Sarina Wiegman ‘has not spoken’ to Hannah Hampton in two months
Sarina Wiegman has revealed she has not spoken to Hannah Hampton since dropping the goalkeeper from the England squad in September.
Addressing the issue after she announced her squad for games against Japan and Norway in Spain this month, the manager said: “I haven’t spoken to her myself. We have made a plan. She is at the club and taking care of that. We are supporting and that’s where we are at right now.”
On Monday the Guardian reported that Hampton had been dropped by England and Aston Villa for poor behaviour and an attitude problem, but Wiegman would not be drawn on details. She reiterated what she said in September namely that “personal issues” were behind the omission.
“The same reason as I said in September, nothing’s changed,” she said. “She still has to do something personal, that I would not like to comment on.”
Asked whether Hampton could return, after the Guardian reported that she was unlikely to play for the manager again, Wiegman said: “The door is always open. When players perform and perform consistently for their club then they have a chance.”
Hampton has not played for Villa since September, first because of an unspecified injury before she was passed fit for the game against Chelsea on Sunday but told to “stay at home” by the manager, Carla Ward.
Although Hampton was considered by Villa on Saturday to have been match ready she said on Tuesday that she needed a small medical procedure and would be out for several weeks. In a statement on social media she wrote: “I’ve been suffering with an ongoing medical issue for a while and it’s time to address it properly this week with a small procedure. I’ll be out for a few weeks now as I recover with the support of everyone at the club.”
Wiegman has handed first call-ups to the Manchester United centre-back Maya Le Tissier and the versatile Brighton forward Katie Robinson for the matches on 11 and 15 November in Murcia.
“We have eight months to get prepared for the World Cup,” Wiegman said. “We want to see where the young players are now. Maya has done really well. There are a couple of players that are doing well in their teams and the Under-23s so this is an opportunity for them to show what they can do in our squad.”
Jordan Nobbs has been included after her goals and standout performances in back-to-back games for Arsenal.
Wiegman said she had spoken to the former captain Steph Houghton, who is back playing for Manchester City, although not week-in, week-out. “I think now she’s not ready to compete or ready for us in the squad which obviously she wants. She really needs minutes too, to show and get consistency. We’ll see how it goes.
I can’t look into the future. I think at the moment it’s really hard with having the team now, the players she’s competing with.”
One player who has not had a lookin at any level for England but is turning heads is Tottenham’s Ash Neville, who scored twice in the club’s 8-0 demolition of Brighton on Sunday. “We watch all the players,” said Wiegman. “At the moment she’s doing a really good job at Tottenham. We choose other players at this moment who we believe are better.”