‘No crisis at all’: Wiegman hits back as she picks James for England Euro squad | OneFootball

Sarina Wiegman has defended her management style after ­finding ­herself without the Euro 2022 ­winners Mary Earps, Fran Kirby and Millie Bright for July’s defence of their European title, saying she does not beat around the bush when it comes to having honest ­conversations with her players.

The England head coach also denied her team are in crisis after that trio all left the camp for ­varying reasons over the preceding nine days, saying she is really happy with where the Lionesses are now as they ­prepare for their Group D opener against France on 5 July.

There was good news on Thursday for England as Wiegman presented her 23 chosen players for the ­tournament in Switzerland, with the Chelsea ­forward Lauren James included. That will be a major boost to England’s chances, with James on track in her recovery from the hamstring injury she sustained in April.

There is also a place for the 19-year-old Arsenal forward Michelle ­Agyemang, who scored on her debut away to Belgium in April, while the Arsenal centre-back Lotte Wubben-Moy is included too.

There is no place in the squad, however, for the Brighton forward Nikita Parris, while the Aston Villa midfielder Missy Bo Kearns is one of four players named on standby alongside the Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley, the Manchester City midfielder Laura Blindkilde Brown and the Aston Villa defender Lucy Parker. It means there is not room for the Brighton youngster Maisie Symonds, who received a call-up in March.

Wiegman’s squad announcement comes after a tumultuous period for the Lionesses in which Earps and Kirby retired from international duty and Chelsea’s Bright withdrew in order to look after her mental and physical health. The centre-back had minor surgery on a lingering knee problem but, asked if her team were in crisis, Wiegman replied: “That is not the case. We are going with these 23 to the Euros now and I feel very comfortable with this team. I am very happy with the team and I am very excited, and I am looking forward to it. For me, it doesn’t feel like a crisis at all.

“My experiences before ­[tournaments] is that there is always noise. We expect noise until we go into the tournament. The difference between 2015 and 2017 to now is that the attention and visibility of the women’s game has increased so much it seems like there is more noise but there’s just more journalists here. Which is right. It shows what we are doing. That’s a lot more but we have to deal with it and move on. Which we have.”

Wiegman was also questioned on whether she has been too honest with players about their positions in the team – which was reportedly a ­factor in Earps’s retirement. Kirby did say she brought her own retirement forward after learning she was not going to Switzerland. But Wiegman said: “After I have conversations with players, I always think: ‘OK, what went well?’

“For me, it is really important that I am honest, that I treat people in the right way. Sometimes, you have very good news and, sometimes, you don’t have good news – and I don’t go around the bush with that. I just give that message, then I can’t always control how people respond to that. I just hope that they have the ­clarity that they can move on and then afterwards staff that can give them support.”

There have been suggestions that England are lacking experience for this campaign, with only 15 caps shared between the three ­goalkeepers and only one centurion – Lucy Bronze – in the squad, but Wiegman added: “There are about 16 players who have played in a major tournament. So I don’t think that’s a ­problem. The ­balance with players who are coming in and ­playing their first tournament, they are so eager too, so I think that ­balance and those dynamics are pretty good in our team.”

The squad will travel to ­Switzerland on 30 June, after ­starting their ­training camp at St George’s Park on 16 June.