The England national football team made history when they were crowned winners of the Euro 2022 tournament in England and followed this one year later reaching the final of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The effect was a huge surge in the popularity of women’s football and the number of women and girls getting involved in the sport skyrocketing. The Lionesses have each become inspirational to so many, with their leader Sarina Wiegman now hailed as one of, if not the best, England managers there has ever been. But how does she do it? And how has she proven her success with two separate national football teams in such close succession?
What It Takes, written by former Leeuwinnen manager and current England manager Sarina Wiegman, recounts her experiences in football at all levels, from her initial time playing as part of the boys’ team to her rise to fame after bringing two national teams to become European champions. It documents three of the major tournaments she spent with these teams, as well as the influence she has had over the game in both the Netherlands and England. With testimonials from Leewinnen players, staff, Lionesses and other influential figures, this book documents the astronomic rise of women’s football and how Wiegman has transformed the game for the better.
Sarina Wiegman is a hugely inspirational individual and her work with both the Leeuwinnen and Lionesses was exciting to read about. Going though the sections of her book, her passion, dedication and willingness to achieve the very best for her players is clear to see. Her words provide an insight into football management at various levels, an aspect of the game which is little understood, despite the attention managers often receive. Whether it is working with individual players, the team or the coaching staff, her caring and determined nature is apparent in every story she tells and every action she takes.
It was also exciting to follow the various tournaments that we all watched from her and the player’s perspectives. Whether it was a successful match, the tournament-winning moment or the bitter defeat in the World Cup final, hearing not only Sarina’s thoughts but her players’ as well adds a new dimension to the recount and helps to drive this home. I also enjoyed the sections dedicated to her team management, thoughts on wider representation in football, how decisions are made both on and off the pitch, and the relationships that exist within the team. It is clear reading this book why the England team have been so successful in recent years, in multiple endeavours.
My only critique of this book relates to its structure and the inclusion of the aforementioned testimonials. I enjoyed getting the perspectives of those around Wiegman, but at some points this heavily outweighed the thoughts of Wiegman herself. Her own words felt like connective tissue joining others’ thoughts together, rather than aside passages that contributed to her narrative at points, and this sometimes detracted from the overall flow of the book, even though the testimonials were from respectable figures who had important contributions to make. There were also some chapters which felt as if they would be more beneficial at a different point in the book. It was largely organised in chronological order, but one or two chapters didn’t follow this structure and their placement didn’t feel like it fit the overall chronology.
Wiegman has had a lasting and undoubtedly crucial impact on the football world, helping to launch the women’s game to much greater notoriety than has ever been achieved before, & making the Lionesses, arguably, more successful than the Three Lions. Whatever the future holds for women’s football, it is a bright future and Sarina Wiegman’s contributions to this, summarised so eloquently in this book, cannot be understated.
Rating: ★★★★☆
What It Takes (ISBN: 978-0-00-864804-6) was published in 2023
