“If you really want to win, really want to become better every single day, you can do it,” said England manager Sarina Wiegman, after her squad made history by winning the 2022 Euros.
This calm sense of focus which Wiegman bestows on her team, combined with the game-changing tactical flexibility she brings to the touchline, have helped the Lionesses make it to the Women’s World Cup semi-final against co-hosts Australia just over a year after their historical victory.
Wiegman is the former professional footballer who is now widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world. But how did Wiegman, 52, work her way up to the top echelons of the beautiful game? She began her career over 46 years ago, kicking a ball around the streets that she grew up in with the neighbourhood boys. Before long Wiegman’s natural talent caught the eye of a coach at a local grassroots football team, who, ignoring her gender, signed six-year-old Wiegman to his all-boys team.
This early recognition prompted the beginning of an auspicious career first at the KFC Dutch team, where she found her feet as a tenacious defender. At a women’s FIFA Invitation tournament Wiegman’s impressed the head coach of the US Women’s national soccer team so much he invited her to join the US team at the University of North Carolina. On returning to Holland a year later, Wiegman’s career continued to ascend, she won a place on the Dutch national team, racking up an impressive 99 caps, all while holding down a job as a PE teacher to make ends meet, thanks to the (until very recently) spectacular lack of funding in women’s football.
For most people, a CV as abundant as this would warrant an early retirement - not for Wiegman, this was simply her first act. Just three years after hanging up her boots in 2003, Wiegman was back on the pitch, but this time as the manager of her former team Ter Leede. Fast forward a decade and she had become the first woman to hold a coaching role at a Dutch men’s club, Sparta Rotterdam. She completed her Uefa Pro coaching licence in 2016, becoming the first woman to do so, before guiding the Netherlands women’s team to victory at the 2016 Euros and 2017 World Cup final before joining the Lionesses in 2021.
But talent and accolades aside, Wiegman has proved to be much more than just a proficient manager. Over the course of last year’s Euros and this year’s World Cup, her impressive poker face and business-like, black M&S suits hide the same fiery tenacity that made her such a skilled defender.
After the Lionesses 5-1 victory against her native Netherlands in 2022, Wiegman did not allow her laser-focused demeanour to crack for moment, instead insisting: “We stick to our strategy and plans, and whether we would lose or win now, we’re not going to all of a sudden sit, we call it, on a pink cloud. We stay grounded.”
It’s this ability to keep both feet firmly rooted to the ground, in the face of victory or defeat, that has made her such a hit with the England squad. Wiegman is not a leader who relies on a raised voice or lengthy diatribe to inspire her troops, she is quieter and more thoughtful in her methods. As the coach of the Dutch national team she made an impact on her first day when she gave each of the players a copy of an article entitled: “Thirteen things you should give up if you want to be successful”.
Despite Wiegman’s cerebral approach and steely determination to succeed she knows that the secret to a great team is a love of football for football’s sake - and perhaps of all her managerial qualities, this is what sets her apart.
“As I grew in my personality, I really wanted to be relaxed more. Why do players start playing football when they’re seven years old? It’s because they love the game,” she said in the past.
“Yes, it’s all about winning, but you perform better when you can be yourself and when you’re in an environment – and it sounds like school – an environment where you’re safe, where you will not be judged. Because when you’re on the pitch you’re being judged all the time and that’s uncomfortable and unsafe.”
Wiegman’s dislike of “being judged” extends to her appraisal of her team’s performance, she has a policy of focusing on their collective efforts and not zeroing in on individual wins or losses. During press conferences she steers clear of name checking individual players and when asked will always bring the conversation back to the team, no one is more important or more culpable than the next player.
“Sometimes you will have one individual that can be a game-changer, but that’s short-term. If you want to perform longer-term, it’s all about playing as a team”, she said.
Anyone who has seen the Lionesses stellar performances across the World Cup and Euros tournaments would agree, you can see it in the way they play and if they succeed in winning the latest trophy, the glory may go to the players but they will be thanking Wiegman.
