England Women's Boss Sarina Wiegman: Sensible Has Never Looked So Exciting

Whisper it, but the FA might have just absolutely smashed it.

English football's governing body announced Sarina Wiegman as the new Lionesses manager on Friday, in an appointment that is both sensible yet exciting, obvious yet unexpected.

When Phil Neville confirmed in April that he would be leaving his post at the end of his contract in 2021, lengthy lists of potential replacements were drawn up, primarily topped by Manchester United boss Casey Stoney, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes and two-time World Cup winning coach Jill Ellis.

Stoney and Hayes would likely not leave their posts at their respective clubs, such was the potential of the projects that they were building, making former USA manager Ellis the obvious choice to succeed Neville.

The name Sarina Wiegman was not even mentioned.

But when news broke that the FA had narrowed it down to either Wiegman or Ellis to take the Lionesses hot seat, it suddenly became obvious. Of course it should be Wiegman. Why didn't we have her at the top of our lists all along?

Stoney and Hayes, and all the other coaches mentioned - Nick Cushing, Mark Skinner, Laura Harvey - are first-class managers at club level. But an excellent club manager is not necessarily what England need right now. Club and international management are a completely different kettle of fish.

Neville struggled with the lack of contact time he received with his players. England often looked disjointed and sluggish during his tenure, never fully able to adjust to the playing out from the back, possession-based philosophy that he was determined to instil. The best football England played under Neville was at the 2019 World Cup, when the former Manchester United man was afforded the luxury of weeks with his team, as opposed to short, intense bursts squeezed between the club schedule.

It is likely a manager accustomed to club football may have struggled with this adjustment too. With less than a year between the Olympics and the 2022 European Championships, there was little margin for error, and a lack of time for a coach used to spending everyday on the training to implement their style could have been costly.

This meant that a proven international manager was the ideal candidate. Still everything pointed towards Ellis to be the number one choice.

The Portsmouth-born coach boasts quite the footballing CV, guiding the USA to successive World Cup crowns - the first of which in 2015 was just 13 months after she was given the job full time.

But the USA job is vastly different to the Lionesses job. The USA spend large chunks of the year in international camps; it's effectively the reverse of international duty in England. Appointing Ellis would not have been dissimilar to appointing a club manager.

Also, the USA are the USA. They are head and shoulders above the rest in the women's game in terms of ability, athleticism and mentality. They have winning instilled in them from birth. The USA are the best team in the world and they know it. They celebrated all 13 of their goals against Thailand because it's the only thing they know how to do. England still have an air of apologetic, Hugh Grant-esque Britishness about them when they beat sides. Tasting international success with England is a completely different challenge to winning two World Cups with the USA.

And so we come to Wiegman. Bar Ellis, no international coach has achieved more than Wiegman over the last four years. But the remarkable job the 50-year-old completed with Holland is much more comparable to the task she has on her hands at England in contrast to Ellis with the USA.

Holland won the 2017 Euros on home soil - just as Wiegman will be aiming to do with the Lionesses in 2022 - before guiding her country to the 2019 World Cup final. They had only reached the World Cup for the first time in 2015.

Wiegman fast established Holland as one of the finest teams in the world, playing with a distinct, electrifying style and identity. Holland utilised width and played fast, attacking, effervescent football - making a mockery of England in the 2017 European Championship semi finals.

This is a style of play that will much better suited to the Lionesses. The likes of Beth Mead, Nikita Parris, Rachel Daly, Georgia Stanway and Lucy Bronze should thrive playing explosive, energetic football, as opposed to the patient, passing style that never quite found its feet under Neville.

Appointing a proven international coach, who fits England perfectly in terms of her identity and style is a shrewd, sensible move from the FA. But the football she can get the Lionesses playing combined with the potential in the squad means that sensible has never looked so exciting.