England boss Sarina Wiegman confirmed that she has not spoken to Mary Earps since the recent launch of her controversial book, All In.
The England manager held a press conference today after the announcement of her final squad of 2025, but questions were more focussed on the recent controversy involving Earps instead.
Earps’ autobiography, All In, has been heavily criticised for her play-by-play descriptions of her departure from the England set up, and her relationship with Sarina Wiegman and new number one goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton.
Wiegman was hesitant to react to Earps’ book, but instead said she wants to protect internal conversations within the squad.
“That’s her book and I don’t think I can react anymore because there’s a lot of private conversations that I always keep private,” Wiegman expressed. “We have conversations, we always have conversations and what my reality is; someone else’s reality can be different, because how you experience things is very individual.
“I want to create an environment where we speak up, where we get clarity, where I always communicate with players when it’s necessary and I also make decisions to win.”
Sarina Wiegman admits ‘I really enjoyed’ working with Mary Earps amidst controversy
The former Lionesses goalkeeper played an integral role in England’s heroic Euro 2022 feat, going on to become one of England’s most important figures in their World Cup final push the following summer. Despite Earps’ claims about Wiegman in All In, the head coach remained positive when reflecting on her relationship with the goalkeeper.
“What I should say is that I really, really enjoyed working with Mary. She’s retired now and we had incredible times, and I’ll always cherish that.
“I think there’s always dynamics going on in teams. You’re working with people, and everyone’s different. I want my door to be open at all times, to have conversations when that’s needed or when someone needs support.
“We create an environment where we want people to be themselves and everyone’s different and I think that’s nice too.”
Wiegman was asked if she would have done anything differently leading up to the Euros in regards to choosing a goalkeeper, now that all this drama has unfolded.
She said, “We had a very good goalkeeper unit, and two goalkeepers were competing for the number one spot. I would have done exactly the same thing.
“What I try to do is be as honest as possible and have a very good working relationship, and I think that’s what we [mary] had. I can’t control other things so I just stick with what I want to do, how I want to do it.”
