Sarina Wiegman: The England manager is football's ultimate tournament specialist

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2 days ago

On Sunday in Basel, England manager Sarina Wiegman will attempt to win her third straight Women's European Championship.
Having triumphed on home soil with the Netherlands in 2017, she took England to glory in 2022. And on both occasions, she followed up European success with a run to the World Cup final, where her Dutch side were defeated by the United States in 2019, and England lost to Spain two years ago.
This means Wiegman has now reached five finals from five tournaments as an international manager, an unprecedented record in the men's or women's game. It's all the more impressive when you look at those two sides' performances without Wiegman during the same period: no finals at all. And she's partly responsible for that: Wiegman's Netherlands eliminated England with a 3-0 semi-final win in 2017, and the 55-year-old's England were effectively responsible for knocking out her home country with a 4-0 group stage win in this European Championship.
Five in a row is a remarkable, unlikely achievement — particularly given England's struggles throughout this tournament. England were soundly defeated 2-1 by France in their opening game, were 2-0 down to Sweden before coming back and winning on a penalty shootout, and trailed 1-0 to outsiders Italy for an hour of their semi-final before scoring a stoppage time equaliser, then a winner two minutes from the end of extra time.
Wiegman's team selections have been questioned; her apparently tardy use of the substitutes bench was cited as the problem in journalists' hastily deleted early drafts of match reports from the Sweden and Italy games. But by the final, Wiegman is always there. No one in world football guarantees tournament progression like her.
There isn't anyone quite like Wiegman in the men's game, where club football is considered the highest form of the sport, and where managerial salaries are generally higher than in international football. But in the women's game, international football has retained its superiority in terms of prestige — and salaries. Wiegman has worked in international football as a scout, assistant coach, interim coach and now an outright coach. There is no suggestion that she must test herself in the club game, and she has become football's ultimate tournament specialist.
And international football is very different from the club game. It is generally more relaxed, then suddenly more intense. Last year, Thomas Tuchel was appointed the England men's manager, his first job in the international game. Considering the men's side's struggles with foreign coaches, it's not unreasonable to think Wiegman's success has convinced the FA that it is a workable solution.
Tuchel has succeeded in club football, leading Chelsea to European Cup success in 2021, but he's frustrated by how little time on the training ground he has with his players, and may not be able to implement the tactical details that have made him successful in other jobs. Wiegman is accustomed to all this and knows the limitations of international management.
She sometimes doesn't see her players for months, then every two years has to select a squad that lives together for six weeks. This can be tricky, especially at a time when the profile of certain England players has taken off. It's why international managers focus so much on harmony; they often talk about 'the group' as much as 'the squad', a subtle difference but one that conveys the importance of off-the-field togetherness.
The decision of Mary Earps and Millie Bright, who had fallen out of Wiegman's first XI, to withdraw from the squad shortly before the tournament could have been considered a major blow. Instead, it got any lingering personnel issues out of the way. 'It's a really, really difficult job when you're in a tournament,' said midfielder Keira Walsh of Wiegman's management. 'Obviously people want to play, people aren't, but she really, really cares about the human side.'
A constant theme emerges from Wiegman's international tournaments. Players speak about how the strength of the squad is that everyone knows their role: whether it's a key first-teamer, a regular substitute, or a backup unlikely to see any action. If you don't like that, don't come — as with Earps and Bright.
When introducing players late on, Wiegman speaks about ensuring there is clarity on their tactical responsibility. Even when throwing on multiple attackers to salvage matches late on, Wiegman has always had a clear system. Despite ending up with a top-heavy side for an all-or-nothing late spell of pressure, Wiegman has been confident enough to persevere with the system during extra time.
Wiegman speaks about the importance of preparing for every scenario, but she's also adept at thinking on her feet. She comes up with innovative ways to solve problems. In the quarter-final, Sweden were pressing in such a way that put centre-back Jess Carter under serious pressure in possession. Wiegman's solution was to switch her two centre-backs, Leah Williamson to the left, and Carter to the right. This worked perfectly. England started building up play from the back more effectively and grew into the game. It's difficult to recall any other instances of a team switching their centre-backs midway through a match in this manner, but it made perfect sense.
Similarly, when England were trailing Spain at half-time in the World Cup final two years ago, Wiegman elected to substitute both her main striker, Alessia Russo, and the player who had just finished as top goalscorer in the Women's Super League, Rachel Daly. Needing a goal, Wiegman took off her main two goalscorers — because she thought what England needed was more pressing energy high up the pitch from Lauren James and Chloe Kelly. On this occasion, it wasn't effective, and England lost 1-0. But few managers think outside the box like Wiegman.
The funny thing about the most successful managers is that, in a desperation for critics to find faults, they are often attacked for polar opposite things. In the men's game, Pep Guardiola made Barcelona into the most celebrated side of the modern era, while being criticised for 'not having a Plan B' and 'over-thinking' his tactics. Which was it? In reality, neither.
Wiegman was questioned for her squad management when Earps and Bright fell out of favour, but at times has been criticised for 'sticking with the same old players'. Which is true? Again, neither. There's a reason Wiegman chose to move on from Earps and Bright — and from long-serving captain Steph Houghton before Euro 2022 — and a reason she has her favourites in this squad.
And, at times, she has placed enormous faith in previous outsiders: Williamson hadn't been a regular before Wiegman's reign, yet was named captain at the age of 25, ahead of more experienced players, before Wiegman had even worked out whether she would play in defence or midfield. Other managers wouldn't have selected 19-year-old striker Michelle Agyemang for the squad, considering she's only ever started three WSL games. But she's twice scored crucial goals to keep England in the tournament.
The group that won Euro 2022 was, by the standard of tournament winners, very young. None of the side in Switzerland can reasonably be considered past their best. In terms of age, the only player who comes into consideration here is right-back Lucy Bronze, now 33, but she had an excellent season for WSL title-winners Chelsea. Wiegman generally hates talking about individual players, but goes out of her way to praise Bronze's competitive spirit. Her place has never been in doubt and she scored the crucial first goal in the comeback against Sweden.
England are underdogs for the final on Sunday. Put together a combined best XI from the two sides, and they can only compete at centre-back, centre-forward, and in goal. They don't have the luxury of so many footballers playing together for club level — nine of Spain's probable starting XI represent Barcelona, or did so until recently. That level of understanding is almost impossible to recreate.
But England clearly have the better manager. Regardless of what happens in Basel, five successive European and World Cup finals is an achievement that may never be matched.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
England, Netherlands, Premier League, Soccer, International Football, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros
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