Sarina Wiegman shines light on 'new England' as Lionesses defend Euros title

Daily Mirror

a day ago

England have made a number of changes to their squad since winning the European Championships in 2022 and Sarina Wiegman is managing a squad in transition
Sarina Wiegman has drummed the idea of a 'new England' into her squad as the Lionesses prepare to defend their Euros title. Wiegman's team won on home soil in 2022 but face a different kind of challenge in Switzerland, beginning with the opening group game against France on Saturday.
England go into the tournament with some key members of that 2022 squad no longer part of the group, but Wiegman has been able to bring exciting young players into the fold, viewing the competition as a new chapter rather than a straightforward title defence. 'We've spoken about it several times, a couple of months ago, about where we're at,' Wiegman said.
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'The team has been in transition, of course, and we absolutely cherish what we have done before, we never forget it. Those are lifetime experiences for us and for our families and also for fans.
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'But you have to move on and you have to be on top - things are changing very quickly and are developing very quickly and we have to do [that] too. It's a new challenge, the approach was there anyway but we call it a new England."
England captain Leah Williamson also reflected on the conversations between Wiegman and her squad, with conversations about the new approach happening as long ago as February. 'I think it's new territory and [Sarina] explained it very well, not necessarily looking at it as a defence, but a new challenge and a new opportunity to do something new,' Williamson said. "We take any challenge that comes our way but it's more about focusing on the day-to-day and that's always the dream.'
One of the questions going into the opening game concerns whether Lauren James will be ready to start for England. The Chelsea star made her return from injury against Jamaica on Sunday, providing an assist, but there is significant competition for places in attack.
" LJ, she's in a good place," Wiegman said. "Of course, she came on the pitch against Jamaica last week and she's ready to get more minutes tomorrow."
"Well I'm not going to give you the line-up, but she played 30 minutes last week, so she can play more than that. So I think that will say enough."
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France boss Laurent Bonadei is aware of the threat of James, but also recognises England have dangerous players all across the pitch. "In this team there are many famous players. James but also [Alessia] Russo a good striker in the front," he said.
"You have also [Keira] Walsh in the mdfield, she can organise the ream v well, and players like [Jess] Park, [Beth] Mead, [Ella] Toone, [Georgia] Stanway also, they can take the ball from deep.
"We have to be focused on the opponent but my philosophy is to also be focused on our games and our team and how we can manage the players to win the game."
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