Sarina Wigman's unwillingness to change may haunt her post-injury crisis

Sarina Wigman has had an almost flawless time as England Women's Head Coach until recently. Photo: Getty Images/Harriet Lander

Did everything go too well for England under Sarina Wigman? With England winning four trophies in 14 months, enjoying a massive 30-game unbeaten streak and even winning a penalty shoot-out, did the relentless positivity seem a little alien to the pessimistic England fans, who are overwhelmed by grief within a year?

< p>Well, that blissful, euphoric, invincible feeling for English fans has been replaced by a grim gloom after the devastating news that captain Leah Williamson has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury. knee ligament injury.

That one punch would be enough to knock the stuffing out of either side, but add to that the growing injury concerns of Fran Kirby and Millie Bright, and Beth Meade, who still needs a «miracle.» to be in shape in time to fly to Down Under after undergoing knee surgery, and suddenly the recent surprise loss to Australia looks like the start of a difficult period for England as Wigman's side may face serious problems for the first time. during her tenure.

Last summer, everything seemed to be going right for the women of England. They finished the European Championship with the same starting line-up and were ready to start all six matches. Injuries were received by rivals of the England team. That's not why they won the Euro — they won the tournament because they were and still are a brilliant team. But serene luck seems to have run out, and now we'll find out exactly what they're really made of.

Williamson's absence, the possibility that Mead will also miss the match, and doubts about the suitability of Bright and Kirby, — all of which means that — on top of Ellen White's retirement — England could be left without the five starting players who won last match. year of the Euro at the World Cup.

Boys from England are ready for action

Many members of the younger generation may now be required to become «senior». Instead, group members. Take, for example, Lauren Hemp, 22, who is now potentially the sixth or seventh most successful player (37) on the World Cup squad, depending on certain players. fitness. Of the original England squad of 25 in April, 10 players have played eight matches or fewer, more than a third of the group. England's 2019 squad may only have a handful of survivors who have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. But especially now that Williamson has been ruled out and Bright has also been sidelined, the lack of caps among some of the England reserve centre-backs is noticeable.

As for England's starting centre-backs, there's no need to panic because Alex Greenwood is another ball-handling left centre-back who could replace Williamson and play alongside Bright. However, after Bright and Greenwood, all of the reserve centre-backs have very few caps and minutes among Wigman's recent calls. They have no shortage of talent — in fact, all the top teams in the Women's Super League have excellent English centre-backs to offer Wigman among an unusually large group of talented English players in this position — but very few of them played significantly for the Lionesses during Wigman's tenure. in office.

Maya Le Tissier, for example, who has started all of Manchester United's Women's Super League matches this season, has only made two appearances for the senior England team. Esme Morgan of Manchester City has four caps. West Ham's Lucy Parker, who was called up in April, has not been given a chance to win against Brazil or Australia and remains unrestricted. Even Arsenal's Lotte Wubben-Moy, who has extensive experience in the Champions League, has only made 10 caps and has played only 36 minutes in international football since June 2022.

In addition to the current squad, Manchester » United's Millie Turner and Aston Villa's Anna Patten are not playing, and former captain Steph Houghton has not played under Wigman. In addition, England's defensive central midfield without Williamson now lacks top-level options to provide cover for defensive midfielder Kira Walsh.

In hindsight, questions can now be asked about Wigman's lack of rotation. Did the manager miss an opportunity to give promising players on the fringes of his team a better chance to play in the England shirt?

Wigman has generally chosen to play for her strongest side as often as possible in an attempt to build cohesion at the core of her first XI, and this has certainly paid dividends in euros, but does it have a downside? line, and for the 2023 World Cup if those first choice players become unavailable? Possibly picking a strong side in both April national team fixtures could be one of Wigman's first mistakes in an otherwise nearly flawless reign. . It would be wrong to try to claim that the injury she suffered on Wednesday was due to Williamson playing the full 90 minutes in both of England's matches in April — there are a whole bunch of different reasons why a player could be more susceptible to an ACL injury in right now, and Arsenal, England and the sport in general must do everything they can to try to sort out this ongoing epidemic in the women's game.

But there are both pros and cons to not having a roster rotation — in 2022 the England team enjoyed the pros and their dreams came true — and right now England are experiencing some cons and a group with relatively small caps between them are getting ready conquer the world.