Making a Mark (Mark Sampson interview)

Mark Sampson reflects on a World Cup that surprised all but his inner circle. When he started with the team nobody could believe England could go to the tournament believing they could win it, he says, yet by the Japan semi-final there was not one person in the group who was not adamant they would. The Bassett own goal came at a moment when it would take something unique to stop them, and he has never seen anything like it in over a thousand games. He defends the changes of personnel and formation that earned him a tinkerman label, saying the staff resolved to make the big calls and have no regrets, and that he is proudest of not backing down to pressure. He now demands England be in Europe’s top three by 2017.