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While injuries and a whole host of other issues can kill any player’s hopes of a major tournament, Mark Sampson’s squad selection for England’s opening friendlies of 2017 against Sweden and Norway says more than just preparing for a couple of friendlies.
Forgetting the extra five players Sampson has chosen to bump the squad up to 28 for a minute, the other 23 are player for player the same as the ones Sampson chose to face the Netherlands in the last friendly match of 2016.
The La Manga training camp has given Sampson the ability to stick with those players as well as adding back in Millie Bright, Claire Rafferty and long-term injury absentees Carly Telford and Ellen White. The only real surprise is the recall of Rachel Williams, it’s been almost four years since the 28-year-old last played for the national team and many will be wondering if she’s here to stay.
But the biggest telling point is that this is the first squad Sampson has selected in a year where form goes out of the window. Whilst the likes of Bright, Gemma Bonner, Rachel Daly, and Nikita Parris earned their places through good form in 2016, none of the 28 selected have played a game since England won in Holland last year — some much longer than that.
If you go on the assumption — perhaps wrongly — that Williams may not become a permanent fixture in the squad and add in the three players likely to be in the reckoning once fully fit (Casey Stoney, Fran Kirby, Alex Greenwood) then Sampson is looking at a pool of around 30 to pick from when the Euros come along in July.
Others could indeed work their way in, the likes of Keira Walsh, Beth Mead, Jess Carter, Aoife Mannion, Melissa Lawley, and Laura Coombs are all knocking on the door but will Sampson risk overcomplicating matters with six months to go and add to an already stacked pool of players? It’s unlikely, he’s already got to drop around seven top quality players to get the squad down to 23 for the tournament and adding more players now is only going to increase his headache.
Those major changes could come post-tournament with Stoney, Laura Bassett, Fara Williams, and Alex Scott reaching the backend of their careers, Sampson will have two years to sort out which batch of players he brings through to become key parts of the squad he will hope to take to France in 2019.
The squad selection next month for the SheBelieves Cup will hopefully continue to answer questions rather than raise them and it would be a surprise if the 23 traveling to America don’t come from the pool of 30 currently chasing spots on the flight to the Netherlands.
Until then, England face five of the toughest tests you can come across in international football. Norway — under new management — will provide England’s defense with one of its toughest tasks yet when they unleash Emilie Haavi, Isabell Herlovsen, and Ada Hegerberg while Sweden’s rock solid defense will show just how much work England have to do in attack.
Then it’s onto the United States and a quick trio of matches against the world champions USA, plus long-term rivals Germany and France. It’s been a year now since the Lionesses faced Jill Ellis’s side and it will be the first time they’ve come up against the Germans under the guidance of new coach Steffi Jones. France is a different proposition, with England still having failed to conquer Olivier Echouafni’s side during Sampson’s reign, the boss will be keen to improve on October’s 0-0 draw in Doncaster.