Sarina Wiegman reveals difficulties in England's World Cup planning
By Emily Keogh
England manager Sarina Wiegman has revealed the frustration of last minute changes to World Cup preparation plans over when players can report for duty ahead of the tournament.
Wiegman revealed her 23-player squad on Wednesday afternoon, with the boss also going on to speak aboutn the difficult situation and late alterations to plans that have caused frustrations for the England setup in the final stretch before the World Cup.
The European Club Association were in talks with national teams as clubs were unhappy with countries calling up players earlier than the official release window of 10 July, just 10 days before the start of the tournament.
After a 'non-mandatory' agreement was made, clubs are now set to release players no later than 23 June, with many opting to allow players to head to their pre-World Cup camps a few days before. Speaking on the development of the situation, Wiegman releaved the impact on planning.
"Of course, that's frustrating because we have all our plans and we thought we were all set and then like a month ago, all of a sudden, things change...we didn't expect that, it is so late," she said.
Wiegman explained how the near two-month gap between the end of the WSL season and the start of the World Cup is effectively an 'in-season break', meaning it is hard to strike a balance between players sufficiently resting and still with adequate time to prepare ahead of the tournament.
"We already had this plan from November last year. When we came to these plans, of course we have our principles, we have the knowledge, we have the expertise and the experience, so we made the plan, starting on the 19th [June]," the Dutch manager explained.
"It's very constructive but it’s not finalised yet," she added. 'When you're in a top-sport environment, when you go to a World Cup, it's the highest level, the most intensity and volume, so you have to be at your highest levels."
Wiegman revealed the decision-making began months ago on the proviso that players would be released within the timeline. However, as recent events have unfolded, it has thrown plans into uncertainty.
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"We also know that if you have more than two weeks' rest, which if you start later then you have 26 days of no football, that’s not good preparation for the players and the welfare of the player wouldn’t be good," she explained. "That's why we want to start on the 19th, so they have two weeks off, then they start and they spend some time with family also, in a family environment, thinking about getting fresh, getting fit, and then we just have to start playing football."
"It’s not only the physiology, it’s also the decision-making in football and getting really ready to start when we start on the 22nd [July vs Haiti] and knowing we're going to the other side of the world, that takes a couple of days too. It's two days for travelling, you can’t start training straight away because you first have to do the jetlag, so we really need that time to get prepared, so I just hope that we keep going with the good conversations and we resolve this."
Given the situation over calling up players for pre-camp is still up in the air, Wiegman could give no indication as to when an the Lionesses' send-off game is set to be held after it was revealed at the start of the month that England would play one final friendly at home before heading off Down Under.
When releasing the Germany squad, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg stated that Bayern Munich have said players will not be released until the 23 June - Wiegman's plans were scheduled for 19 June.
"I still hope we can negotiate," the England manager explained. "At this point it's hard but what we're trying to get the conversation going again."
Bayern Munich's decision would affect pivotal midfielder Georgia Stanway, while other leading WSL clubs are also reported to be sticking to the 23 June release plans.