From the tweets of Daisy Wildsmith. In a midweek special of her column, Daisy gives her opinion on the Lionesses clash with Portugal in Setubal.
On Tuesday night, the most impressive thing for me was that England’s approach play was so often outstanding. It was so frustrating that Portugal seemed happy playing a 10-0-0 formation which made the conversion of any chances difficult. The Portuguese were also wise to Nikita Parris’ threat and knew to smother her on the right hand side. Parris did her best though and was always looking around at who is around her and at what both sets of players were doing. Her decision making was very good.
It wasn’t just the attacking play that was so promising, England’s defence was much improved. Lucy Staniforth was also outstanding. On the downside, it did look like there was too much power on many of England’s passes.
Jordan Nobbs’ appearance from the bench marked her out as a game changer. When the goal came, it was with mixed emotions – thankfully England’s dominance was rewarded – but it was a shame it wasn’t a more decisive one. I felt they needed another, rather than relying on a goal keeper’s butter fingers to win. It was heart in the mouth time with Portugal’s free-kick that wasn’t even a free-kick which came back off the bar and then
For me, England’s star performers were Lucy Staniforth, Nikita Parris and Steph Houghton. Going forward, I think the moments of brilliance need to be more continuous and consistent. The performance needs polishing still. Rachel Daly and Lauren Hemp would make a deadly combination, but overall the work ethic throughout was great.
Daisy Wildsmith is a regular contributor to Impetus and is a Women’s football fan based in the West Midlands.
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