Impetus’ Aimee Logan and Ben Phillips spent the whole of yesterday at the Lionesses’ St. George’s Park base and watched Sarina Wiegman’s World Cup squad put through their paces at training and were able to speak to the players (28/6/23).
Above: England are put through their paces at their St. George’s Park training base yesterday. Photo: Ben Phillips for Impetus.
Words by Aimee Logan, photography by Ben Phillips at St. George’s Park.
The Lionesses’ World Cup preparations were in full swing at St. George’s Park as a rammed full day, including a gym session and on-pitch training, ended with a media event for the entire squad.
At 11:30am, after the squad finished with their morning session in the gym, almost all of the players were present out on the pitch to be a part of the full training session. Laura Coombs was seen on the sidelines working individually with the England coaches and didn’t get involved in any of the session that the other players were participating in.
Another player, who England previously mentioned would be doing her own training progression, was Millie Bright, named as captain for the tournament. She was also seen on the side of the pitch doing some non-contact strength training and running drills with individual coaches. It seems possible that the skipper will be left to watch from the sidelines on Saturday when the Lionesses partake in their send-off game, against Portugal in a sold-out Stadium MK.
It was clear that Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman was taking good care in training the team to be ready for the weekend and ultimately the World Cup that is only edging closer. The squad at first, split into smaller groups where they practiced some of the classic turning and passing drills to help them increase their pace for more intense attacking moves against opposition.
It was great to see Jordan Nobbs back on the pitch in the full training after it was mentioned she was being monitored across the days of the first week of camp, without playing contact football with her teammates. She was evidently eager to impress and had a great session out at training.
Nobbs has been pushing all season to make it back into the highly competitive England squad for this summer after she missed the two previous major tournaments due to injury. Her shock move from her childhood club, Arsenal, where she spent over 12 years of her senior career, to Carla Ward’s up-and-coming Aston Villa side has proved to be a risk well taken for Nobbs as she’s now set to represent her country on the world stage again.
There was another slight change in the squad which saw Lucy Staniforth called up for the standby squad travelling to Australia, in replacement for Jess Park who has had to withdraw due to the severity of her shoulder injury she picked up near the end of the season with Everton.
Staniforth was fast to get stuck in with the full training session on the field and, personally, I believe she’s going to be a great player for the squad to have considering the amazing form she’s shown at Aston Villa for the second half of this season. Similarly to Nobbs, the pair left their clubs to push for game time to make England squads again and Staniforth’s transfer allowed her to show the skill and talent she has to offer. The pair were in great spirits about heading to another major tournament together at last.
Out on the field today, the competition was high amongst the squad as they all aimed to have the best foot forward for making the starting XI that Wiegman will choose for the matches.
During the smaller half-pitch matches, Georgia Stanway went in for a last-minute tackle on Alex Greenwood leaving the pair on the floor. The intensity of the tackle created a loud, jaw-dropping, snapping noise that silenced the crowd of onlookers. Stanway was quick to get up and check on Greenwood who was still on the floor in some discomfort.
There was clear evidence of concern amongst the players and the staff too as many rushed in aid to check on her. After a few primary checks on the pitch, Greenwood stood up and walked off the training field with a small limp, showing that the injury ultimately had less severity than what it sounded/looked like. It was discussed amongst the media crews on the sidelines that the noise possibly came from the impact of the tackle, the two shin pads coming together at a fast speed, and Greenwood’s shin pad snapping from the force.
Everyone was relieved to see her walking with the England coaching staff, as she went inside for the rest of the training to have some preliminary checks. Speaking on her injury later in the day, Greenwood explained how she was fine and stated how tackles were inevitable in football as it is a contact sport. The assessment on her over the next 24 hours will hopefully give Manchester City player the all-clear to play on Saturday against Portugal.
The day finished with a full squad media event where I had the opportunity to speak to eleven of the players who have made Sarina’s squad, along with the two players on the travelling reserves list.
Katie Robinson is going to her first major tournament with the squad this summer and she explained how much being on the team meant to her. “To be fair I just want to soak in the whole experience. I’ve never been to anything like this ever before so I’m going to be really taking it all in and just try and play well as well.”
Ella Toone also expressed how much she was also looking forward to her first World Cup: “I’m really excited, I think it’s going to be amazing. I just want to enjoy it all and take in every little moment. It was once a dream I had when I was a little girl, so yeah, I can’t wait to step out onto the pitch and make everyone proud.”
The long-haul flight to the other side of the globe is going to be a first for some of the squad who haven’t been to Australia before, with Hannah Hampton explaining how she is “hoping to do a bit of sight-seeing if possible,” when time allows in between their busy schedules. Sleeping seemed to be a must to pass the duration of the flight as Ellie Roebuck explained how her essential for the flight was her “Eye-mask because I’m hopefully going to sleep the whole way: that’d be pretty nice.” Jordan Nobbs suggested that Roebuck’s sleeping may be disturbed as she clarified how the team must “sleep for a bit of it and then be awake to stick to the strict time zone.”
A few of the players joked on who they hope won’t be sat next to on the plane. Manchester United’s captain seemed to be a popular answer as Laura Coombs explained, “I don’t think Zel (Katie Zelem) sleeps so maybe not next to her.” Zelem’s fellow United teammate Ella Toone also stated how she’s “Not going to sit anywhere near Katie Zelem on that flight because she can talk for England!”
Lucy Bronze explained how she’s, for definite, bringing her iPad on the flight: “It has all my Spanish apps; I’ve been told it’ll be a good use of my time.” But she’s also sure she doesn’t want Georgia Stanway next to her on the flight: “She’s just loud! Even if she doesn’t talk to me if she’s talking to anybody, she’s just too loud.”
I also spoke to Niamh Charles about the significance this tournament has to her. The group the players named the ‘Good Peeps’ includes: Charles herself, Alessia Russo, Ella Toone, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Georgia Stanway, and Ellie Roebuck, and this will be their first major senior tournament together as a group. Charles said, “I’m excited for the whole thing but I think it’s just super special that all our families have been together at youth tournaments together as well, and for us to be together again now it’s just super special to me.’
With the interviews finished, the players headed back inside for a well-deserved rest after their full-on day. The Lionesses will be in full swing at Stadium MK this weekend. The tickets for this fixture have sold out meaning the squad are going to have packed, full stands cheering on their success and showing their appreciation for the team.
Ben Phillips’ EXCLUSIVE photo gallery from Lionesses training at St. George’s Park for Impetus:
EXCLUSIVE video content from the Lionesses’ media day will be posted on our social media feeds over the coming hours – Follow Impetus on social media – we’re @ImpetusFootball on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Also, keep an eye out for our forthcoming TikTok account which will complement our written content – including special material from the Impetus team at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
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