Phil Neville has challenged his younger players to raise their game and claimed the standard required at international level is 10-15% higher than in the Women’s Super League, as he named a small, experienced squad for the prestige friendly against Germany at Wembley.
A 1-0 win over a modest Portugal side this month ended a five-match losing streak and Neville knows the match a week on Saturday, in front of a sellout crowd of 90,000, will put him and his team under an intense spotlight.
Neville believes England will enjoy the challenge but, after drafting younger players into his squads following the World Cup, he has reverted to the tried and trusted with only four players under the age of 23 in a selection of 21.
“I don’t think we feel pressure,” Neville said. “My experience over the last three or four games is that these players need these kind of occasions; when the pressure is on that’s where my players want to be. They’re going to go out and enjoy it. They’re playing the second-best team in the world.
“This is a game where as players and managers we have got to … just play football and play football really well. We work really hard in the growing of the sport but there are certain matches where you have just got to win that bloody game. Not win, but perform. From my point of view this is a game where we have to perform.”
Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Lyon), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash), Toni Duggan (Atlético Madrid), Mary Earps (Manchester United), Beth England (Chelsea), Alex Greenwood (Lyon), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Steph Houghton (Manchester City), Abbie McManus (Manchester United), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Lyon), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City), Jill Scott (Manchester City), Lucy Staniforth (Birmingham City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Jodie Taylor (Reign FC), Carly Telford (Chelsea), Keira Walsh (Manchester City), Leah Williamson (Arsenal)
On the younger generation, Neville said: “We see a lot of players. We get a lot of players pushed on us. What I would say is the level of the WSL and the level of competition with England is totally different, 10-15% more. When we bring certain players into the environment we find out a lot about them. Some make it up to the grade and some don’t. But when they come into the environment they’ve got to perform.
“The senior nucleus of the squad are the ones who are still performing when they’re on camp and when they’re in the games. Those younger players that are coming through, some of them have got a lot to do. They’ve got to become better professionals, become a Steph Houghton, a Lucy Bronze, an Ellen White.
“Beth Mead has been through the grind. We have shown her some real tough love in the summer, in the World Cup, and I was with her at the Pride of Britain Awards; we were laughing about some of the stuff we have said to her, real hard words – and she has come out of it. That is the key.
“Leah Williamson is the same. There was a massive push for Leah. We had to be really hard on her but now she is becoming really top. That is my job as a manager to be honest with the players. They have a lot of people around them that tell them what they want to hear. As a manager you are the only one that tells them the truth.”
Mead and Williamson make the cut, with the squad size pared down by Neville to prepare for next year’s Olympics, where he will coach Team GB and only 19 players can be selected.
There is also a place for Toni Duggan, recalled after Neville admitted the Atlético Madrid winger played through injury during the World Cup, while Manchester City teenager Lauren Hemp is in line for a second cap.
Fran Kirby misses out on her return from injury, however, while White and Georgia Stanway were judged fit enough only to join the training camp.