Sarina Wiegman is very much in charge of England for now, but Alex Greenwood could become a Lionesses boss of the future.
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Dutch tactician calling the shots at presentExperienced defender has many years leftGiving thought to future career in coachingWHAT HAPPENED?
The Manchester City defender is, at 30 years of age, beginning to piece together plans for when the day comes for her to hang up her boots. There is no indication of that happening any time soon, but Greenwood would like to ensure that she remains in football.
AdvertisementGettyWHAT GREENWOOD SAID
There is still plenty left for the Euro 2022 winner to achieve on the field for now, having just been named in the FIFPPRO Women’s World 11 for 2023, but she has told FIFA’s when asked about a potential move into management: “The older I've got, it's became apparent it’s something I could enjoy. I absolutely love helping players. And I'm obsessed with football, I'll watch any game that's on TV! I love working out what a team's trying to do, and I have a way I like football to be played. Hopefully I've got a few playing years left, but coaching is on my mind. It's something Sarina Wiegman and a couple of other staff have said I've got to start doing. I think they see a quality in me to go into that, so maybe I'll listen to them.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
For now, Greenwood is focused on helping City sustain a challenge for the WSL title in 2023-24, with Gareth Taylor’s squad convinced that they can dethrone defending champions Chelsea. Greenwood added: “I think it's massively realistic. In the past, we've probably kept our ambitions internally and said, ‘We'll take it game by game’. That's absolutely what we’ll do, but this year I'm more than comfortable to say out loud that I want to win the league. I think we're good enough to do it and everyone's mindset here is about winning the WSL. We want to do well in the Continental Cup and FA Cup too. We want to win everything we compete in.”
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR GREENWOOD?
City sit second in the WSL table as things stand, three points behind leaders Chelsea, and are counting down the days to a Continental Cup quarter-final clash with Tottenham and an FA Cup fifth round date with Arsenal – with Greenwood’s vast experience set to be put to good use in all of those crunch clashes.