Sarina Wiegman: The mastermind behind the Lionesses' success

Sarina Wiegman guided England to their archetypal ever large women's trophy astatine Euro 2022 past year

Sarina Wiegman's database of achievements is arsenic agelong arsenic it is impressive.

Since becoming an planetary shot manager successful 2017, the 53-year-old has masterminded back-to-back wins astatine the Women's Euros, archetypal with the Netherlands successful 2017 and past with England successful 2022.

Those 2 triumphs were separated by a decision for her autochthonal state successful the 2019 World Cup last against serial winners the United States.

Here, BBC Sport speaks to immoderate of the players and coaches she has worked with implicit the years to get an penetration into the pistillate attempting to marque past again by starring the Lionesses to their archetypal satellite title.

• Wiegman has 'no plans to leave' England job

The player

It was connected the streets of the Hague that Wiegman archetypal discovered football, playing alongside her duplicate member astatine a clip erstwhile determination were nary girls-only teams. She was called up by the Netherlands for the archetypal clip successful 1986, aged 16, and aboriginal moved to the US for a twelvemonth to survey and play shot astatine the University of North Carolina (UNC).

Sarina Wiegman taking connected England's Gillian Coultard during a World Cup qualifier successful 1997

Wiegman's assemblage team, the North Carolina Tar Heels, weren't immoderate mean side, with aboriginal World Cup winners Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly besides successful the ranks.

Lilly, who would spell connected to go the most-capped subordinate successful the past of the athletics with 354 appearances for the United States, has fond memories of sharing her freshman twelvemonth with the Dutchwoman.

"I tin representation her grin - determination were ever immoderate laughs going on," she says. "She was nice, friendly, and a precise crafty midfielder, truthful I loved having her connected my team. She worked hard.

"As a subordinate she had this small feistiness, competitiveness astir her, that I deliberation present arsenic a manager you wouldn't spot from her arsenic much, due to the fact that you person to beryllium connected an adjacent keel. But arsenic a player, I tin spot her crippled face, and it was tense erstwhile she played. I loved that."

Wiegman became the archetypal Dutch subordinate to marque 100 appearances for her country, finishing with 104

Wiegman has spoken of being anxious arsenic she embarked connected that archetypal travel to the US, saying she was wholly retired of her comfortableness zone, but her nerves weren't evident to those looking on.

"I don't deliberation it was a daunting acquisition for her," says Anson Dorrance, who ran the women's shot programme astatine UNC earlier helium became the USA's nationalist coach.

"She was already a Dutch international, travelling each the time. She didn't look successful the slightest to beryllium self-conscious oregon paranoid oregon afraid. She appeared wonderfully well-adjusted.

"We embraced her immediately. All we could spot was an contiguous accommodation to the American culture. The Dutch would beryllium called the Americans of Europe - a swashbuckling nation, precise frank and direct. She fitted close in."

The apprentice coach

Wiegman combined her playing vocation with teaching PE, past started shot coaching erstwhile she retired arsenic a player. When the Women's Eredivisie was created successful 2007 she landed her archetypal full-time occupation arsenic a manager astatine ADO Den Haag, having initially turned it down erstwhile it was lone offered connected a semi-professional basis.

Sarina Wiegman near down her vocation arsenic a teacher to go a full-time caput manager astatine ADO Den Haag

Former Netherlands planetary Leonne Stentler was 1 of the players Wiegman took to ADO Den Haag successful her archetypal play there.

"The mode she welcomed maine and the mode she talked astir however she wanted to bash it was lukewarm but truly ambitious," says Stentler.

She recalls an antithetic regularisation from Wiegman's aboriginal days that prevented anybody successful the squad being allowed to instrumentality a portion of h2o by themselves - it had to beryllium done together.

"At archetypal she was a hard manager with a batch of rules, but during the archetypal twelvemonth she made truthful galore changes and worked connected herself," she says.

"I cognize she reads a batch of absorption books truthful that was what she was doing and we experienced each the exercises she work about. We truly felt the improvement of ourselves, but besides the improvement of her."

Initially, a lively pre-match dressing room, with euphony blaring, would permission the caller manager perplexed.

"Sometimes I looked astatine her and she couldn't recognize wherefore radical were dancing and laughing - she was like: 'You should beryllium concentrating and focusing connected the game… this is going to beryllium a disaster'," says Stentler.

"She had to larn that that was the mentation for immoderate circumstantial characters."

Wiegman spent 7 years astatine the club, but Stentler says those archetypal fewer months were the biggest learning play for the aboriginal England coach.

"She fto america find retired what rules worked for america but she would marque definite the frames were truly clear," she said. "Inside those frames, we were wholly free."

The assistant

After 7 years astatine Den Haag, Wiegman became adjunct manager of the Netherlands nationalist team. To proceed her improvement arsenic a coach, she became 1 of a fistful of Dutchwomen to gain the Uefa Pro Licence - the highest coaching people successful the nonrecreational game.

Sarina Wiegman was adjunct to the Dutch nationalist manager Roger Reijners

As portion of the requirements of her Pro Licence course, Wiegman needed to transportation retired an internship. She wrote to Sparta Rotterdam caput manager Alex Pastoor, asking if she could manager astatine his nine - a men's squad successful the Dutch 2nd tier.

Pastoor says Wiegman, the archetypal pistillate manager connected his team, came crossed arsenic precise "serious" astir her work.

"She had the acquisition of playing herself," helium says. "The tactical things, we each discussed together. She took portion successful it and saw the aforesaid things we saw.

"As a coach, you request to person a definite enactment and authority, and this was thing she had erstwhile she was starring parts of the training."

When the play finished, Pastoor asked Wiegman to instrumentality arsenic adjunct to the under-23 team, making her the archetypal pistillate manager successful Dutch nonrecreational men's football. That was chopped short, however, erstwhile the nationalist squad required much of her time.

But Pastoor has nary uncertainty she would person flourished whichever way she chose.

"I honestly deliberation if she would manager astatine a nonrecreational men's shot squad successful Holland, she would succeed," helium says.

The leader

Wiegman doubly stepped up arsenic interim caput manager of the Netherlands earlier taking the occupation permanently successful January 2017. She won the Euros 7 months later, and led the squad to the World Cup last successful 2019. She took implicit arsenic England manager successful September 2021.

Sarina Wiegman guided the Netherlands to their archetypal large trophy astatine Euro 2017, and to a World Cup last 2 years later

Wiegman took implicit a Dutch squad debased successful morale and, due to the fact that of her relation with the erstwhile regime, she had to triumph implicit the players and her caller staff. That included vastly experienced manager Foppe de Haan, who was brought successful to assistance Wiegman.

"In the opening we had to find our place," says De Haan. "We made an statement astir what was my portion of the job, and what was her portion of the job."

Yet contempt De Haan being older and much experienced, helium says Wiegman was precise comfy successful the enactment role.

"She knows what she wants, but she was besides unfastened and keen to perceive different people's ideas."

Trying to get her to power disconnected during that archetypal tourney was much difficult, though.

"She's a workaholic," says De Haan. "Every day, each infinitesimal she is working, working, working. I told her: 'You person to instrumentality the rest. You person to unbend sometimes.' I tried to delegate to the others."

There were stressful moments during that archetypal tourney but De Haan says 1 of Wiegman's strengths is "she is ever calm, she ne'er panics".

Dutch planetary Vivianne Miedema was portion of her Euro-winning team, and she describes Wiegman arsenic playing a large relation successful her career, having joined the set-up erstwhile she was 18 erstwhile Wiegman was the assistant.

"Not galore coaches retired determination are unfastened to discussions, but she was ever unfastened to having a footballing treatment with someone," she says. "I truly enjoyed that due to the fact that it made maine a amended player."

Miedema says they were fortunate not to acquisition losing precise often nether Wiegman's enactment but she does retrieve a atrocious show they enactment successful against Spain aft winning the Euros.

"At half-time she came successful and said 'guys this isn't bully capable but besides I wasn't bully capable earlier the game'.

"So she was precise unfastened and honest. We fixed it up unneurotic arsenic a squad and the coaching staff."

Last summertime Sarina Wiegman became the archetypal manager to triumph the Women's European Championship with 2 antithetic countries

When Wiegman became England manager, she took implicit a squad abbreviated connected assurance and successful a authorities of transition.

But she knew precisely however to bring the players together.

Lionesses goalkeeper Hannah Hampton recalls the caller caput manager turning 1 country astatine the team's grooming basal into a "massive firepit with beanbags, blistery chocolate, the lot".

In that homely environment, the players were encouraged to stock their stories and make bonds with their team-mates.

"I deliberation from past it changed everyone's cognition and the ambiance changed... you decidedly felt person to 1 different and we decidedly each looked retired for each other.

"We are conscionable a monolithic family."

Calm, wide and nonstop are words that harvest up regularly erstwhile radical are asked to picture Wiegman.

Striker Beth England calls her a "very bully radical person" but adds: "She tells america erstwhile things aren't right; and she's not shy to beryllium savage and brutal erstwhile she needs to be."

After plotting England's triumph astatine Euro 2022, galore of the players commented afterwards however the manager had made their roles wide from the commencement - whether that was arsenic a starter, a super-sub, oregon a squad player, they knew wherever they stood.

"She's honorable and up beforehand and arsenic a subordinate I respect that," says striker Alessia Russo. "It's bully to person an honorable conversation.

"She is simply a winner. She sets the standards truthful precocious successful grooming and she leads with existent class. It's large for america due to the fact that it's truthful competitory and everyone is truthful focused connected 1 extremity but distant from the transportation she let's america unbend which is truthful important. She makes campy a truly amusive spot to be."

Baroness Sue Campbell, the manager of women's shot astatine the Football Association, said they knew they were getting a large manager erstwhile they appointed her but didn't realise they were getting specified a "unique person".

"She's built a corporate - not conscionable among the players, but the squad astir the players - which is very, precise special. I've not seen thing similar it successful each my clip successful sport.

"She is simply a rather singular person and a precise peculiar person."

The person

Wiegman was calved successful the Hague, successful 1969, and is joined to Marten Glotzbach, a younker shot coach, with whom she has 2 daughters.

Sarina Wiegman has formed a adjacent enslaved with her England players

"Sarina is conscionable a genuinely beauteous idiosyncratic that shows a batch of empathy towards you. She wants to cognize you connected a quality level, not conscionable arsenic a player. She has conversations with you astir your family."

Those were the words of England's grounds goalscorer Ellen White, and person been echoed by galore of those who person worked with her.

Dorrance, Wiegman's assemblage coach, says 1 of his astir striking memories of his erstwhile pupil came a fewer years aft she had near the US, erstwhile helium had been invited to springiness a speech to a radical of Dutch coaches successful the Netherlands.

He says helium presented his doctrine - which was to usage information to amusement however skilful a subordinate was - but his assemblage rapidly fto him cognize they did not hold with the concept.

"All I tin retrieve from that acquisition is mediocre Sarina fundamentally absorbing the blows with me, and I could spot the consternation connected her face," helium says.

"To immoderate grade she was embarrassed astir the mode I was treated. I've ne'er forgotten that. I inactive person a fantastic representation of her compassionate look looking up astatine me, conscionable hoping that her colleagues would springiness maine a break."

For Stentler, that quality broadside sets Wiegman isolated from different coaches she worked with during her career.

"She truly feels what players request - and makes definite you consciousness lukewarm and invited and unfastened to accidental thing to her. If I was successful a truly atrocious situation, I could archer her without immoderate consequences. And that feeling of openness is not precise communal successful coaches.

"I decidedly had moments wherever I was not blessed with Sarina but erstwhile I look backmost astatine my vocation she was the champion coach, the champion human, successful my career."

A mentation of this diagnostic was archetypal published successful July 2022.