Sarina Wiegman, the tough England manager who could win us the Euros

Wiegman’s journey to that point took her all around the world. There were 104 international caps for her country as a player, although officially (and cruelly) the tally is 99, as five of those matches came against non-Fifa-affiliated opponents. There was also a spell in the United States, at the University of North Carolina, whose women’s football programme can also take credit for the development of Lucy Bronze and Alessia Russo. And, of course, there was the home European Championship win with the Netherlands in 2017, a World Cup final with them in 2019, and then the same again with England. But, astonishingly, large portions of Wiegman’s career and development took place in the exact same area in which she grew up.

“The success of Sarina is because Sarina is Sarina: she is always herself,” a former colleague, Hans Verheij, has said. Verheij worked alongside Wiegman when she was a PE teacher, a job that she balanced with a career playing at Ter Leede and then a managerial career at ADO Den Haag. The connection to the latter club remains in the family. Wiegman’s husband, Marten Glotzbach, currently manages the women’s team, while her daughter Lauren played there prior to retiring at the end of this season. She also has another daughter, Sacha.

Wiegman’s reputation is exceedingly Dutch, even if her style of football isn’t. In the Netherlands, the way you play is seen as almost as important as the win.

As a child, Wiegman had the opportunity to be coached in a one-off session by Johan Cruyff, in many ways the father of Dutch football and whose coaching style inspired Pep Guardiola, but she does not adhere entirely to Cruyff’s methods. Her England team are usually pragmatic and it has borne incredible results – not just a European Championship title but also a first ever World Cup final. It is unsurprising that she has meshed so well within English football where the ideas of perseverance and hard work often take priority over aesthetic style. That and a newfound love of roast dinners and chicken tikka masala, as she recently revealed.

If Wiegman’s football strays slightly from her homeland, her communication style doesn’t. She has developed a reputation for being demanding and direct. “As tough as they come” is how Dutch defender Merel van Dongen describes her.

Yet players also point to her caring side too. “She’s got a range of personalities,” says the England defender Alex Greenwood. “She’s fun when she needs to be, she’s serious when she needs to be.”

“I am actually very caring and that’s often not very helpful in this job,” said Wiegman recently. “I want to take care of people but I have a job where I have to make hard decisions. As a former player and maybe as a mum, I’m trying not to put myself in their shoes and think: ‘Oh, they must feel horrible’, because I have to shut that out for that moment.

“That is one of the most difficult parts of the job, because it’s not the nicest part, but I have to give that clarity – that is my job.”

When Wiegman arrived in the England set-up in 2021, the players found the way she communicated with them refreshing.

“What struck me the most was Sarina’s honesty and directness,” said England goalkeeper Mary Earps in Wiegman’s book, What It Takes, which is part-memoir part-leadership manual. Under Wiegman’s management, Earps revived her international career, twice winning Fifa’s award for Best Women’s Goalkeeper as well as the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Yet, Earps’ shock retirement on the eve of the tournament raised questions about whether Wiegman’s communication style went too far. Vice-captain Millie Bright also made herself unavailable for selection. Both decisions were reportedly as a result of having been told that they would not be starting at this month’s Euro 2025 tournament. Communication is something that Wiegman is said to consider closely. The Dutch federation initially had concerns about appointing her to the Netherlands job, where she also won a home Euros in 2017, due to a reputation of being difficult to work with because her standards are so high.

She encountered issues when she named her first international tournament team with squad members left upset about the way they were told. Wiegman used that as a learning opportunity to reflect on the way that she delivered news to her players, and Fran Kirby, who also retired ahead of the tournament, had nothing but praise for the way her chat with Wiegman had gone.

“I had a conversation with Sarina that said it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be going,” said Kirby. “Which is really tough. It’s tough for an athlete. It’s tough for someone to be told that. But I really respected the honesty and having that conversation.”

England’s 2-1 loss to France in their opening match was the first time Wiegman had lost a game at the European Championship, but the team bounced back to beat Wiegman’s homeland 4-0. After that match, she showed a rare sign of her own vulnerability.

“I found it hard too,” she admitted, reflecting on their opener. “I felt a little tension today but that’s completely normal. You really want to stay in the tournament so you really want to win.”

Now Wiegman knows that a win over Wales in the final group stage game will see them make the quarter-finals on Sunday night. For Wiegman, this is to an extent a journey into the unknown. For all her experience, she has never managed a side into a new tournament cycle. Perhaps then it is understandable that it has come with a few bumps. Wiegman’s talent appears to be knowing how to ride over them.

Sarina Wiegman

Born 26 October 1969

Alma mater University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Work Football manager

Family Marten Glotzbach and their two daughters, Lauren and Sacha

Illustration by Andy Bunday