Mark Sampson heads into his 50th game in charge of the England women’s team when they face Italy tonight, writes TONY LEIGHTON.
Mark Sampson will take charge of his 50thgame in charge of the England women’s team, against Italy at Port Vale this evening, with his focus not on personal celebration but building momentum towards the summer’s European Championship finals.
After tonight’s match Sampson will take his side to Milton Keynes for Monday’s meeting with Austria, the final friendly on home soil ahead of the Euros though two away friendlies – one against Switzerland confirmed – will also be played.
As he looked ahead to what will be a landmark occasion for himself as well as an important outing for his team, the head coach said: “If someone had told me at the start of my coaching career that I would get the opportunity to coach England just once I’d have ripped their arm off.
“So to have the honour to do it 50 times is fantastic, something I never dreamt of. I’m honoured and privileged to be in this position and will keep doing my best to make sure I do the job justice and hopefully bring England success.
“The most important thing right now is getting our preparations right for the European Championships. These two matches will replicate the type of games we’ll get at the Euro finals so it will give the players the chance to adapt to playing the kind of opponents we’ll face in the competition.
“We’ll look to be the dominant team in both games, but we are fully aware that we’re facing opponents who could beat us on their day and that gives us the intensity of our approach and focus.
“The players are really ready to be at it for both games and we’ll need to be, because these are two tough tests – but hopefully we can give our fans something to get excited about with two big wins.”
Big wins would give Sampson and his team a big morale boost in terms of goalscoring, having hit the net only five times in the eight matches they have played since completing their Euro 17 qualifying campaign.
In a 10-match unbeaten run that ended in January, however, 26 goals were scored while just two were conceded.
“We showed in that unbeaten run,” noted Sampson, “that we can score goals against the calibre of teams we’re going to face at the European Championships.
“We also showed that we are incredibly strong and well organised defensively, and we’ll be a very difficult team to score against at the Euros.
“We want to tidy up in terms of our attacking play to make sure we add that ruthless aspect to our game, but with the quality of the players we’ve got I’m confident we will create (chances) and execute the finish.”
With several players named in the squad for the Euro finals still not fully match-fit after injury, Sampson has called up four uncapped youngsters for what could be debut appearances against either Italy or Austria.
Birmingham City’s 20-year old goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley, her Blues colleague Jess Carter (20), Chelsea defender Hannah Blundell (22) and Manchester City striker Mel Lawley (22) have all impressed in England age-level teams.
Sampson said: “They have all earned the right to be part of this group. Their performances for our junior teams and their clubs have put them in contention for a place in the senior side and this is a good opportunity for them to come in and lay down a marker for the future.”
England squad: Goalkeepers – Baggaley (Birmingham City), Chamberlain (Liverpool), Telford (Notts County); Defenders – Bassett (Notts County), Blundell (Chelsea), Bronze (Manchester City), Carter (Birmingham City), Greenwood (Liverpool), Houghton (Manchester City), Stokes (Manchester City), Stoney (Liverpool); Midfielders – Bright (Chelsea), Christiansen (Manchester City), Moore (Notts County), Nobbs (Arsenal), Scott (Manchester City), Williams (Arsenal); Forwards – Carney (Chelsea), Duggan (Manchester City), Lawley (Manchester City), Parris (Manchester City), Taylor (Arsenal), White (Birmingham City).
