Sarina Wiegman is now 10 matches into her tenure as head coach of the Lionesses and things could scarcely have gone better so far. 

England have eight wins and two draws during these 10 games, scoring a combined total of 67 goals and conceding just two. 

While the quality of some of their opposition has left much to be desired, this is not to say England haven’t secured some notable victories of late.

Indeed, back in February, the Lionesses won the Arnold Clark Cup, which featured three of the world’s top nations in Canada, Spain and Germany. 

The improvement since Wiegman took over from interim boss Hege Riise has been noticeable and England have gone from a side that had become used to perenially underperforming, to a team that are genuine contenders to win Euro 2022 this summer.

Becoming more “ruthless”

The majority of Wiegman’s matches in charge have been world cup qualifiers against low ranked nations.

Wiegman stressed that preliminary rounds should be introduced for women’s international qualifiers to avoid unbalanced matches but also urged England to be “ruthless” when playing these teams. 

And the Lionesses did exactly that last November –– beating Latvia 20-0 and setting a national record for their largest victory in a senior international football match.

England’s 63 goals so far in qualifying is already almost double the amount they scored in the whole of the qualification process for Euro 2017. 

Though it is true that England could’ve won some of their recent matches by even bigger scorelines, four of their seven group matches have led to victories by 10 goals or more. 

Not afraid to make big decisions 

Wiegman has also showcased her own ruthless tendencies and has not refrained from making some big selection calls already. 

Steph Houghton has captained England at the last three major tournaments but Wiegman has now handed the armband to Arsenal star Leah Williamson for this year’s European Championships. 

Williamson operates as a centre-back for the Gunners but Wiegman has preferred to utilise the versatile 25-year-old as a central midfielder –– a decision which has so far paid dividends. 

Wiegman has also handed regular opportunities to a number of rising stars, including the Man United duo of Ella Toone and Alessia Russo. 

While Riise was sometimes criticised for being too loyal to some of England’s senior players, Wiegman’s squad selection emphasises that she is going to pick on merit, rather than reputation. 

A proven winner 

Renowned as one of the best managers in the world, Wiegman knows what it takes to win major trophies. 

After taking over the Netherlands in 2017, the Dutch-born manager guided the team to glory at Euro 2017 and received widespread praise for her attacking brand of football. 

Two years later, the Netherlands made the final of the Women’s World Cup but lost 2-0 to the USA. 

The Netherlands’ European Championship success in 2017 came on home soil and now, five years later, England will host Euro 2022 this year. 

With the side scoring goals for fun, a number of youngsters coming through and a world-class manager at the helm, this summer could well be one to remember.