England head coach Sarina Wiegman says that the upcoming Arnold Clark Cup should help determine where the Lionesses are in their preparation for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.
Wiegman will field her side against top class opponents in the form of Canada, Spain and Germany over the next week as they step up their preparation for the home EUROs.
When speaking to the media ahead of the Canada game, Wiegman said that England’s performances at the tournament will act as a good marker in their journey towards this summer’s EUROs.
“We need these games because we want to be exploited in every area of the team,” Wiegman said. “We want to be tested in defence, in possession and in transition moments so you need to play against these kind of opponents.
“After this tournament, we will have a better idea of where we are at this moment and that’s good to prepare for the EUROs.”
England boss Wiegman has named a consistent line-up throughout her time in charge so far. When asked whether she will field a similar XI against Canada or make changes, she gave very few clues away.
She said “We have three games and in these three games we approach every one to win. We want to see how our players relate to each other and want to try some things out too. We have to manage some load because we have three games in seven days and the players have heavy schedules with their clubs so we need to take care with that.
“It is a combination of trying out things, developing our style of play, managing some load and hopefully, we can get all of the things that we want to see from the three games.
“By the end of the tournament, we will know where we are and know what we need to do to get where we want to be.”
England’s opening Arnold Clark Cup match against Canada kicks-off at 7.30pm on Thursday evening.