SWearing a baseball cap, arina Wiegman sat relaxedly in the stands of the Marbella Football Center, her feet resting on the back of the plastic chair in front of her, studying team information. The England manager sits next to her 23 players, many of whom are Champions League and Champions League winners, as well as numerous domestic trophies. This time, they were watching rather than playing, lounging in the sun after morning training ahead of Friday night’s game against Austria.
They are keeping an eye on England’s Under-23s, who started well against Spain but ended up losing 3-1. There are a few guys in the starting lineup who have first-team experience. Katie Robinson was named in the World Cup squad last year and Ebony Salmon made her debut in 2021. Bristol City centre-back Naomi Layzell got her first taste of playing with a crowd in the stands a day earlier when she trained with them. Advanced side. For now, she and her teammates are leaving their names on their jerseys in an attempt to get the attention of Wigman and her coaching staff.
Manchester City goalkeeper Kiara Keating and midfielder Grace Clinton are two players promoted to the senior team this round. Those opportunities are there, but they are even greater this week, with the senior and under-23 teams holding two games each in a joint training camp in Marbella. This is an opportunity for Wigman to see how players perform off the court as well as on it. “Happy people make better elite athletes,” says Under-23s head coach Emma Coates. “The key is getting to know the person, understanding their motivations, and creating an environment and culture around that. It helps alleviate some of the performance pressure, and that’s beneficial.”
The introduction of the U-23 squad in 2021 fills a gap between the U-19 squad (and the U-20 squad, held every two years at the Under-20 World Cup) and the senior squad. It allows players in their early 20s to integrate and ensure they do not fall outside the philosophies, conditions and demands of England’s coaching staff and international football. This means that, while being called up to the first team is a step up, they are as prepared as possible for this environment.
“Ball speed,” Leizer said when asked about the difference after the first practice with the senior team. “The quality of the players is very high and you can see the difference. Sometimes you might think: ‘Oh, I’m out of my depth. “But you think: ‘I’m here for a reason and I’m going to do my best.'”
Leizer left the meeting “thinking I presented myself well” and said: “Yes, naturally I may not be the best player on the court, but I think I walked away thinking they didn’t think I was a piece of trash, So that’s the most important thing.”
The senior players are no strangers to the under-23s, with many competing against or against them in the Women’s Super League, but this is a step up and the focus on consistency across England’s age groups makes the transition smoother.
“Salina and Emma work together a lot and they talk about playing styles and try to get us to play in similar ways – using different combinations and shapes and stuff like that… it’s just to make sure we build consistency,” Leizer said. “But the under-23s are very talented and we know a lot of players can be trained and adapted to the senior team environment.”
Coates said she meets with Wigman and her staff every Tuesday. In Marbella, “it was tricky,” she said, “because we both wanted to be ready for our two games, but I probably spoke to her every day. We collaborated on Naomi, for example. The medical team and the performance team have also developed a relationship. It’s not necessarily forced or considered, but we have a good working relationship.”
Newsletter Promotion Post
Coates initially worked with Leizer at under-18 level. “She’s developing really well,” she said. “This season, everyone has been impressed with her defensive performance. She is a qualified defender, and it is rare to find young players who just like to defend. She has made significant improvements in some ball-handling areas.
“The fact that she has the opportunity to attend a meeting will give her a lot of confidence in the world. She’s also competing against these players every week. [in the WSL]. Sometimes when they wear an England shirt it feels a little different. She’s probably gone by now: ‘Well, I’ve got a feel for what the WSL is like, I’ve felt it in training with the senior players, and now I’ve got a real sense of what we’ve been doing and what I’m going to do to the next level. ‘”
They collectively celebrate the success of each player, like Leizer. There is no formula for creating the perfect lioness. “The strength of the wolf is the strength of the pack,” Coates said. “It’s just about being a super individual. How do we make their strengths as players their super strengths and do that often under pressure? They need to do that fearlessly.
“I think it was a mistake for me to say ‘this is exactly the player we want’ because then we would have quite robotic football. If you want exciting football then you should be doing your best as an individual, Rather than molding them into something specific.”
