England’s Millie Bright: ‘Playing with freedom really gives me confidence’

Millie Bright no longer takes offence when Sarina Wiegman spells out precisely what she is doing wrong. As Euro 2022 beckons, the Chelsea centre-half has learned to compartmentalise her emotions and almost welcome previously “difficult conversations” with England’s supremely dispassionate coach. She understands that, with Wiegman, context is everything.

“It’s not personal, it’s football and that’s been our mindset change; we’re all very open and honest now,” says Bright as she settles into her seat in an indoor football hall at St George’s Park where the Lionesses have been preparing for Wednesday night’s tournament opener against Austria at Old Trafford. “Sarina takes all the emotion out of it.

If you want to go up another level and be in the best football environment you must have the difficult conversations we’re having. Sarina’s comments are never personal but to me as a footballer. It’s about what’s best for the team, there’s no emotion in it.”

While the Dutch are noted for their directness, and Wiegman, a native of The Hague who led the Netherlands to Euro 2017 glory appears a prime example, the 52-year-old is perhaps not quite the control freak she sometimes seems. Significantly, the woman charged with ending England’s run of semi-final exits in their last three major tournaments demands players think for themselves on the pitch.

Whereas some coaches drill teams so strictly their choreography can virtually be regarded as football’s answer to painting by numbers, Wiegman’s squad must use their brains. Stylistic dogma is out and improvisation far from taboo. Take Bright’s penchant for feeding England’s exciting winger Lauren Hemp with long diagonal balls. “Sarina has a thing where the player on the ball is the one