{"id":158124,"date":"2025-06-04T18:05:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T18:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158124\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T18:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T18:05:13","slug":"england-exodus-exposes-lack-of-plan-b-writes-tara-anson-walsh-as-sarina-wiegman-faces-mounting-crisis-ahead-of-euros-title-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/158124\/","title":{"rendered":"England exodus exposes lack of\u00a0Plan B, writes TARA ANSON-WALSH, as Sarina Wiegman faces mounting crisis ahead of Euros title defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Lionesses have withdrawn their names from this summer\u2019s Euros hat, leaving Sarina Wiegman<\/a> facing a mounting crisis.<\/p>\n

Less than 24 hours after Fran Kirby announced her retirement from international football following England<\/a>\u2019s 2-1 defeat to Spain, centre-back Millie Bright<\/a> has also made herself unavailable for selection.<\/p>\n

Bright \u2013 who captained England during the 2023 World Cup campaign \u2013 said she was \u2018right now not able to give 100 per cent mentally or physically\u2019 for England\u2019s title defence in Switzerland. She follows Earps, who had fallen down Wiegman\u2019s pecking order and was likely to be starting from the bench, and Kirby, who had been told by the Dutch coach she wasn\u2019t going to make the Euros squad, out of the door.<\/p>\n

But this is not simply a crisis of who\u2019s left to start the games. Wiegman was clearly already heading in a different direction, prompting Kirby and Earps to call it a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bright will be more sorely missed in that respect, as she was destined to partner Leah Williamson at the heart of the Lionesses\u2019 defence this summer. However, there is a more-than-able deputy in\u00a0Alex Greenwood<\/a>, who can easily slot into the back three alongside Williamson and Jess Carter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What now threatens to shatter the nation\u2019s hopes of a second consecutive major European title is who is there to pick up the pieces if injury rules out another player.<\/p>\n

\"Millie <\/p>\n

Millie Bright became the third England player to make themselves unavailable for selection<\/p>\n

\"Fran \"Mary <\/p>\n

Fran Kirby and Mary Earps have ended their international careers in the past two weeks<\/p>\n

\"England <\/p>\n

England boss Sarina Wiegman is facing a mounting crisis ahead of their Euros title defence<\/p>\n

Wiegman refused to answer whether she asked Kirby to be on standby for the Euros, citing the question \u2018irrelevant\u2019, but surely having someone of the Brighton<\/a> forward\u2019s stature around, with 77 caps to her name and four major tournament appearances, is relevant \u2013 and better than throwing an uncapped player in at the deep end?<\/p>\n

Over the years, Wiegman has become increasingly dependent on a small inner circle of trusted players \u2013 particularly veterans like Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway. Given they have 65 major trophies between them, that is understandable. And in Tuesday night\u2019s clash with Spain, Wiegman fielded a side that, with just four changes, closely resembled the one that contested the World Cup final in Sydney nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n

There is nothing inherently wrong with consistency. But what happens when that dependable core begins to fray? Right now, it appears there isn\u2019t a Plan B. Wiegman has been reluctant to refresh her ranks since taking charge, and that is proving increasingly worrying \u2013 not only for the short-term aims of England\u2019s title defence this summer, but also for the long-term health of the squad.<\/p>\n

Walsh\u2019s knee injury in the group stage of the World Cup and the subsequent panic should have been a warning sign. England rallied then, but it was a glimpse into a squad overly dependent on certain individuals. Yet since that final, Walsh has played more minutes than any other Lioness. And with the current set of players, there is no natural defensive midfielder ready to deputise should she fall again.<\/p>\n

There are further gaps in experience all over the pitch. In the goalkeeping department, Hannah Hampton is now the only capped shot-stopper in the squad. Lucy Bronze, meanwhile, is the only recognised right-back. Wiegman has suggested she sees Maya Le Tissier providing cover there, and yet the Manchester United captain has almost exclusively played as a centre-back since her top-flight debut six-and-a-half years ago.<\/p>\n

\"Keira <\/p>\n

Keira Walsh is among the experienced core of players Wiegman has become dependent upon<\/p>\n

\"Earps <\/p>\n

Earps retirement leaves Hannah Hampton as the only capped goalkeeper in the England squad<\/p>\n

\"Missy-Bo \"Jess <\/p>\n

Missy-Bo Kearns made her debut off the bench against Spain on Tuesday and Jess Carter played out of position at full back as England lost control of the match<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The lack of experience beyond Wiegman’s trusted XI could be exposed by elite teams<\/p>\n

And the lack of experience behind Wiegman\u2019s trusted XI was laid bare against the world champions on Tuesday night when Bronze and Stanway were substituted to manage loads. Carter \u2013 out of position at right-back \u2013 and debutant Missy-Bo Kearns stepped in. England looked quickly devoid of control and conceded twice.<\/p>\n

Of course, against most teams a single gap will not necessarily be fatal. As it wasn\u2019t against Portugal, when Alessia Russo\u2019s injury forced Wiegman to start 21-year-old Aggie Beever-Jones \u2013 the Chelsea striker making the most of the opportunity to announce herself on the world stage with a hat-trick on her Wembley debut. Equally, when you\u2019re up against a better side when the stakes are at their highest, getting on the wrong end of these fine margins can ultimately send you home.<\/p>\n

Wiegman has taken this team to unprecedented heights, but the road ahead is demanding evolution. Get it wrong, and another major title could end up being just a pipe dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three Lionesses have withdrawn their names from this summer\u2019s Euros hat, leaving Sarina Wiegman facing a mounting crisis.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,92,393,94,4884,93,16,15,1292],"class_list":{"0":"post-158124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-women"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}