Mark Sampson is confident his England side will be “much fitter and stronger” than ever before after naming an experienced squad for the European Women’s Championship in the Netherlands this summer.
Although England’s coach has opted to largely stick with the tried and trusted, picking 19 of the squad which finished third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada in his 23, he believes that, in one sense at least, the Lionesses will be virtually unrecognisable.
“In terms of physical robustness we’re completely different from two years ago,” said Sampson, who is not reticent about stating his ambition of returning from the Enschede final with the trophy. “I knew that we needed to be fitter than we were in Canada and the players have worked really hard to reach the levels we wanted.”
Such heights will be maintained during a boot camp at St George’s Park before the squad depart for the Netherlands in mid-July. “We’ll train extremely hard as a group,” Sampson said. “We’ll make sure the tempo is higher than the game pace they’ll encounter during the tournament. We want to go there and try to win it so we’ll be game-ready.”
Arguably the Welshman’s most controversial decision was the widely expected omission of the Chelsea striker Eniola Aluko, Super League’s leading scorer last season. She has not always exactly seen eye to eye with the coach and was disappointed with her lack of game-time in Canada. Generally, though, Sampson is retaining faith with the nucleus of the squad that exceeded all expectations two years ago.
Significantly four players will take part in their first major senior tournament, with Chelsea’s Millie Bright and the Manchester City trio Isobel Christiansen, Nikita Parris (on loan from Everton) and Demi Stokes securing squad places.
“This is a really strong group whose belief has grown in the last two years,” Sampson said. “They’ve got a real togetherness, there’s a sense of family that people care for each other but they’ve also reached the stage where they’re very demanding of each other.”
England’s cause is helped by the presence of five highly experienced players holding more than 100 senior caps apiece in Fara Williams (160), Casey Stoney, Karen Carney, Jill Scott and Alex Scott.
There are also perhaps unexpected returns to the squad for the Chelsea striker Fran Kirby and the Liverpool defender Alex Greenwood following long-term injuries but no place for Claire Rafferty, the Chelsea left-back whose history of serious knee trouble probably made it a tournament too far. Others disappointed to miss the cut include the Houston Dash striker Rachel Daly and the Chelsea winger Gemma Davison.
“Our talent pool has grown over the past two years but we wanted players who are physically robust and capable of handling an intense tournament schedule,” Sampson said. “We also need our squad to be mentally resilient and be able to perform and win under pressure. Game-management and the ability to handle pressure are important parts of any major tournament and this squad is experienced in these areas.
“I’m also looking for players who are good team-mates and bring the best out of each other. We pride ourselves on our togetherness. In the past two years we’ve built a real group spirit. We considered a lot of factors and reflected on all our experiences since the World Cup and are confident this is the right group that can win the Euro for us. We go into the tournament in a good place. There is a growing belief we can win it.”
Sampson, very big on rotation and system switches and previously considered as a potential candidate to coach the men’s under-21s by his admirers at the FA, frequently changes his starting XI to counter opponents and regularly alters formation mid-game. “Mark likes to pick specific people for specific games,” the Manchester City defender Lucy Bronze said. “Even I couldn’t guess Mark’s starting XI for the first game in the Euro but one thing is constant, if you get complacent you won’t play.”
Not that Bronze’s club-mate Steph Houghton, England’s captain and a key defender, sees complacency as a problem. “We have a really good group of players on and off the pitch and there’s so much we can achieve this summer,” she said.
“We have a strong togetherness in this group and that will only grow as we get closer to the tournament. It’s exciting for us to be one of the favourites. It brings a different type of pressure but hopefully one we can thrive on in a very tough tournament.”
There is also a bigger picture. “We want to go to the Netherlands and be successful to help push the game on even more at home,” Houghton said. “We want to inspire as many girls as possible to play football.”
England kick off their Group D campaign against Scotland in Utrecht on 19 July, before facing Spain in Breda on 23 July and Portugal in Tilburg on 27 July.
Full squad: Karen Bardsley (Manchester City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Liverpool), Carly Telford (Notts County); Laura Bassett (Notts County), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Alex Greenwood (Liverpool), Steph Houghton (Manchester City, captain), Jo Potter (Notts County), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Casey Stoney (Liverpool); Millie Bright (Chelsea), Isobel Christiansen (Manchester City), Jade Moore (Notts County), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Fara Williams (Arsenal); Karen Carney (Chelsea), Toni Duggan (Manchester City), Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Nikita Parris (Manchester City), Jodie Taylor (Arsenal), Ellen White (Birmingham City).
