In their opening two Euro 2025 qualifying games, the Lionesses drew 1-1 with Sweden at Wembley and beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0 at the Aviva Stadium last night.
After winning the Euros on home soil back in 2022 and reaching the World Cup final last summer, the Lionesses only managed to secure four points in their opening games leaving them second in Group 3. This is still good considering the only team above them is France, however, the Lionesses’ performances have been somewhat lacklustre compared to what fans are used to seeing.
So, what can we take away from these two games? Let’s find out…
Wiegman likes to give the young talents a chance
Against Sweden at Wembley we saw another start on the international stage for Grace Clinton and against Ireland we saw Jess Park in the starting XI. She also called up City keeper Khiara Keating who probably would’ve made her senior debut if she didn’t have to withdraw from the squad due to injury.
During the last few camps since the World Cup, Wiegman has awarded more of the younger talents call-ups to the squad, and if given a chance they haven’t failed to impress.
Against Sweden Clinton was once again very solid in the middle of the park, she just couldn’t impose her attacking threat into the game and was therefore subbed off at half-time. Park was also very good against Ireland, she used her pace and skill well at times and did look threatening when running with the ball.
The fact Wiegman likes to give the younger players a chance puts pressure on the more experienced senior players like Fran Kirby and Georgia Stanway to keep performing well otherwise they will be dropped.
Teams have figured out how to stop the Lionesses from dominating the midfield
The focal point of England’s midfield if not the entire squad over the last few years has been Barcelona’s Keira Walsh.
Her ability to pick up the ball in tight spaces, dominate midfield, and pick out a teammate in attack with a through ball is unbelievable.
However, against Sweden at Wembley, she was pretty poor by her standards, she gave the ball away multiple times and couldn’t impose herself onto the game in any way due to Sweden’s constant pressing. Walsh did improve against Ireland as she was spraying the ball around for fun and making it look really easy. She was also awarded player of the match.
It will definitely be interesting to see how she gets on against a top side in France at St James’ Park in May.
The defence needs to be worked on
Even though they drew 1-1 with Sweden and beat Ireland 2-0, England could’ve easily drawn or lost both of these games based on the chances they conceded.
Against Sweden, Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius found herself clean through on goal quite late on and put her effort wide, but it was so easy for her to run past England’s defensive line. Why?
Well, all of England’s full-backs like to bomb forward, whether it be Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, or Niamh Charles, Wiegman encourages them to get forward to become extra attacking threats. This leaves a big hole at the back for when a team counterattacks like Sweden did on multiple occasions.
With Mille Bright still injured and Leah Williamson only just returning to the squad from her ACL injury, new partnerships like Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alex Greenwood were tried by Wiegman, so is it going to be a case of trial and error going forward? either way, they need to stop leaking chances and goals as soon as possible if they want to retain their Euros trophy next year.
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Wiegman isn’t scared to switch personnel in goal
Surprisingly against Ireland, the world’s best goalkeeper Mary Earps was dropped Wiegman. Hannah Hampton was awarded a start for her country and overall she played pretty well. She didn’t have a lot of saves to make but her distribution and calmness was good to see.
The fact Wiegman dropped Earps proves she’s not scared to switch it up in goal from time to time. Of course, Hampton is having an incredible season with Chelsea at the moment so deservedly got a start for her country, whereas Earps is having a pretty up-and-down season with United and she did play against Sweden and conceded a poor goal.
Leah Williamson being back involved is a massive boost
As mentioned above, in this camp we saw Leah Williamson make her return to represent her country for the first time in a whole year. She played a full 90 minutes against Ireland and it was like she’d never been away.
Having Williamson back is a massive boost for Sarina Wiegman as not only is she the captain, but her ability in defence in terms of actually defending and passing the ball forward or switching the play is incredible (as we saw against Ireland), and ultimately helps England out in so many ways.
But most importantly her leadership qualities and the way she shoulders responsibility and speaks so honestly about the team will help and inspire the other players during the next few camps.
The Lionesses are next in action on Friday 31st May at St James’ Park.