Sarina Wiegman has expressed her frustration over the uncertainty surrounding England’s World Cup preparations as talks continue regarding the timing of players being released for duty ahead of the tournament.
The showpiece in Australia and New Zealand gets under way on July 20, and in mid-May, the European Club Association and FIFA announced they had reached an agreement establishing a non-mandatory release period of June 23-29.
The ECA and FIFA said that timeframe, to act as a guideline for clubs and national associations with exact dates to be agreed between them, “strikes the all-important balance between players having sufficient rest while allowing adequate time to prepare for the World Cup”.
The plan for England had been to start a pre-tournament camp on June 19, and boss Wiegman, who named her 23-player squad for the World Cup on Wednesday, said: “Of course that’s frustrating because we have all our plans, we thought we were all set and then like a month ago, all of a sudden, things change.
“We didn’t expect that, and it’s so late. I do understand, it’s about the calendar. It’s really hard. It’s about players having rest. We have to collaborate and talk to each other to try to solve that.
“But now in a short time like this, we’re all set and a month before we start, it all changes. That’s frustrating and it’s hard too because I think this is not the time to do this. It’s the time to do that later and solve it after this tournament.”
Wiegman was asked specifically about midfielder Georgia Stanway, who plays for Bayern Munich, and said: “I still hope we negotiate. At this point it’s hard but we’re trying to get the conversation going again.”
The Dutchwoman said the June 19 plan had been in place since last November, adding: “When we came to these plans, of course we have our principles, the knowledge, the expertise and experience, so we made the plan starting the 19th (of June).
“We spoke about that with the captains’ group, then with the players. We are in contact with clubs now and it’s very constructive but it’s not finalised yet.
“When you go to a World Cup, it’s the highest level, the most density, volume, so you have to be at your highest level.
“We also know that if you have more than two weeks’ rest, which if you would start later on you would have 26 days of no football, that’s not good for the preparation for the players, for the welfare of players that wouldn’t be good. So that’s why we want to start on June 19.
“It’s not only the physiology, it’s also the decision-making in football and getting really ready to start when we start on the 22nd (of July v Haiti).
“And knowing we’re going to the other side of the world, that takes a couple of days too. It’s two days of travelling, you can’t start training straight away because we first have to beat the jet-lag, so we really need that time to get prepared, so I just hope that we keep going with the good conversations and we can solve this.”
England are due to fly to Australia on July 5, and Wiegman also said regarding a warm-up fixture prior to that date: “The reason why we can’t tell you anything about that has to do with when we can start.
“If we start on June 19 we have enough days to get ready for such a game, but if we start later then you have too short a time to get ready for a fixture.”
Germany 7-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Nagelsmann's side thump visitors to confirm top spot
Germany posted a commanding 7-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in their penultimate fixture in Freiburg to secure top spot in Group A3 of the Nations League.
Florian Wirtz and Tim Kleindienst scored two goals each while Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane were also on the scoresheet as the Germans posted their fourth win and maintained a five-point lead over the Netherlands in second place.
Julian Nagelsmann's side made a blistering start as Musiala headed home with just 78 seconds on the clock.
Borussia Monchengladbach striker Kleindienst then opened his account for Germany as Robert Andrich's effort deflected off him on its way into the goal in the 23rd minute.
Havertz ensured the hosts went into the interval with a three-goal lead, while Wirtz added two more, including a superb free-kick, before the clock struck the hour mark, effectively ending Bosnia's hopes of a comeback.
Sane joined the party in the 66th minute with Germany's sixth before Kleindienst sealed the victory with his second of the night, a close-range finish, 11 minutes later.
The hosts will wrap up their group stage campaign with a trip to Budapest to face Hungary on Tuesday, while Bosnia, sitting bottom with one point, will host group runners-up Netherlands.
Netherlands 4-0 Hungary: Hosts cruise into Nations League quarter-finals
The Netherlands booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Nations League with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Hungary on Saturday.
Two first-half penalties had put the hosts in control before Denzel Dumfries and Teun Koopmeiners secured second place in Group A3 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
A medical emergency on the Hungary bench saw the game suspended after eight minutes, but play resumed with a Netherlands penalty after a Tamas Nikitscher handball, and Wout Weghorst confidently converted.
Cody Gakpo then doubled their lead from the spot in first-half stoppage time when Zsolt Nagy tripped Donyell Malen in the box, and Denes Dibusz was sent the wrong way once more.
Weghorst whipped a delightful, long-range curler against the crossbar shortly after the restart, but Dumfries would get their third in the 64th minute with a drilled finish across goal into the far-bottom corner.
Koopmeiners rounded off the scoring late on, meeting Dumfries' inch-perfect cross to power a header past Dibusz and in at the far post, and was denied a second moments later by the post.
Data Debrief: Oranje march on
The Netherlands knew they needed to avoid defeat to make it to the last eight in the Nations League, but Ronald Koeman's side were not going to settle.
They were on the attack from the very start, registering 22 shots as they created 2.92 expected goals.
Dumfries was at the heart of both goals after half-time, and he became the second player in history to score each of his first nine international goals for the Netherlands in the second half, after Pierre van Hooijdonk (also nine).
'We will bounce back', says Taylor after losing WSL top spot
Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor vowed his side will bounce back after they relinquished the lead in the Women's Super League with a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten both scored in the space of four minutes late in the second half as defending champions Chelsea condemned City to their first league defeat and leapfrogged them to the summit.
Sonia Bompastor's side now have a two-point lead at the top and a game in hand over City, but Taylor was confident his side will continue fighting the Blues for the WSL title.
"We've always done really well on the occasions we have lost, and we don't lose often. It's a tight challenge," Taylor told Sky Sports after the match.
"We are coming to a team that has done well over the years. We will bounce back for certain. The league is never won in November.
"Football is about getting kicked, and it's how you get back up. We are right up there."
The game looked to be heading for a draw for the most part before Ramirez and Reiten struck in the 75th and 79th minutes respectively, as Chelsea ended the game with an xG of 0.85, compared to City's 0.56.
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