That Lionesses Podcast connected by EE episode five features Sarina Wiegman, discussing WEURO2025 preparations, squad dynamics and even the decision behind her new tortoise shell glasses!
QUOTES
Sarina talking about the squad
Harriet: But first, we’ve got to talk about the squad. The tournament preparation is obviously underway with your squad, they’re a great bunch of players. What qualities would you say this squad has?
Sarina: Oh, I think we have many qualities, I’m very happy with the squad. I think we have players who have a lot of experience in tournaments, because they went to a couple, or even more. Uh, we have seven players who are in a major tournament for the first time and I think they can really help each other so that’s a good balance I think. I also think that we have different qualities in the squad, so what’s needed in games, I think we have. So we have speed, we have players that can defend really well, we have players that can defend really well, that can keep the ball but also go in behind, or defend space in behind, so I’m happy with the balance we have.
Harriet: Yeah, it seems exciting and I’m hearing a lot from the team and the girls that it is extremely exciting to have the new players cuz they’re bringing that new energy. But then of course you’ve got the experience of the players who have played in multiple tournaments. How have you seen the more experienced players support the younger ones in the preparations, cuz that’s a lovely thing to see isn’t it?
Sarina: Yeah of course, well they have to perform themselves, so I always say to them, so of course help others, but make sure you keep your levels up to and find that balance. But you see conversations, you see conversations on pitch, you see conversations off pitch, you see them challenging sometimes. Um, but also you see young, like you talk, we really divide the team in two, but actually it is one team and players are selected because I think, together with the technical staff, that they’re the best players in the country and that’s why I selected them. So they’re not little kids, they’re mature and we’re going to play a tournament. We just want them to share stories, what can happen off pitch, what you can expect from a tournament. That’s how you want them to support each other, and of course that’s what we’re trying to do too.
Sarina talking about how they’re approaching this year’s tournament
Harriet: How do you approach this? Do you think about the victory in 2022, or do you frame this as chasing an entirely new dream, is it something totally separate for you?
Sarina: No, there’s many players who have the experience of the Euros 22, so I always say cherish these moments, don’t forget it, it’s something amazing that happened in our lives, in our journey, but we have to move on too. So we have that experience, we use these experiences, but now we have a new team, we’re going to a new tournament, and we’re trying to chase more and we’re trying to be at our best and that’s what we can control, to be at our best. So we want to be the best prepared team, we want to be the best bonded team, um we want to be fit and fresh, together. And then yeah, when we’re at our best, our chance of winning is as high as possible and I know this team is so ambitious, and so are the staff and yes, we’re going to go for it again.
Sarina on what success looks like
Harriet: Looking ahead to July. What would success look like to you beyond the results on the pitch?
Sarina: Yeah, of course you want results, but I think, you can’t always control the results. You can make the chance of winning as high as possible and that’s what we’re doing all the time. And of course, we want to be successful, as I said we’re very ambitious to be like oh we’ll play and see what happens now. We go there to be very successful. But then, what we need to do, that’s what we’re working on every single day, is being best prepared. That’s as an individual, so every player needs to be the best prepared, and that preparation didn’t start yesterday, didn’t start last week, start last year, the players have been on a journey and over time we have talked about IDP’s and what you can expect from the tournament, um on the pitch, off the pitch and what you need. You just want to turn every stone and be ready for it and also take out some noise so that you can really focus when you’re in the tournament, so that’s best prepared as an individual, best prepared as a team, and have clarity on what we want to do on the pitch and then really stick together all the time. We’re at our best then and when we’re at our best then chances of winning are the highest.
Sarina on facing rejection and chasing your dreams
Harriet: And I wanted to ask you because I’ve listened to you speak a lot and read a lot about you and on a personal note, you’ve had such an illustrious career, but you’ve also received rejection along the way, as we all do in life, including facing barriers of actually being able to play football when you were young. I would love to know what advice you would give to someone who is facing or has faced rejection, of how to move forward
Sarina: Yeah, I would say, like I really wanted to play football and be involved in football and I never let anyone tell me not to do it. So i’ve had so many people tell me ‘oh why would you play football?’, and I thought, well because I love it. And why would you want to become a coach in football? Well because I just love it, I love to work with people and I just love the game, so I never let anyone tell me what to do or what not to do. And I just followed my, I would say follow my dreams, but I actually could never dream that I would be sitting here now and being coach of England and going to a second Euros with the team, but I just followed my heart. So I would just say follow your heart and go for it if you really feel like that’s the right thing for you. Because you know. It’s ok if you don’t know, but I knew from a very young age what I wanted to do and at that time I couldn’t become a coach, so I wanted to be a PE teacher, because I wanted to be involved in sports and I wanted to work with people. So I just did that and over time, I was so lucky because I had so many trailblazers who paved the way for me and then I could become a coach.
Harriet: Which you have now become, a trailblazer.
Sarina: Yeah, hopefully I can help other people, yeah, living their dream too