Phil Neville left his post as England Women's manager earlier today after three years in charge of the Lionesses. We was due to leave his post in the summer after the Olympics in Tokyo, but has decided to leave now after accepting the job at MLS side Inter Miami who are owned by Neville's former Man United and England teammate David Beckham. Has his time with the Lionesses been a success?
Neville's tenure in charge of the Lionesses started well as they won the SheBelieves Cup in 2019 beating Japan in the final before finishing 4th at the Women's World Cup four months later in France. The performances in both those tournaments got the nation following the women's game and especially at the World Cup where over 1 billion watched it at home. But since the World Cup, things haven't been a smooth as they wanted them to. They've lost 7 out of their 11 games since then and two of those defeats came in a disappointing SheBelieves Cup campaign where they finished third behind Spain and the USA. Their poor post World Cup form could be down to a World Cup hangover or the players not being on board with the managers' methods or tactics because they are two factors that can contribute to a teams' drop off in form after a successful period.
Overall, I think Phil Neville's time with the England Women's team has been a success because he lead them to a SheBelieves Cup win and a 4th place finish at the World Cup in 2019. That inspired young women across the country to get into football and it got fans interested in the women's game because of how well England did and the amount of views the Women's World Cup received. He's made members of the England team better players because of him, they're on their way to becoming one of the best teams in the world which is where England want to be.
Comments