We must keep the noise out - Wiegman on Euros defence

They say a week is a long time in football, but the past three years have flown by.

It feels like only yesterday Chloe Kelly was twirling her shirt above her head after scoring the winning goal in extra time of the 2022 European Championship final to secure England's first major women's trophy.

Now Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses are preparing to do something no England team, men's or women's, has achieved in 55 years - defend a major title.

Women's football in England has grown exponentially since that dramatic triumph at Wembley, but after a mixed 18 months, it will be Spain rather than the Lionesses who will be tournament favourites when the Euros get under way on 3 July.

To reflect on past success and look ahead to the summer, England manager Sarina Wiegman sat down with former Lioness Alex Scott for Football Focus.

A lot has changed for England over the past three years, both on and off the pitch.

For starters, the squad Wiegman will have at her disposal in Switzerland will look vastly different to the one that won Euro 2022.

Key members Ellen White and Jill Scott retired shortly after the tournament, while the versatile Rachel Daly retired from international football last year.

In their place have emerged younger talents including Jess Park, Grace Clinton, Lauren James and Aggie Beever-Jones, while Hannah Hampton appears to have displaced the previously untouchable Mary Earps in goal.

"We have a different team now, different players with different backgrounds. We are going into a new situation - we're all working really hard," Wiegman told BBC Sport.

"The players have different personalities and are at different parts of their journey."

In an effort to bridge the gap, Wiegman explained that the squad's more experienced members have been sharing their major-tournament experiences with their younger team-mates.

"You want to have conversations on all these different levels and try to get everyone on board," she said.

"We explain what to expect from a tournament, we ask players who have been there before to express themselves, what they learned and what we should take from it, to be best prepared on and off the pitch."

England followed their Euros success with a run to the 2023 World Cup final, where they were defeated by Spain.

Since then there have been ups and downs - after beginning the Wiegman era with a run of 30 matches unbeaten, England lost seven of the 31 games that followed.

An underwhelming 2023-24 Nations League campaign cost Team GB a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics women's tournament, while defeats by Germany and Belgium in the past seven months - either side of a brilliant win against Spain - have also raised concerns.

"We've had a lot of learnings over the last few years - we don't always get it right but that's a learning curve we are on," Wiegman said.

"We have had some good moments and some less good. With the development of the game we are harmed when we don't play well.

She says England "want to get more consistent", while there are "still a couple of things we want to figure out" such as whether they should sometimes "play a little deeper".

"These details we must get right," she adds.

While Wiegman made the first 18 months of her tenure look effortless, success has brought its challenges.

The Lionesses have become synonymous with winning, so when they fall short, criticism is never far away.

"There is noise. People will have opinions because they only see part of us," Wiegman said.

"But as a team we stick together. We know where we want to go and what we want to do. We are the only ones in our bubble every single day.

"We trust each other in what we are doing, that's what we have to focus on.

"Stick to the plan, stick together and keep the noise out. This is part of the job."

As was the case before the 2023 World Cup, England's preparations for the Euros have been disrupted by injuries.

Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and James have spent long periods on the sidelines this season, while Georgia Stanway - a key player under Wiegman - faces a race to be fit after having knee surgery in January.

Wiegman's first challenge after the Euros will be dealing with the departure of her long-term assistant coach Arjan Veurink, who will become Netherlands head coach after the tournament.

"We have had a great journey together but for him it's time to move on," she said.

"I knew that there would come a point where he would step up and do a job like this - I'm very happy for him.

"He's very eager to do well at the Euros, and that makes us even stronger."

Regardless of the transition period they have experienced, expectations of the defending European champions are high.

"We have big expectations for ourselves - we want to have high standards," said Wiegman, who has won successive Euros finals with the Netherlands and England.

"What we can control is to be at our best as individuals and as a team, be the best prepared and get as much clarity as possible when we go out on the pitch.

"We want to get up there [to our best form]. It's hard, it might be even harder to stay there. We know the expectations are high, but every opponent wants to beat us.

"We have to be at our best every single game."

That is no exaggeration by Wiegman - England have been drawn in the 'group of death' alongside France, 2017 European champions the Netherlands, and Wales.

"We hope we can give back great performances over the summer, hopefully for six games," Wiegman added.

Win all those games and England will become only the second team after Germany to triumph in successive Euros finals.