Sarina Wiegman believes Beth Mead’s recall to the England team for the first time in a year will give her side extra energy ahead of next month’s must-win Nations League fixtures.
Mead ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in November 2022 but returned to action last month and made her first start for Arsenal in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Brighton.
Wiegman had opted against re-calling Mead for October’s double header with Belgium, with the Lionesses boss believing the forward needed more game time.
But with England needing to beat both the Netherlands and Scotland to have any chance of qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games, Wiegman has brought the Euro 2022 golden boot winner back into the fold.
‘I expect on and off the pitch that [she will] give us some extra energy,’ Wiegman said. ‘It’s good to have her back. Her experience, the way she plays, she’s different than other players on the wing so she brings different things so that’s good for the team.
Arsenal star Beth Mead has been re-called to the England squad for the first time in a year
The forward suffered a tear of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) back in November 2022
The injury saw Mead miss this summer’s World Cup, which England finished as runners-up
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‘Her health is really good so she can just go. She’s shown in games that she’s in a good place and we want her to keep building and improving but she’s shown enough for me and my technical staff to bring her in.
‘She’s in a good place and still building too. That was a very good phone call, she was very happy.’
England require two wins from two to stand a chance of topping their Nations League group, but will also need to rely on Belgium dropping points in one of their fixtures.
‘Yes, we are in a situation where we absolutely need wins and we know that, we’re aware of that,’ Wiegman said.
‘The urgency to win games now is just higher but we’re always under pressure to win and that’s the expectation. We want to be more ruthless.’
No England player has more goals than Chelsea forward Aggie Beever-Jones but Wiegman opted against handing the 20-year-old a first call-up.
‘She’s in our conversations,’ Wiegman said. ‘I think it’s a bit too early, also with the competition we were just talking about.
‘We see good things. She’s in the U23s, we have contact with Chelsea too obviously – with the 23s it’s good she can get the minutes there and keep developing. I hope she just keeps improving and gives us headaches again with our selection.’
Elsewhere, Manchester City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck has been dropped after failing to start a game in the Women’s Super League this season with Wiegman opting to have Hannah Hampton and Khiara Keating as her back-up options to Mary Earps.
‘Of course that’s really hard,’ Wiegman said of Roebuck’s absence. ‘Really hard for her, with the position she has at [her] club now.
‘We did have conversations with her. At the last camp we decided to keep the four goalkeepers.
Sarina Wiegman names her squad for next month’s must-win Nations League games
‘Now we went back to three, so I had to give her the hard message that we didn’t pick her for now. Yes, of course she’s in a hard position. She just has to work hard and see if she can find opportunities to play. And right now, in the very short-term, that’s probably not going to happen.’
Wiegman also expressed her excitement at going up against Chelsea boss Emma Hayes in the future after her move to the United States national team was confirmed last week.
‘I said to her “so now you’re going to the other team,”’ Wiegman added.
‘She has done a tremendous result and incredible results over a decade. It’s good for her to move on. I congratulate her of course and it’s very exciting. For England it’s a disappointment but it’s good for the women’s game.’
