Sarina Wiegman’s ruthlessness is now part of the Lionesse’s DNA, says Beth Mead ahead of the semi-finals
Englandpp Beth Mead says the head coach Sarina Wiegman have made ruthlessness “part of their DNA” as they prepare to face off Sweden for a place in the final of the ladies Euro 2022 tonight.
The Lionesses reached 100 goals in just 18 games under Wiegman with last week’s dramatic quarter-final victory over Spainbut they will have to buck a trend at Bramall Lane tonight, having failed to progress beyond the last four at their last three major tournaments.
Their record against Sweden is also poor, with just one win and one draw in six European Championship matches, but Wiegman engineered victories over tonight’s opponents at Euro 2017 and World Cup 2019 as Holland boss.
“I think [ruthlessness] is something that Sarina has instilled in us as a collective, says Mead, who is the tournament’s top scorer with five goals and heading for the Golden Boot.
“We know we have a lot of quality players. In September, when we played our first game under Sarina, we missed a lot of chances.
“Now we’re taking those chances. If you look at our shot-to-goal ratio this tournament, it’s a lot higher than it’s been. We’re creating chances and scoring them.
“Sarina has instilled that in all of us and it has now become part of England’s DNA.”
Wiegman’s substitutions and tactical adjustments, including moving defender Millie Bright up front, changed the game as England came from behind to beat Spain after extra time.
“She’s one of the best coaches I’ve worked under tactically,” Mead added. “As a team we have worked through all the scenarios, good and bad. Thank you Sarina, she has instilled them in us again, so that we are aware of [changes] when things happen. We spoke after the Spain match [about] what happened to her.
“People were doing it and you wouldn’t know there had been a change [of formation]. As a team, it’s something we’ve been working on. Football is not always straightforward, you need a plan B and plan C. Sarina has lots of plans.”
Wiegman, who have a fully fit squad against the world’s No2 ranked sidebelieves England are more confident and resilient than when she took charge, and says they aim to inspire the nation tonight.
“I’ve only seen a good mentality since I came in last September,” she said. – The resilience has been really good. Confidence in the team has grown and it has also grown over the past year. We are simply accountable to each other.
– The team is ready to play the best match against Sweden and hopefully we will inspire the nation. Reaching the semi-finals has already been really good and we saw that we took a lot of inspiration with us.
“But I think our fans gave us a lot of inspiration as well. We’re just focused on the game and we hope we get the result we want. I hope [the fans] will give us lots of energy again.”
Centre-back Bright is one of a number of players who played in England’s defeat by the USA in the World Cup semi-final three years ago and insists the squad have learned the lessons of previous setbacks.
“We have learned a lot from the previous semi-finals, but they have to be put aside,” she said. “We’re on a new journey and we’re in a different place as a team.”