‘We play like Sarina Wiegman is watching’ – How the Lionesses aligned the player pathway to help Lauren James, Niamh Charles and many more become England stars
After winning the European Championship in 2022 and reaching the 2023 Women's World Cup final, England's future looks as bright as the present
Sarina Wiegman has done a lot of fantastic things as head coach of the England women’s national team. She helped deliver the Lionesses’ first-ever major title at the home European Championship in 2022 and guided them to a maiden World Cup final the following year. The role the Dutchwoman has played in helping individuals go to new levels shouldn’t be ignored either, with Mary Earps a prime example. But it is something else from Wiegman’s tenure which has been particularly significant.
It was only a few weeks after her appointment when the Football Association (FA) was looking at improving the player pathway and, in turn, reintroduced the Lionesses’ Under-23s team. It might sound trivial, but no fewer than 13 players have progressed through to the seniors via the reformed team, including the likes of Lauren James and Niamh Charles, who are now key figures in Wiegman’s starting XI.
With the U23s joining the senior team for a warm-weather training camp in Spain this week, the England pathway has never been so connected. It means that after establishing themselves as one of the top nations in the women’s game, the Lionesses’ future is bright, too. Wiegman, the (FA) and the staff involved throughout the pathway deserve huge credit, because their hard work is really starting to pay dividends.
Getty ImagesBridging the gap
There are a lot of reasons why reintroducing the U23s team made sense. Given the talent pool and the nation’s lofty status in the women’s game, it’s not easy to get into the England senior squad. Yet, the age groups previously in place meant that once a player’s teenage years were over, the chances were that they could fall off the radar, even if they still had the potential to be a Lioness later down the line.
The U23s, then, would help to "bridge the gap", as Kay Cossington, head of women's technical at the FA, put it at the time, as well as challenging those excelling in lower age groups. “Some players will go faster and some players have the opportunity to play international football in the U23s, so I think that's a really good step,” Wiegman said.
Putting Mo Marley in charge, an experienced and well-respected coach who had previously overseen other England youth teams, was a brilliant decision, too. “I think she's one of the best coaches there is to bridge that gap,” Anna Patten, the Aston Villa defender who captained the U23s in one of those first camps, told GOAL.
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Wiegman and Marley were not working in silos, though. The Dutchwoman described a “real good connection” between them when it came to ensuring the pathway was aligned, and Marley illustrated that point even further when talking to reporters in one of the first camps after the U23s had been re-established.
“It's been really refreshing for the players because in both camps, [Wiegman has] come out and she's present and she's live. She's in and around the sessions, so every day the players have got a chance to show their own personal development,” Marley explained.
“I think it's hard when you're a young player and you don't know the top and you've never met the top. It's almost like you're guessing if you're making that connection. But the fact that [Wiegman is] present and she can see it and I've reassured the players that the technical team, the information, it's basically joined up, it's the plan. They can tell with the language that I'm using and the change, they can see that pathway is consistent and it's joined up and it's connected.”
“You never really know where you stand sometimes,” Patten added. “They say they're always watching but you never really know – until you have opportunities like this to be brought in. On our first day, actually, the whole senior squad were just out there watching us! [Wiegman] is in and around and I think that's pretty positive for us to know that the seniors are watching.”
GettyPlan in place
Of course, it’s not just that Wiegman watches a few sessions and asks the U23s coach – now Emma Coates after Marley stepped back into retirement having helped the team get off the ground – who has been performing well. It’s about individual development plans, embedding England’s style of play and seeing how players are in the national-team environment.
Charles, the Chelsea star who has progressed through the U23s to the senior team and is now a regular starter for the Lionesses, outlined the importance of this connected pathway in a chat with GOAL during last year’s Arnold Clark Cup. “You know exactly what you're working on. I think it's very clear what you've got to do to get [to the seniors],” she said. “The U23s were at St. George's Park with us earlier in the week as well. Everyone knows each other, so it's really good that when you're there, you know you're not too far away.”
She’s not the only player to have done what she needed to do to move up into Wiegman’s team, either. In fact, there are six players in the senior squad for England’s February camp who have walked that path – Charles, James, Jess Park, Maya Le Tissier, Khiara Keating and Grace Clinton. It’s an impressive number given the U23s team has only been back in place for two-and-a-half years.
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GettyConsistency
Something that several of those to have progressed into the senior team have noted, too, is the consistency of the style of play and messages that the players receive from the coaches. It’s something that the best footballing nations have had in place for a long time, a recognisable thread that runs from the top down – think about Spain, Germany and Japan, who’ve enjoyed success at youth and senior level both in terms of winning tournaments but also in player progression. It takes a lot of time to ingrain this, but the word from the players is that England are on their way towards doing so.
When called up for the senior team for just the second time last February, Everton goalkeeper Emily Ramsey told reporters: “I've come to the seniors and it's consistent with what I'm getting told at U23s. I think that's just really important for the pathway, that it is bleeding down from the top and everyone's following that same direction, so when you do get players stepping up, they're ready to perform.”
Charles echoed this sentiment to GOAL just a few days later. “I think [the players coming up] know exactly how England want to play because they get it at the U23s as well. I think just coming in and being fearless is what the U23s gives you. It gives you that experience so that when you step up, it doesn't feel like a massive step.”