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ALL EIGHT TEAMS PREVIEWED - IN DEPTH ANALYSIS ON EACH SIDE
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH NEW ENGLAND BOSS MARK SAMPSON
Women’s Super League Preview
A p r i l 2 0
1 4
£ 3 . 5
0
ONE ON ONE
WITH
NATASHA
DOWIE
KIRSTY
LINNETT
FEATURE
INTERVIEW
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2 Women’s Super League Preview
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5 Arsenal
6 Birmingham City
7 Bristol Academy
8 Chelsea
10 Everton
11 Liverpool
12 Manchester City
13 Notts County
FEATURES
3 Women’s Super League Preview
WSL PREVIEW
9 One-on-One with Natasha Dowie
14 Kirsty Linnett interview
15 England to usher in new era under Welshman Sampson
Contents
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HE 2014 FA Women’s SuperLeague season promises tobe the most competitive yet,
writes Mike Baker.
The newly expanded FAWSL sees a total of eight
teams compete in the top tierwith the possibility of relegationto the ten-team second tierleague come the end of theseason.
2013 champions Liverpoolgo into the new season as fa-vourites, after adding Gemma
Davison and Lucy Stanniforthto their ranks.
The Reds lifted the FA WSLtrophy for the rst time in theirhistory in 2013 having nishedbottom of the pile for the previ-ous two seasons.
That success ended Arse-nal’s dominance of the topdivision, which had lasted nine
successive years and the Lon-don club have responded with
a Winter of chop and changeat Meadow Park.
Chelsea underachieved lastseason and will be looking for
better this time out, havingbrought taken players fromboth Arsenal and Birmingham.
But it’s not just Arsenal andChelsea that reigning cham-pions Liverpool will have to
contend with, emerging forceManchester City, Notts Countyand Bristol Academy – whonished second last season –
have all strengthened duringthe close season and all arecapable of winning the league.
While Arsenal, Bristol andNotts (as Lincoln Ladies) areused to the cut and thrust of
challenging for top-ight hon-ours, newly-reformed Man-
chester City Women are set tomake their FA WSL debut this
season.Having signed a host of
England internationals – suchas goalkeeper Karen Bardsley,
midelder Jill Scott and newclub captain Steph Houghton – the expectation is that Citywill challenge for the title at therst time of asking.
Birmingham City and Ever-
ton, fourth and fth respec-tively last term, may not havebeen as active as others onthe transfer front.
But with the advantage ofsettled squads and extendedknowledge of playing together,the pair will also hope to be inthe mix.
It truly does promise to be an
exciting and competitive sea-son ...
4 Women’s Super League Preview
T 2014 FA Women’s Super League Preview
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Arsenal
Manager: Shelley KerrGround: Meadow ParkCapacity: 4,502Last Season: 3rd
Players In: Yukari Kinga (INACKobe Leonessa), Anouk Hoo-gendijk (Ajax), Casey Stoney(Lincoln), Shinobu Ohno (Lyon),Siobhan Chamberlain(Bristol Academy), ChristieMurray (Glasgow City)Players Out: Gilly Flaherty,Katie Chapman (Chelsea),
Gemma Davison (Liverpool),
Steph Houghton (ManchesterCity), Kim Little (Seattle)
Fact File
Key Player
RANSITION has been thebuzzword at Arsenal for muchof pre-season.England’s most successful
club ever have faced a Winterof change, with several keyplayers departing and a host
of new names signing on atMeadow Park.Among those to leave the
Gunners are England cap-tain Steph Houghton, whohas joined new girls on theblock Manchester City, while
young starlet Gemma Davisonswapped London for Liverpooland the 2013 Women’s Super
League champions.In their place is a mixture of
experience and youth, withCasey, Stoney, captain ofTeam GB at the 2012 OlympicGames, coming in and excitingJapanese prospects Yukari
Kinga and Shinobu Ohno put-ting pen to paper with the club.
Kinga and Ohno will bringlook to bring a winning men-
tality back to North London:he Japanese internationalsare World Cup champions and
Olympic silver medalists.Perhaps Shelley Kerr’s most
astute signing is SiobhanChamberlain.
The England goal-keeper joins fromthe hugely suc-
cessful BristolAcademy andboasts bags
of big-gameexperience,both in the
Women’s Super League and onthe international stage.The key for Arsenal will be get-
ting so many new players to gelas a unit, and fast.
Already, frailties have beenspotted, with the Gunners ex-
iting the Champions Leaguequarter-nals at the hands of aninspire Birmingham side.But with the likes of experi-
enced old heads Kelly Smith(centre), Alex Scott and RachelYankey still at the club, they
should still be
challengingfor the WSL
title comethe end ofthe sea-son.
5 Women’s Super League Preview
Dutch international Anouk Hoogendijk only joined the
club in the Winter but is already fast on her way to be-coming a fans’ favourite at Meadow Park. With 94 capsto her name, the former Ajax and Utrect defender playedin the inaugural WSL season for Bristol Academy be-fore retuning to her homeland for the lure of ChampionsLeague football. Now back in England, Hoogendijk hastargeted a return to the top for Arsenal, starting with theWSL trophy.
T
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Birmingham City
Manager: David ParkerGround: The DCS StadiumCapacity: 1,400Last Season: 4th
Players In: Hannah Keryakoplis(Stoke City),Players Out: LauraBassett (Chelsea), Isobel Chris-tiansen (Manchester City), Rachel
Unitt (Notts County), Mary Earps
(Bristol Academy)
Fact File
Key Player
IRMINGHAM City have aloaded squad and a historyof doing well against top-levelcompetition.The Blues won the FA Wom-
en’s Cup in 2012 but have reg-istered a number of runner-upnishes in the FA WSL andContinental Cup.If off-season results are any-
thing to go by, this could be theyear the Blues take it all.They recently beat Arse-nal 2-0 in a UEFA Women’sChampions League battle,setting them up well for not
only the semi-nals of thatcontest but also for their WSLseason.The Blues are boosted in
2014 by the arrival of Welshstriker Hannah Keryakoplis(Left) from Stoke City, whohas already formed dangerouspartnerships with both KarenCarney and Kirsty Linnett up
front.Even beyond their big
names, the Blues have ex-tremely talented players in
almost every position. Young-er players have the benetof learning from some ofthe best, and injury plagues
become less of a concernwhen understudies are equallycapable.Seasons are often a matter
of survival of the ttest, and a
deep squad gives the Blues anedge.
Dave Parker’s side will go into2014 as underdogs but, withthe Champions League winlikely to give them condence,they could surprise many andeven have it in them to win thetitle.
6 Women’s Super League Preview
England internation Karen Carney has enjoyed being the focalpoint going forward for her childhood club since returning to Bir-mingham in 2011. The winger started out at The DCS Stadiumalongside Eniola Aluko before a big money move to Arsenal sawher career really take off. While playing for the Gunners, Carneyaveraged a goal every two games, attracting the attentions ofUS side Chicago Red Stars. Carney’s spell in the world’s best
female division was a short one, though, as a year later shereturned home and the winger has been knocking them in eversince.
B
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Bristol Academy
ast season’s surprisepackage Bristol Acad-emy begin life without
Mark Sampson in the2014 WSL season.Sampson left The
Stoke Gifford Stadiumthis Winter to replaceHope Powell as man-ager of England’s nationalteam as they look to qualifyfor the 2015 World Cup,following a poor European
Championship campaign in2013.Sampson’s replacement is
Dave Edmondson, an inter-
nationally-renowned coachwith experience in both NewZealand and Australia.Edmondson was most re-
cently manager at MelbourneVictory where he guided the
Australian side to a thirdplace nish in the 2013/14
Manager: Dave EdmondsonGround: The Stoke GiffordStadium
Capacity: 1,500Last Season: 2ndPlayers In: Mary Earps (Bir-mingham)Players Out: SiobhanChamberlain (Arsenal), LucyStanniforth (Liverpool)
Fact File
Key Player
7 Women’s Super League Preview
W-League season.He inherits a Bristol side that
overachieved last season,
nishing second to eventualchampions Liverpool on thenal day of last season.The Acedemy also made it to
the nal of both domestic cups
but were unlucky again, losingto Arsenal both times.If they are to be successful
this year, they will have to do itwithout Siobhan Chamberlain
and Lucy Stanniforth.The duo have both
departed for pas-
tures new during the closeseason, as Bristol look to havebecome victims of their ownrecent success.In order not to, Bristol under
Edmondson must continue tond bargains in the transfer mar-ket and must carry on developingyoung, British talent.
For Bristol, 2014 will be all aboutmaintaining their presence in theupper echelons of the WSL andremaining competitve in the cups.
Edmondson should at least havethem ring on all cylinders, but itremains to be seen on whether hecan sustain Mark Sampson’s goodwork.
The experienced head in a youthful squad,Corinne Yorston has been as important toBristol’s cause as anyone over the last fewyears. Since returning to the club from Arsenalin 2010, Yorston has been made captain andplayed a huge role in the club’s on-the-eld
successes, including 2013’s second placenish and two cup nals. The defender is 30now and boasts bag of experience and guile,both of which will be important for the club
following the departures of Siobhan Cham-berlain, Lucy Stanniforth and Mark Samp-son.
L
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Chelsea
8 Women’s Super League Preview
Manager: Emma HayesGround: Wheatsheaf ParkCapacity: 3,002Last Season: 7thPlayers In: Gilly Flaherty(Arsenal), Laura Bassett (Bir-mingham), Katie Chapman(Arsenal), Ji So-Yun (INAC
Kobe Leonessa)Players Out: Carly Telford,Katie Holtham (Notts County)
Key Player
Fact FileEngland internationals Ra-
chel Williams and Laura Bas-sett have both signed from
Birmingham City while KatieChapman, capped 82 timesby England, has joined from
Arsenal along with 22-year-olddefender Gilly Flaherty.While the new WSL season
does not start until April 16th,Chelsea have already beenbusy getting up to speed ontheir pre-Christmas tour to
Japan where they competedin the International Women’sClub Championship.
They eventually lost out 4-2 toJapanese side INAC Kobe Le-onessa in the nal, but havinggot close to a taste of silver-
With pace to purn and plenty of trickery, Eniola Aluko offers Chelseaand exciting option up front. The former Birmingham striker whosebrother Sone lines up for Hull City, is heading into her tenth seasonas a professional, and is still just 27 years old. Since bursting ontothe scene as a teenager in 2004, Aluko’s career has taken her tothe United States with Saint Louis Athletica, Atlanta Beat and SkyBlue FC, but having returned to Chelsea in 2012, the striker has
enjoyed her best spell. She is now closing in on 80 caps for the En-gland national side and will be vital if Chelsea are to see an upturn
in their fortunes in 2014.
AST season Chelsea Ladies
were mere spectators in the
race for the FA Women’s SuperLeague title but with a host ofnew faces they intend to be rightin the mix this time round.The Blues have never n-
ished higher than sixth in thethree years since the WSLwas introduced.The league will expand to
two divisions this year, and
ahead of competing in the toptier of women’s football Chel-sea have been busy expandingtheir ranks.South Korea international
midelder Ji So-Yun is the mostrecent of ve new arrivals andshe follows hot on the heels of aquartet of English players.
ware, the West Londoners willbe desperate for more in the2014 season.Unlike Arsenal, worries over
gelling as a team do not exist,and the mood in the Chelseacamp is a positve one, with
many predicting that they willchallenge for the WSL title
come the end of the season.However, progress in the
cups and a top half nish willrepresent improvementand progress for thisChelsea side, and who inthe ranks wouldn’t takeit after last season.
L
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ONE-ON-ONE WITH
NATASHA DOWIE
9 Women’s
WSLP meets player’s player of the
year 2013 Natasha Dowie and asks
all of the important questions...
IRST things rst, just how areyou related to Ian Dowie?
ND: Ha! The amount of times I getasked this. He’s my uncle. My dad
Bob Dowie) is his brother. I’ve hadcommentators and journalists callhim my dad before but he’s actuallymy uncle.
Did he teach you all you know?
ND: My dad was a footballer too,so you could say football is in myblood. Both he and my dad have
had some impact on my life and myootballing career.
You were voted player’s playerof the year last year. How pleas-
ng was it to recieve the recogni-ion of your peers?
ND: It was really pleasing. I play
with and against these girls weekn, week out so for them to voteor me is really nice on a personalevel. As a sportswoman you al-ways want to be the best and forother sportswomen to vote you thebest, it just makes all the hard workworth it.
Your team Liverpool are the cur-
ent champions going into whatpromises to be the most com-petitve WSL season yet. Are youexcited for the 2014 campaign tostart?
ND: Denitely. It’s been a long Win-er and you’re always going to bebuzzing about the new season. It’sgoing to be completely different thisyear. Last year no one expected us
o win and we were underdogs formost of the season. This time wego in as favourites so there’s a lotof pressure. We all just want the
6th to come around so we can get
playing again.
Who is catching your
eye ahead of the bigkick-off?
ND: I have to say ManCity. They’re new to theleague but some of thesignings they have madehave really laid down amarker. Arsenal havebrought loads of new girlsin and Chelsea will want todo better than last season.
It’s going to be tough thisyear with so many goodteams. I can’t wait for it allto start.
9 Women’s Super League Preview
F
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Everton
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Fact File
Manager: Andy SpenceGround: Rossett ParkCapacity: 3,185
Last Season: 5thPlayers In: MeganWalsh (Aston Villa),Gabby George (Man-chester United)Players Out: Jill Scott,Toni Duggan (Manches-
ter City)
Key PlayerFollowing the departures of Toni Duggan and Jill Scottto Manchester City, Rachel Brown remains the oneconstant of Everton’s line-up in recent years. The goal-keeper racked up 10 years at the club last year andboasts over 80 caps for England. Her form between thesticks will likely be vital if Everton are to be competitive
this year, especially after the emergence of rivals Liver-pool last season and the likes of Man City, Arsenal and
Chelsea all expecting to challenge.
VERTON Ladies handed out 16
new contracts ahead of the newseason and after seeing the major-ty of their squad sign on again forthe new season, consistency couldbe key for the Toffees in 2014.Andy Spence’s side may not be
making waves in the transfer mar-ket but after signing up a mixtureof familiar faces and centre of ex-cellence graduates for the upcom-
ng FA Women’s Super League
season, Everton’s manager eillhoping it works to their advan-tage.Each and every one of the
rst team was out of contract
at the end of the 2013 cam-
paign with captain Jill Scottand striker Toni Duggan optingto join Manchester City.But with the majority of the
squad committing to Everton,including academy graduateMichelle Hinnigan, now captainof the club, the focus is clearlyon developing from within.
Last season Everton blooded
many of their youngsters asthey nished fth in the 2013WSL and will likely do thesame this season as they lookto compete with the country’sbest.One fear for the club is their
lack of experience, though.With relegation now a real
threat due to the formation of asecond division, Everton lackthe experience and guile that arelegation battle would require.Young players may play
without fear and pressure buta ght against the drop, which
is possible for Everton thisseason, needs experiencedheads and the Toffees may
regret investing solely in youthby the end of 2014.
E
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Liverpool
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Manager: Matt BeardGround: Select Security Stadi-umCapacity: 13,350Last Season: 1stPlayers In: Gemma Davison(Arsenal), Lucy Stanniforth (Bris-
tol Academy)Players Out:
Fact File
Key Player
up with the Reds duringpre-season, from NottsCounty and Arsenal respec-tively.If their recruitment drive
is anything to go by, 2014
should be another successfulyear for Liverpool, but withseveral new teams and allof the old challengers on the
horizon, they’ll certainly haveto be at their best.
In Gemma Davison, Liverpoolhave a youngster tipped to bethe future of the Women’s gamein England. The winger wasone of a host of stars to leaveArsenal in the Winter and chose2013 champions Liverpool as hernext destination, citing the club’s
ambition and winning mentality
among her reasons. Davisonpossesses pace and skill inabundance - a scary proposition
AST season may have
brought Liverpool Ladies’ rstFA Women’s Super Leaguetitle but with plenty of challeng-ers new and old this term, theycould nd it difcult to win theirsecond any time soon.
The Reds lifted the WSLcrown for the rst time in theirhistory in 2013, and in doingso they will embark of a debut
campaign in the UEFA Wom-en’s Champions League.Their European adven-
ture won’t start until August,though, with manager MattBeard urging his side to focus
on matters closer to home rst.Beard has already moved
quickly to sign United StatesU23 goalkeeper Libby Stout
from German club BV Clop-penburg.She joins defender Martha
Harris and forward GemmaDavison who have also linked
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Manchester City
Manager: Nick CushingGround: Manchester RegionalArena
Capacity: 6,500Last Season: N/APlayers In: Jill Scott, Toni
Duggan (Everton), Steph Hough-ton (Arsenal), Karen Bardsley(Lincoln), Isobel Christiansen(Birmingham), Betsy Hassett (SCSand)
Players Out:
Key Player
12 Women’s Super League Preview
Fact File
City have spent big this Winter and while JillScott, Karen Bardsley and Steph Houghtoncan all lay claim to being strong, inuen-
tial signings, in Toni Duggan they haveEngland’s brightest young spark. Sincebursting onto the scene two years agoat Everton, Duggan’s career has gonefrom strength to strength, and the strik-er’s goals, pace and possesion play
will will be a vital attribute for City intheir maiden WSL season.
EW girls on the block ManchesterCity are the team on everyone’sps as the 2014 WSL season pre-
pares for its kick-off.
Much like their male counterparts,City have spent big during theclose season, acquiring a host ofstar names as they look to makean impact in their maiden season.Among those joining Nick Cush-
ng’s side are England interna-onals Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and
Steph Houghton, who have all leftother WSL clubs to sign on at City.
Duggan andScott arrive
fromEver-
ton while new England captainHoughton has swapped life atArsenal for the amibitious City. Houghton was recently
handed the England captain-cy by Mark Sampson and the
defender, along with Dugganand Scott, has talked up City’schances ahead of the new
Houghton believes City cando a Liverpool’ and win theWSL in their early years.The club certainly has the
infrastructure in place to do so:seven players are full-time, thesquad train at Carrington andCity should go far in the Wom-
en’s game.
N
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Notts County
Key Player
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Fact FileManager: Rick PassmoreGround: Meadow LaneCapacity: 20,229
Last Season: 6th (as LincolnLadies)Players In: Carly Telford,
Duna Susi (Chelsea), RachelUnitt (Birmingham), EllenWhite (Arsenal), Rachel Corsie(Glasgow City), Katie Holtham(Chelsea), Caitlin Friend, KatieHoyle (Melbourne Victory), De-siree Scott (FC Kansas City)Players Out: Karen Bardsley
(Man City
One of plenty to have left Arsenal in pre-season,Ellen White’s move to Notts County has largely goneunder the radar. The forward enjoyed a friutful threeyears at Meadow Park but with the club currently in atransitional phase, White has chosen to test herself
at WSL new girls County as she looks to re-ignite herEngland career ahead of the 2015 World Cup.
ORMED out of the relocationof Lincoln Ladies to Notting-ham this past Winter, NottsCounty Ladies will be looking
to make a good impression in
their rst WSL season.Ray Trew, who also owns
County’s mens’ side, is theman behind the relocation andhas moved quickly to aquirea number of impressive sign-ings.England internationals Ellen
White and Rachel Unitthave joined from Arsenal
and Birmingham re-spectively while in DesireeScott, the Magpies have aCanadian international with ex-perience in the USA’s NationalWomen’s Soccer League.On the pitch Rick Passmore
retains the reigns as managerand the one thing he will want
to continue from Lincoln istheir stingy defence – just 15conceded in 14 league games(second best in the WSL in2013).
They may have nished fthin the table but the Imps were
highly disciplined, FA CupSemi Finalists, ContinentalCup nalists and competitive inalmost every game.Scoring goals was a real is-
sue though with just 10 strikes – only Doncaster scored fewerand they were demoted tothe second division.Doncaster were
subsequentlydemoted tothe sec- ond tier but with White and
Scott now on board, goalsshould be easier tocome by and the Mag-
pies could be surprisechallengers this campaign.
Expect them to be con-
tent with competing, though,as Trew is a businessmancontent with playing the longgame and, with so many chal-lengers this year, his patiencecould well be a virtue.
F
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S far as English strikers go,she is below a host of womenin the pecking order but thathasn’t stopped Kirsty Linnettdreaming of one day reprsent-ing her country on the national
stage.The Birmingham forward is
busy preparing for the 2014WSL season and is raring togo after scoring as the Bluesknocked Arsenal out of theChampions League.“Of course I want to play for
England one day, who doesn’tdream of playing for their coun-
try?!”, she said, when posedthe question of being cappedby the Lionesses.“I’ve probably arrived onto
the scene ten years too late,England have plenty of brilliantgoalscorers right now”.She isn’t wrong. New England
boss Mark Sampson has thelikes of Toni Duggan, EniolaAluko, Liane Sanderson and
Ellen White in his ranks butLinnett, who has been capped
by her country at every stageof the youth system, believesshe has what it takes to forceher way into the internationalset-up.“Maybe I’m not ready right
now. But if I keep improving, Ithink I will be. I’d love to go to
the World Cup in 2015”, shesaid.
With the 2014 WSL season just around the corner, Linnettand Birmingham are expectinga tough season ahead.Liverpool, Arsenal and Chel-
sea have all strengthened Man-
chester City and Notts County,new to the WSL for 2014, areexpected to hit the ground run-ning and challenge at the top.But Linnett feels everyone is
overlooking Birmingham. TheBlues have gone about their
business quietly over the Win-ter and have enjoyed a positivepre-season.
“I think we’re the underdogs.But everyone loves an under-dog.“We have what it takes to
compete. I think we can win thetitle”, she said.And after knocking Arsenal
out of the Champions League,
who’d bet against her?
LINNETT:
BLUES CAN
CHALLENGE
FOR WSL TITLE
14 Women’s Super League Preview
“I think we’re
the underdogs.But everyoneloves an un-derdog.”
A
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“What have we got to
lose? We’re in a place where
we’ve come off the back of a dif-cult tournament in the Summer
and now we really want to try
and reinvent ourselves and be a
positive team.”
OME call it a poisoned chal-ice. Others say it’s the hardest
job in football. But for newly-in-
stalled Mark Sampson, manag-ing England is proving to be anenjoyable challenge.
Sampson was appointedHope Powell’s successor thispast Winter and the Welshman,fresh from four successful yearsin charge of Bristol Academy,is keen for England’s female
players to be competitive on theinternational stage once more.
“I think we’ve got a lot of goodpeople in the group.We’ve been impressed with
their character and how willingthey are to work hard and listen.“And we’ve also got some
really talented players so hope-fully we can mix and match that
correctly to give ourselves thebest chance.
“That’s the opportunity andthat’s the challenge, to makesure that when the players crossthe white line and put on thatwhite jersey, they’re in the bestpossible place to perform to theirmaximum.”England resume their World
Cup 2015 qualifying campaign onApril 4th against Montenegro in
great form.Under the temporary stewar-ship of Brent Hills, the Lion-esses recorded four winsfrom four, scoring 20goals in the processand Sampson, whowill take to the dug-out for rst time
this qualingcampaignagainstthe Mon-tene-
grans, praised his predeces-sors and targeted anotherthree points
“There’s been a lot of good
work in the past, which we’retrying to build on. But we alsohave new ideas that we’re try-ing to implement”, he said.
“We’ve looked at that overthe course of the Cyprus cuptournament and we’ve encour-aged the players to be them-selves.
“What have we got to lose?“We’re in a place where we’ve
come off the back of a difculttournament in the Summer andnow we really want to try andreinvent ourselves and be apositive team.”Sampson knows the pres-
sures that come with the job,having managed increased
expectations year on yearat Bristol, but even the
Welshman admitted thathe is enjoying his newrole immensely.“It’s been incredibly en-
joyable already”, he said.“I think we’ve improved
our performances game ongame and that’s the big
challenge going to thequaliers, come the
nal whistle, are we in
a position where we can lookback on our performance andfeel we’ve improved from the
last one.”
The new England boss de-nitely talks a good game. Butwith key qualiers againstMontenegro, Wales and Tur-key to come, like all who takethe national job, Sampson willlargely be judged on results.But in the Welshman, En-
gland have a manager willing
to go the extra mile, and thatalmost certainly bodes well for
the future.
15 Women’s Super League Preview
ENGLAND TO USHER IN NEW ERA
UNDER WELSHMAN SAMPSON
S
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