Sarina Wiegman said England are having to strike the balance between the conditions where they play and train and big crowds, as they prepare for Tuesday’s meeting with Italy in Algeciras. About 950 fans bought tickets for England’s 7-2 win against Austria at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Marbella last Friday, a far cry from the huge numbers they attract in England.
“It’s finding balance,” Wiegman said. “What we wanted to do was play good friendlies in good circumstances. We have very good pitches here, the weather is also good. We did know there probably wouldn’t be as many fans here as we had hoped.
“We will be back in England. We have games in April, June and July, and the rest of the season we’ll be playing a lot in England. I hope that connects us with the fans enough.”
Against Italy, England will face a different challenge. “They’ve had a great Nations League campaign,” Wiegman said. “They play a little differently. They have changed coaches. They have different shapes they have played in. They want to have a really high press on us, so that’s something we will be aware of. That’s a challenge for us, so we really like that.”
England will be without Fran Kirby after the midfielder returned early to Chelsea. “She’s well but she went home,” Wiegman said. “She has some irritation on her knee. It’s a minor injury but we didn’t want to take any risks so she’s being assessed at her club. We don’t expect it to be a bad injury.”
They have Chloe Kelly back, though, and Wiegman said the Manchester City forward is flying in training. “Hopefully that’s what she’ll do later on this morning and be ready for tomorrow.”
Wales have appointed the former England and Team GB assistant Rhian Wilkinson as the new head coach of their women's team.
The 41-year-old has signed a contract until 2027 and succeeds Gemma Grainger, who ended her three-year reign last month to take charge of Norway. Wilkinson won 183 caps for Canada between 2003 and 2017 and coached most recently at NWSL club Portland Thorns.
'It's an incredible honour to be taking on the role of Cymru head coach,' Wilkinson [pictured] said. 'The team has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and I aim to build on that with our mission to qualify for next summer's Euros and beyond.
'We have a group of players that are ready and deserve to be in major tournaments. I can't wait to meet them and work with them,' added Wilkinson, who was assistant to Hege Riise for England and the Great Britain Olympic team in 2021.
'My mother is Welsh, and I spent part of my childhood growing up in south Wales, so I'm excited to involve myself with the country's culture and explore that part of my roots even further,' Wilkinson concluded.
The FAW president, Steve Williams, said: 'I am thrilled to welcome Rhian to the FAW as the women's national head team coach. After the growth of the team in recent years, we now look forward to seeing that progress even further, as the team aims to put Wales on the world stage with major tournament qualification for the first time.'
In 2022, Wilkinson was appointed head coach of Portland Thorns , leading them to the NWSL title but resigning after admitting she had 'shared feelings' with a player. She was cleared of any wrongdoing by the NWSL but intimated she had been asked to leave by the players.
Wilkinson will attend Wales' friendly against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday and is set to take charge for the first time in April when Wales' Euro 2025 qualifying campaign begins. Wales will discover their opponents at the draw in Switzerland on 5 March. PA Media
Wiegman has taken the opportunity of back-to-back friendlies and having the under-23s in camp to experiment with her starting XI and provide training opportunities. On Sunday, Naomi Layzell, Aggie Beever-Jones, Jess Naz and Laura Blindkilde Brown were called up to train with the senior side.
Asked about the youngsters gunning for their shirts, the midfielder Keira Walsh said: “That’s the hope isn’t it, that they do come in and take our place. It’s really nice for them to be in and around us. Four of them trained with us yesterday and we had a really great session. We’re working closely with them so we can share the same ideas of football.”
Wiegman said: “Yesterday was another opportunity to bring some of them in and give them the experience of playing and training with the seniors. For us, it was an opportunity to see where we’re at and see what’s good. They enjoyed it too.
“We’re not planning on bringing in any other players but let’s see how things develop because we still have a training session and they play a game.”
