Sarina Wiegman takes relaxed approach with Lionesses ready to launch Euro defence

The Guardian

10 hours ago

'My approach is the same – I just worry a little bit less,' says a relaxed Sarina Wiegman in a crowded meeting room at England's hillside hotel in Zurich. With their European Championship Group D opener against France approaching on Saturday evening why shouldn't the Lionesses head coach be calm? Wiegman has, after all, reached four major tournament finals in a row.
However, she does acknowledge she has changed since taking over England four years ago, and there are far fewer rules in camp almost three years after she guided the Lionesses to their first major trophy at Euro 2022: 'My values won't change but I have to adapt to new situations and figure out: 'OK, what's best for the team now?'
'When I came in [2021], everyone was wearing jewellery and watches and I said: 'No, we can't wear jewellery. We measure everything and I want you to take off your earrings and things like that,' so they did. [But] I actually hate rules. We are here to perform and be at our best, and if you use your common sense then you make the right decisions. We want to set standards, but I think coaching is also about giving players responsibility – help players make their own decisions.'
For that reason, she does not enforce a seating plan for mealtimes, nor ask her players to rotate who they spend time with: 'I don't do that. When I was a school teacher I would do those things, but now it's so intense, the players travel so much, playing at the highest level, they need to find some space away where they can just sit with who they want to. That headspace and relaxation, that's good for the team.'
Wiegman also allows her players to have free choice in their use of social media, though many avoid it amid a rise in online abuse.
'Yes, there is a concern,' Wiegman says. 'Of course players, especially this generation, want to share what they're doing, but you can't control how the outside world responds. [The FA communication officers] have really been supportive to the team and the individuals about that. With the team we make principles of how to use social media [but] I would never say: 'You're not allowed to use social media', because that's not how I work.
'I stay, a lot, out of the media and the socials. So I don't [read] everything that comes. Everyone will have a different opinion and that's OK too. I know what we're working on. I know what the team is about. I work with them every single day, so I know what's really going on in our bubble.'
A constant of Wiegman's tenure has been to maintain her players' privacy within the camp. That was never more apparent than earlier this summer with Mary Earps' and Fran Kirby's sudden international retirements and Millie Bright's withdrawal from Euros contention. Wiegman declined to share details of their private conversations. During that camp, the manager's approach to her players was described as direct, even blunt at times, but she says: 'What I try to do is give them as much information as possible.
'The players call that direct, but do not confuse that with being blunt. I am not blunt – well, I hope not. I am trying to be honest and clear about things to give them context. I am actually very caring and that's often not very helpful in this job. I want to take care of people but I have a job where I have to make hard decisions.
'I think I learned a little bit here with England, too. Sometimes in England we can be a little bit [Wiegman gestures to illustrate skirting around a difficult subject]. Yes, you do! So sometimes I'm like: 'OK, is this really the message? Or do I have to interpret this a little bit differently? Do I need to read more between the lines?
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The former Netherlands coach has also found many things to love about England, from Sunday roasts to the nation's obsession with football, and even curry: 'I actually like the Indian food, the chicken [tikka] masala is pretty good, too. But that's not typical English, is it? But I really like it. It's in the English culture.
'I really like the culture [in England]. It's such a massive sport culture in England. And in the Netherlands, it's also a sport culture, but here, at every corner, the whole day on TV, for example, there's sports, either football or rugby or cricket. And if that's not there, then there's something else, but there's always sports and football is so in society.'
The feeling from her bosses in England is clearly mutual, with the FA's chief executive, Mark Bullingham, saying only last week that he could see 'no scenario' where he would not want Wiegman to stay in charge, regardless of how the Lionesses perform at this tournament. She is under contract until 2027's World Cup. Would she like to stay even longer?
'I'm now really focusing on this tournament,' she replies. 'I don't want to look any further [than her contract length]. You never know what happens in life. Things can change quickly and in your personal life, too. So I just feel that I just love to work with this team. I love to work in England with the FA and I hope that stays for a little bit longer.'