Sarina Wiegman insists she simply could not want to risk Beth Mead after the Arsenal forward missed out on a place in England's World Cup squad.
Mead, still recovering from an ACL injury, won't feature as the Lionesses bid to win back-to-back major tournaments, missing out on the 23-player squad. Wiegman has selected Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze, who were both injury doubts, but has decided to leave out Mead who has not played since November.
The Lionesses' star won the Player of the Tournament award at Euro 2022 as well as the Golden Boot, as England stormed to European glory. But Wiegman has instead chosen Lauren James, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Katie Robinson as her wide forward options this time around.
"I don't there was ever really a chance Beth could make this squad," said Wiegman. "She is so positive and her recovery is going really well. But with the time schedule she had it would have been a big risk to take her to the World Cup. I was not willing to take that risk.
"I didn't want to push her too much so that she got injured again. We have to take care of our players and do what is smart."
Wiegman also explained the decision to recall Bethany England. The Spurs forward had not played for the Lionesses since September 2022 and didn't play a single minute at Euro 2022.
But her sensational form - hitting 13 goals in 11 appearances - since moving from Chelsea to Tottenham in January has seen her return firmly back into Wiegman's plans for Australia and New Zealand. And the Dutch coach said the "resilience" she had shown had impressed the England staff.
"We made that call because of her performances," explained Wiegman. "At Chelsea she didn't get the minutes. If you are really keeping for a position you need minutes. We didn't really see her play.
"Then she makes a move and she started playing a lot. She has performed well but also the resilience she showed made us make that decision to put her in the squad."
Although the England squad for the trip Down Under doesn't have as much experience as that which won Euro 2022, Wiegman is refusing to dampen expectations. The Dutch boss, who has only lost once in charge of the Lionesses, still believes they can compete to lift the trophy.
“We want to be at our best,” Wiegman added. “We know we are in a transition now, we’ve had to make some changes to the team.
“But I still think we’re really good and have very talented players. We just need to be at our best (in the tournament) and see how far we can get.
“I still think we’re in a pretty good place."
NEW! Our Year: European Champions 2022 - The Official England Winners Book
With a foreword by England manager Sarina Wiegman, this is the only official book of the historic triumph, reliving every kick of a thrilling tournament and telling the stories of the players who made it all happen.
Order from https://reachsportshop.com/book/our-year-european-champion-2022/
