We speak to England’s Mark Sampson about the journey he and his side have been on and the start of a new and even more demanding one in 2017…
Head coach Mark Sampson has come full circle and with a mighty ambition as he prepares his England team to face Norway at La Manga almost three years to the day since meeting the same opponents at the same venue in his debut game writes TONY LEIGHTON.
A 1-1 draw was the result of that first outing under Sampson, who had been appointed head coach a month earlier, and he is looking forward to Sunday evening’s re-match followed by a Tuesday encounter with Sweden.
But while the former Bristol manager obviously wants to win both games, he sees them most importantly as stepping-stones en route to this year’s European Championship finals and, further on, a tilt at no less than world domination.
Speaking exclusively to She Kicks from his team’s training camp at an unusually chilly La Manga, Sampson said: “It seems a bit strange to come back to the same place and play against the same team in our first match here, but it certainly brings back a lot of memories.
“The team has come a long way since then. Some great work has gone in to improve the side and we’ve seen rewards on the field, like the bronze medal we won at the 2015 World Cup, but we’re still nowhere near where we want to be.
“We’ve just about scratched the surface in terms of potential. With this group, the more we achieve the even more we realise we can achieve, and where we want to get to is to become the best team in the world.
“So although I’m reasonably satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far, I know there’s still a long way to go. We got bronze at the World Cup but bronze is not where we want to stand on the podium, we want to be there as gold medallists.
“That will be the aim at the Euro finals in the summer, and these two games we have in the next few days will be great tests for us in terms of stepping up our preparations for the tournament over in the Netherlands.”
England won their most recent games against Euro 2013 runners-up Norway and 2016 Olympic Games silver medallists Sweden, beating the Norwegians 2-1 in the 2015 World Cup Round of 16 and the Swedes 4-0 in a 2014 friendly.
But Sunday and Tuesday victories at the Spanish sports complex are not the top priority of Sampson, whose players are understandably lacking match sharpness having finished the Women’s Super League season two months ago.
The head coach said: “These are going to be two very tough games against excellent teams full of world class players – not many people would bet against either of them competing strongly at Euro 17.
“For us, this time at La Manga is essentially a well-being camp where we can assess the players in every aspect of their game. They haven’t had much of a pre-season to date, but the majority of them have come here in very good shape.
“You want to pick your best team to win these matches, but we have to manage the loads of the players in terms of two games in such quick succession and so we have to be clever in our team selections and game plans.
“These games are about learning lessons, learning for example that when you come off the pitch at the final whistle you should look every time to be a better team than you were at kick-off.
“If we can do that through every single camp coming up then we’ll go to the Euro finals a far better team that we are now. So we’re not yet the team we want to be – but I believe the players have the mindset to get there.”
**England’s game v Sweden on Tuesday will be streamed LIVE, check back for links/details and further info of potential to view Norway match on Sunday.**
FULL ENGLAND SQUAD FOR LA MANGA TRAINING CAMP (+ NORWAY & SWEDEN FRIENDLY INTERNATIONALS):
Goalkeepers: Sophie Baggaley (Birmingham City), Siobhan Chamberlain (Liverpool), Mary Earps (Reading), Carly Telford (Notts County).
Defenders:Laura Bassett (Notts County), Gemma Bonner (Liverpool), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City), Gilly Flaherty (Chelsea), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Jo Potter (Notts County), Claire Rafferty (Chelsea), Alex Scott (Arsenal), Demi Stokes (Manchester City).
Midfielders:Isobel Christiansen (Manchester City), Jade Moore (Notts County), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Fara Williams (Arsenal).
Forwards:Karen Carney (Chelsea), Danielle Carter (Arsenal), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Gemma Davison (Chelsea), Toni Duggan (Manchester City), Nikita Parris (Manchester City), Jodie Taylor (Arsenal), Rachel Williams (Notts County), Ellen White (Notts County).
(Images from Netherlands v England, Nov 2016, FA via Getty Images)
