When it comes to a country's player pool, Sarina Wiegman is certainly one of the more blessed international managers in the women's game right now. The England boss can call upon world-class players across various positions and has incredible depth in her squad, with the names on her bench making for enviable reading for most of her peers. However, that is not to say that the Lionesses do not have gaps in their squad, and even their starting line-up, that they need fresh faces to step up and fill as attention turns towards the 2027 Women's World Cup.
There are several positions where that is particularly obvious. Left-back has been the Lionesses' stand-out issue for a long time, because there is still not a dependable or natural option for the role, and Taylor Hinds' call-up this month is as clear an indication as any that England are trying to address that. Then there are positions like right-back, occupied by a stalwart like Lucy Bronze but with little in the way of back-up behind her. That's a big reason why there is such a debate over Maya Le Tissier's role in the Lionesses team.
It's a similar situation in the deeper midfield roles. While England have plenty in the way of options to be their No.10 – picking from the likes of Ella Toone, Grace Clinton, Jess Park and even Lauren James – it's quite different when it comes to the positions nailed down by Keira Walsh, as the holding midfielder, and Georgia Stanway, in the box-to-box role.
Call-ups this month for Lucia Kendall, Missy Bo Kearns and Laura Blindkilde Brown, who combine for just two caps between them, is evidence of Wiegman looking to build the depth behind her trusty first-choice duo, and it is the in-form Blindkilde Brown who feels best-placed to show she can assert herself higher up the midfield pecking order as the Lionesses enter a new tournament cycle.
GettyBubbling under
Blindkilde Brown is a player well-known to Wiegman and her staff. Even before she earned her first senior England call-up in November of last year, and debuted in the second of the Lionesses' games in that camp, the 22-year-old will have been a name the manager came across plenty in her regular meetings with the staff who oversee the youth national teams. After all, Blindkilde Brown made her senior club debut as a 16-year-old, became a regular in the Women's Super League at Aston Villa and represented England across the underage levels during all that. She's long been a talent that many in the country have been excited about.
But after bouncing between the senior side and the Under-23s over the course of the past year, Blindkilde Brown has started the new WSL campaign in excellent form for Manchester City, whom she joined in the January transfer window last year, and it is amid that mark she is making on one of the very best sides in the country that she feels primed for a growing role with the senior England team.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesPatience is a virtue
It's no great surprise that it has taken a bit of time to get to this point. Joining any club midway through a season is tough enough, but especially when you're a young player trying to take the next step in a big team that has fierce competition for places. City's injury crisis did pave the way for some extra opportunities for Blindkilde Brown last year, though an ankle issue of her own would sideline her for six weeks, and a pretty tricky situation for the team overall, which led to a shock managerial change five days before the League Cup final, didn't help for consistency.
The start of the 2025-26 season has been extremely straightforward in comparison. Under new head coach Andree Jeglertz, Blindkilde Brown has started all-but two of City's first eight games and she has looked excellent, so much so that she was named the club's Player of the Month for September. Her goal-scoring display against London City Lionesses was a particular highlight, though it is her work away from the final third that has perhaps caught the eye most, especially in relation to England's needs.
Getty ImagesShowing her versatility
That's a change for Blindkilde Brown, who has largely been seen as a player for more advanced areas of the pitch in the past. Though capable of operating deeper, she often played behind the striker or even out wide at times, explaining in an interview with GOAL during her Villa days that her aim was to be more of "an impact player" who not only provided assists but scored goals in order to help the team win.
Now, though, she's thriving in a role that takes her closer to the back line than perhaps ever before, at least at club level. It's something that the 22-year-old was doing under City's previous permanent coach, Gareth Taylor, though on a more varied basis. "I don't really mind which position I play. I like the defensive side of it, but I also do like the attacking side of it," she explained, before adding: "It also does help with opportunities, knowing that I can do both."
She has the skillset for any role in midfield, too. "I think the biggest thing with her is her quality on the ball," Emma Coates, England's U23s coach, noted. "Wherever that sits tactically, that's a decision for whoever's making the game plan and [taking into accounting] the players available. But I think with Laura, she's such an exciting player on the ball. Some of the tightness, her ability under pressure, is a pleasure to watch, frankly."
Getty ImagesExactly what England need
To see Blindkilde Brown bringing that to the table in a deeper role, on a consistent basis, will have been welcome viewing for Wiegman as she looks to build the depth behind Walsh and Stanway. Since the post-Euro 2022 retirement of Jill Scott, who provided great back-up in deeper areas during Wiegman's first tournament in charge, England have welcomed different options into camps, but none have really stuck and made their mark on the squad as the manager would have liked.
Jordan Nobbs, Katie Zelem and Laura Coombs went to the last Women's World Cup to beef up the midfield department, but none have had a call-up since 2023, with Wiegman turning her attention elsewhere. Clinton, who deputised in Stanway's box-to-box role during the Bayern Munich star's injury absence earlier this year, is the closest the manager has come to nailing down another option, though Clinton is still arguably better in the No.10 role.