Siobhan Chamberlain makes Sarina Wiegman admission and gives World Cup verdict

20 July 2023 , 05:30

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Siobhan Chamberlain won 50 England caps before retiring from international football in 2018

Former Lioness Siobhan Chamberlain believes England boss Sarina Wiegman could one day lead the way for women working in the men's game.

Wiegman has lost just one game since taking charge of the Lionesses in September 2021, helping England to victory at last summer's Euros in the process. The Dutchwoman will hope to add another piece of silverware to the cabinet this summer, with her side among the favourites to go all the way at the Women's World Cup.

However, while Wiegman's focus is firmly on leading England to glory, Chamberlain says she has all the attributes needed to manage in the men's game.

"I don't see why Sarina couldn't be a leading figure in female managers working in the men's game," Chamberlain exclusively told Ladbrokes. "I think that if you've got the knowledge, that's the most important bit.

"Then it's about having the respect of your players, and I think that by achieving what she's achieved in the game, there's just no way you could argue that she doesn't have the respect of her players. From then, you can go in to a place and tell them what you want to achieve, how you want to do it, and they will listen and - hopefully - implement what you're asking them to do.

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"Without the respect, it makes things difficult, for sure. But I don't see why females can't step into that space, if they've got the ability, if they've got the knowledge, and if they can gain the respect - which they should do, because of what they've previously achieved.

Former Liverpool and Manchester United goalkeeper Chamberlain won 50 caps for England before hanging up her gloves in 2020. The 39-year-old was part of the squad that finished third at the 2015 World Cup and believes the Lionesses are in with a chance of bettering that result this summer.

"It's a bit of a boring answer, but I think we're going to see and England v USA final," she said. "On paper, it looks like it'll be a USA v Spain semi, which is a really tough one to call.

"Spain are brilliant, they've still got a few players missing because of previous controversies... I just wonder whether they've got that ruthlessness. They're a great side, and you can look back at the game against England in the Euros, they were so much better than us - they just didn't have that ruthlessness. So when you put them up against the USA, a team just full of arrogance, with that winning mentality, it's hard to see them progressing past that point."

Siobhan Chamberlain makes Sarina Wiegman admission and gives World Cup verdict

Siobhan Chamberlain won 50 England caps before retiring from international football in 2018

She added: "I honestly think there'll be at least six teams who genuinely think they have a chance of winning the World Cup. There are so many countries heading out there with injury problems - not just England - which makes it more of a level playing field.

"USA, England, and Spain are always going to be in the conversation, but then you've got France, Germany, Australia, even Brazil... all of these - on their day - can beat anyone. It's about who can build that momentum at the right moment - it'll be a really tight tournament though, I'm sure of that."

England will begin their World Cup campaign against Haiti in Brisbane on Saturday, and Chamberlain believes it will be closely fought contest at the Suncorp Stadium.

"Obviously, we're massive favourites to go and win that game, and the odds suggest it should be fairly comfortable," she said.

"Prior to the last three games we've played, I'd have probably said this one will be around the 4-0 mark. But we're really struggling in front of goal right now, we've just lost 2-0 to Australia and drew 0-0 with Portugal. So with that in mind, I'm going to go with a 1-0 win.

"We've absolutely got enough to get over the line, but we're just not firing on all cylinders yet. It doesn't matter so much in your first game of the tournament, the most important thing is getting those three points. It's not necessarily going to be an easy watch for fans, but a win is a win, and I'm confident we've got more than enough to take all three points and build on that throughout the rest of the competition."