Less than three months after England’s elimination from the World Cup Phil Neville turned his attention towards next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 18-player squad he must pick for it as he announced a slimmed-down selection for friendlies against Brazil and Portugal, trimmed to 20 from the 25 he has previously preferred.
Toni Duggan, a key member of the World Cup team who has played irregularly for her new team, Atlético Madrid, this season was the most high-profile name missing from Neville’s new-look list, while Arsenal’s Jordan Nobbs returned for the first time since she sustained a cruciate ligament injury last November.
Three further players will take part in training but are not expected to be considered for selection, among them Alana Cook, a 22-year-old defender who was born and raised in America but has an English father and has impressed Neville since her move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
“I don’t know why they’ve come to the number 18, when every other squad is 23,” said Neville of the Olympic regulations. “In an 18-player squad you can’t pick two players for every position, you need multifunctional players. The make-up of the squad has to be different to what it would be for any other major tournament. So that’s what we’re doing at this moment in time: planning, looking at successful past Olympic squads and trying to mould a squad for us.”
Neville has composed a longlist of players from across the four UK associations – though he is unwilling to divulge precisely how long it is – and informed those involved that they are on it. He will not guarantee that each of the associations will be represented on the plane to Japan.
“What I’ve told the players is: ‘I’m going to pick the best 18 Great British players,’” he said. “Take the flags away. We want to go there and win, and we want the best players on the plane. When you’re speaking to the athletics coaches who have the same problem, ultimately they pick the quickest 100m runners, they pick the longest long jumpers. You don’t tick a box from each country, you take the best athletes.”
More than 23,000 tickets have been sold for the game against Brazil, which will be played in Middlesbrough on 5 October, three days before the match against Portugal in Setúbal. With Germany visiting Wembley in November more than 100,000 people are expected to watch England’s next two home fixtures.
“I keep hearing the World Cup inspired the next generation,” said Neville. “I think it inspired the older generation more. The younger generation were already with us.
“I think we’ve inspired that generation we thought we couldn’t crack, the generation not brought up with women’s football, not appreciating the quality. It used to be just the mums coming with their kids; now it’s the dads and the grandads, and I think that’s more special than the kids coming.”
Cook’s selection had not been anticipated, though she had been in contact with Neville and his assistant, Bev Priestman, for more than six months. Neville confirmed that there are other players in similar situations, who are willing and able to represent England and are being assessed.
“Because of secrecy we have been dealing directly with her and her coach at PSG,” Neville said. “When you see a player of that age playing Champions League football for one of the best teams in Europe, it shows her quality. It is difficult when you get a dual nationality player because you have to respect the players that have come through the pathway and been on the journey. You have to feel they really, really want to pull on this badge, and she has never wavered from the first time I spoke to her.
“I made her wait longer than she has wanted to let her earn the opportunity to train with us. I could have named her in the squad sooner but I wanted her to earn the opportunity to pull on that England jersey and she has done that.”