts herself on the pitch and off the pitch. She is so tough. And she has made a huge contribution. She impacts players’ lives, just by helping them, supporting them, whenever they need something. She has great levels on the pitch, because that is the reason why I pick her. But when all this extras comes with it, it really helps the team moving forward,” said Wiegman.
On the back of the Euros this summer, the Lionesses will now be going into a new cycle as they look toward the 2027 World Cup in the homeland of Saturday’s opponents. Wiegman reflected on how the squad mentally parks what they have achieved in the summer, and go again now.
“It’s different for everyone. What we do, always, is celebrate. We review what went well, what we have to improve, what are the trends and how do we move forward. Time flies, and we want to move forward. That is how we approach it to the players, every player adapts to that in their own way. And we try to support. We don’t ever push away what we have achieved, because it is very special and we will always cherish that,” she said.
“But we have to move forward. We want to stay on top, and this is the opportunity to try out things, which we did last year too when we qualified for the Euros. We tried out things, and some things go well, some things do not go well. But it gives information about players, about ourselves, about opponents. It’s good to play countries that are outside of Europe, it will be very helpful and valuable moving forward.”
Looking at Brazil as a squad, and as an opponent, she said: “They are very physical and athletic. They have a lot of pace upfront. They can play football, but they also really want to play fast forward. It will challenge us. With the South-American mentality there will be a lot of flair. And we will try to stay out of the fight and play football, but they will go one on one, they will want to challenge, and they will want to get into duels, but we are going to try and stay out of those duels.
“[Brazil] are really hard to beat. It’s going to be a huge challenge tomorrow,” she added.
After Wiegman’s press conference last week, there was a lot of discussion online on how she sees Maya Le Tissier as a right-back rather than a centre-back, but the manager insisted that Le Tissier’s best position is whatever is best for England.
“I watch Maya all the time,” Wiegman said, “and I think she does a great job, for us too. How our team is built at the moment, with the players we have, she is most likely to play right-back, I also know, which I also said in that press conference, she can play as a right centre-back, and she does a real good job at Manchester United, but that is how we as England, and I as a coach, look at it this moment in our team.
“I can’t control [the discussions online]. We’re so visible, so you all have your opinions and that’s okay. What I’m trying to do is do the best for the team, get the best team on the pitch and see things in these four games. Of course, we always play to win but now we also play to develop and in every game you do develop. Sometimes I think I really want to see a player no matter how the game goes, I want to see someone because we want to learn.
“We have to qualify first, but it’s in the tournament when you are set on things – while we also know that in top sports you might be set but the next minute you’re not set and you need to explore another scenario. That’s how it goes. I just try to stick in the bubble. I know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” she added.
“You have to find opportunities. You don’t get that many opportunities anymore in international windows. So now we have these friendlies and yes, of course we want to win every single game, but it is now also an opportunity to try out things and to see many things of players and of combinations. So that’s what we’re going to try to do. Because it might be the last period we can do that too.”
England will face Brazil at 17:30 BST at the City of Manchester Stadium.