On 31st July 2022, England Lionesses changed the game of Women’s Football in the UK as they won the first major trophy since 1966. Currently, the team are struggling to find form and might not even make it to retain their title.
Current form for the Lionesses:
Camp One:
5/04 - Wembley Stadium: 8pm Kick Off - England 1-1 Sweden
Goal Scorers: Alessia Russo (24’); Fridolina Rolfo (64’)
9/04 - Aviva Stadium: 7.30pm Kick Off - Ireland 0-2 England
Goal Scorers: Lauren James (12’) and Alex Greenwood (18’ PEN)
Camp Two:
31/05 - St. James’ Park: 8pm Kick Off - England 1-2 France
Goal Scorers: Beth Mead (30’); Elisa de Almeida (41’) and Marie-Antoinette Katoto (68’)
4/06 - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard: 8pm Kick Off - France 1-2 England
Goal Scorers: Kadidiatou Diani (72’ PEN); Georgia Stanway (21’) and Alessia Russo (34’)
Table in Group A3:
|
| Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
1 | France | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
2 | Sweden | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
3 | England | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
4 | Ireland | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | -7 |
Some Problems:
Two Players have started and played a full 90 minutes:
Over the four games that have been played, Sarina Weigman has only started two of the same individuals in all the games. Barcelona duo Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh are the only players that have played every minute in the qualifiers. This shows that there is a lack of continuity and the flow of the team will be off, due to only two players starting regularly.
No recognised back line and goal keeper:
Apart from Lucy Bronze, there have been many different players lining up together in the back line since the opening game against Sweden. In their opening game, the starting back line consisted of Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Niamh Charles, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alex Greenwood.
In the next game against Ireland, the starting back line was Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Leah Williamson and Alex Greenwood. This indicated two changes since the last game as Hannah Hampton started in goal and Jess Carter came in for Niamh Charles.
In the following camp, the Lionesses played a double header against France. The starting back line had Mary Earps, Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Millie Bright and Leah Williamson. Wiegman changed the line up again as Millie Bright returned from Injury and Mary Earps returned to the starting 11.
The following game, Hannah Hampton started due to an injury from Mary Earps in the opening stages of the previous game. Apart from that, Wiegman started the same back line as Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Leah Williamson and Millie Bright started together again.
This showed a problem as throughout the matches, as the results that have been produced from England, there has been two wins, one draw and one loss. Therefore, Wiegman ideally needs to start a lineup that is recognised and can work well together similar to the Euro 2022 campaign.
Limited Substitutions for Impact in game:
In the Sweden game, Sarina Wiegman was comfortable having a 1-0 lead as she only changed Grace Clinton for Ella Toone in the 57th minute. She then made three changes after the goal went in to try and rescue the lead as fresh legs from Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead and Jess Carter came on in the 15 minutes after the goal went in.
In the first of the france double header, Sarina only made two changes in the 79th minute as Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby came on from Beth Mead and Georgia Stanway. These substitutes happened 10 minutes after the winning goal went in from Marie-Antoinette Katoto and therefore there wasn’t a proper impact from the substitutes.
In the most recent game, the only two substitutes came from Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby again as Sarina Wiegman did the same changes but put Chloe Kelly on in the 75th minute and Fran Kirby on in added time.
What is needed from the remaining games:
In the final two games, England will face Ireland in Norwich before travelling to Sweden four days later to end the campaign. Due to sitting in 4th place and having no points to their name, the Republic of Ireland can’t automatically qualify and will go into the play offs.
Although currently in 3rd place, they can still reach top spot but it is out of the lionesses hands and will need to look at both France and Sweden’s Results. Second place is still acceptable for the Lionesses to qualify for Euro 2025.
With other results aside, for the Lionesses they need to win both games and hope Sweden slip up in at least one game to make sure that they sit in 2nd place.
Written by Lauren White
@lozreportssports
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