Impetus’ Johnathan Stack was at St. George’s Park for us and heard England head coach Sarina Wiegman unveil her latest Lionesses squad and explain reasons for selections and those who missed out (28/9/22).
Above: England head coach Sarina Wiegman has announced her latest Lionesses team. Photo: Sky Sports.
Lionesses Head Coach Sarina Wiegman has named her squad for the games against the USA and the Czech Republic.
There are five players named in the squad that was not in the last time round. Fran Kirby is recalled alongside golden girl Chloe Kelly to the squad following injury, Esme Morgan of Manchester City gets her second call-up, and there are also first-time call-ups for West Ham’s Lucy Parker and Everton’s Jess Park. Plus, four drop out of the squad Jordan Nobbs, Beth England, Nikita Parris, and Lottie Wubben-Moy.
England faces a tough test in the form of the World Champions USA at a 90,000 sell-out at Wembley Stadium, then four days later the Lionesses head down south to Brighton to face the Czech Republic at the American Express Community Stadium.
Speaking at the squad announcement press conference, Wiegman gave her thoughts to the two players brought into the Lionesses fold for the first time.
“We have 10 months to prepare for the World Cup. There are talented players knocking on the door,” Wiegman said. “We have followed Jess Park for a while. I think she can play up front but also in midfield. She is a little more dropping inside now. It is exciting for her. We made the final decisions after the last match. We didn’t have lots of opportunities, so we wanted to use those games to finalise our decisions.”
England’s head coach also explained what caught her eye about Lucy Parker’s game: “Lucy Parker is very athletic. She has had some injuries but has had good preparation and good games. It will be good to see what they can do compared to some more experienced players.
“There were hard conversations and hard choices. When you look at the team it is very competitive in the different positions. We look at quality, talent, being fit and having playing minutes with your team, then winning the competition for ones you are in the same position as.”
There was no room this time round for Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier despite her impressive start to the WSL season. Wiegman gave her reasoning behind the decision.
“Maya did very good, it’s really nice that she scored, but her main job is not scoring, it’s defending, it’s the build-up, she did very well but the other players did a little bit more. “We are watching her, she’s in the U23s, there are lots of very good players in the U23s ready to come in and at the moment these are the players we picked.”
England Squad to face USA & Czech Republic:
Goalkeepers: Mary Earps, Sandy MacIver, Ellie Roebuck
Defenders: Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood, Esme Morgan, Lucy Parker, Demi Stokes, Leah Williamson
Midfielders: Fran Kirby, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Katie Zelem
Forwards: Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Lauren James, Beth Mead, Jess Park, Alessia Russo, Ebony Salmon
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