Sports Gazette

The sports magazine brought to you by the next generation of sport writers

Considering Sarina Wiegman as the next men’s national coach

Embed from Getty Images

There have been endless discussions about how women’s football has evolved during the past years all over the world and how it should be treated equally to its male counterpart, partly thanks to Sarina Wiegman and her many international successes. Nevertheless, if some new and seemingly radical ideas come up, fans get outraged and react vehemently.

The newest addition appeared in the form of a recently published article by Michael Cox (The Athletic). He stated that women’s national team coach Sarina Wiegman should be considered for the English Men’s Team.

Gareth Southgate evidently struggled during the Three Lions’ disappointing Nations League games against Italy (a 1-0 loss) and Germany (a 3-3 draw).

It seems like the English public is already expecting a poor World Cup performance at the World Cup in Qatar. Therefore, managers such as Eddie Howe, Frank Lampard, and Graham Potter have already been brought to the table as possible replacements.

Wiegman is the first female coach to be seriously considered for the roulette wheel.

Sarina Wiegman has several skills in her repertoire

Cox’s most impactful argument is the 52-year-old’s accomplishments. Wiegman won the last two UEFA Women’s Euros with the Dutch and English women’s teams respectively.

While the other proposed coaches have had success at their clubs, there seem to be no male options with sufficient experience on a national team level.

The Lionesses’ coach was able to showcase many of her skills last summer. She also has a proven knack with substitutions multiple times, the greatest example being Chloe Kelly. The Manchester City player scored the decisive goal in the final against Germany in the 111th minute.

Furthermore, Wiegman values team performances higher than focusing on individual players. As a result, she created a common spirit between players and staff.

On top of that, tough decisions like leaving out former captain Steph Houghton after an injury shortly before the tournament proved her as a coach with clear vision.

The bottom line is that Wiegman has not lost any of the 22 games (20 won, 2 drawn) since she started her job in August 2020.

Embed from Getty Images

The first female coach in men’s professional football is only a matter of time

In my opinion, there should be female coaches in men’s professional football. The reason is not due to a lack of quota or compulsive need for equality, but the simple fact that there are several excellent female coaches who are up to the task.

However, the timing for putting Sarina Wiegman to the forefront is inappropriate.

As of now, the English Women’s Team is set to confront the US women’s national team as strongest contender for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The tournament will span July and August – roughly nine months from now. If England get there, it would not be the first time Wiegman reaches the World Cup final as she led the Dutch Team there in 2019.

There is simply no justification for the Dutchwoman to leave her job at this very moment because she has the opportunity of renewed success with another career peak option at the tournament.

The reactions on Twitter were divided

On Twitter two opinion camps emerged on the topic: those who call Cox’s consideration a joke or clickbait and those who consider it an auspicious idea. A lot of the follow-up discussions centred around the existence of an allegedly big quality gap between women’s and men’s football.

In this context a user pointed out the example of John Herdman. He is the manager of the men´s Canadian football national team since 2018 who previously acted as coach for both the female U-20 and senior women’s team with decent accomplishments.

Even though one cannot directly compare Canada to England it still provides an insight on the topic. Why should the factors of success differ for a female coach?

Another Twitter user even called the possible change a “downgrade” for the Dutchwoman. Cox worded it as “women’s football is not a mere stepping stone to men’s football”. The Lionesses are currently playing outstanding football in front of bigger stadium crowds than ever along with increasing media coverage.

Why would a coach in this situation resign in exchange for an already expected rush of tabloid newspaper and social media reactions? That moment will come sooner or later.

In this case, however, it will most likely not be Sarina Wiegman.

There is also Emma Hayes

In the end, Sarina Wiegman is not the first female coach in England who has been associated with men’s teams.

After winning the FAWSL Manager of the Season in 2022 there have been numerous speculations about Emma Hayes leaving Chelsea for a men’s team. “Always the ones about links to the men’s game — those are the questions I hate the most”, was her reponse.

Surely the only reason Michael Cox did not throw her name into the discussion was because of this statement?

Embed from Getty Images

All in all, the debate of Sarina Wiegman as possible replacement for Southgate alone is a step forward in terms of greater female presence in the future of men’s football. The more the topic is in the limelight the more common it becomes.

In any case, we are talking about a big if and when Southgate resigns because the World Cup has not even started yet. But if that is the case, the Lionesses’ coach most definitely should not be an option because of the duties with her current squad – at least until after the tournament next year.

For sure we will then be having this discussion anew.

Author

  • Adriana Wehrens

    Adriana, 23, is a writer and social media editor for the Sports Gazette. She is from Munich, Germany, where she studied sports science at TU München. Her passions are writing and (playing) football. She played for the second team and U17 of FC Bayern Munich. Her main goal is to increase the coverage of women's sports in the media.