By Aimee Logan 29/7/23
Above: Lauren James scored the goal that separated them from Denmark. Image: @Lionesses Twitter
England’s lionesses have been kept to 1-0 victory in their second World Cup fixture against Denmark. I was at Box Park, Wembley to watch the game alongside some other England fans who were all excited to watch the Lionesses play to victory against the toughest opposition in their group, Denmark.
England fans, like myself, were left slightly disappointed by their performance against Haiti in their opening game as they only managed to score one goal from a re-taken penalty the whole game.
Many people predicted huge score lines for this game but ultimately England were lucky to receive a penalty kick and the mistake by Haiti’s keeper being off her line, let Georgia Stanway have another go at scoring for England after her first attempt was saved. I was impressed that Georgia had the composure and mentality to give the shot another go and to add to this she placed the ball in an identical place on round 2.
Overall England were only kept on a clean sheet this game because of Mary Earps, who played outstandingly and never loss focus on the task at hand. From the Haiti game the fans wanted more from the team and for their next game, the Lionesses were in need of a larger score line in their opinion.
Group stage match 2 kicked off and Sarina changed her starting XI which was a big surprise in comparison to how she has delt with tournament football before. It was debated whether she changed because she wanted to see how different players could shine and thrive when opportunity was given, or rather the first game disappointed her also so she saw the changes as necessary.
The change of most impact was without a doubt Lauren James. She’s becoming a household name already and at the age of 21 was in the starting lineup for the first time in a major tournament. James’ tactical ability is sublime and from kick-off her composure brought so many opportunities for England.
In the 6th minute she took a shot for herself and from just outside the box hammered the ball bottom corner. Her confidence is rapidly growing, and I would personally love to see Lauren starting for England more often than not. She created so many amazing opportunities for the team against Denmark and had 100% shot accuracy so what more does she have to prove? Well, I would say that there isn’t a lot more that she has to prove, she’s been consistent with Chelsea and now her technique has been evident so far in camp for England.
With Beth Mead’s injury and absence from the squad, this space on the wing is ultimately up for grabs and it could be looking like Lauren will be the one to fill it.
Lauren James’ goal was arguably the only joy England had in this game. For the first 35 minutes everyone seemed to gain confidence and were led to believe that the goals were going to flood in, but nothing came of any other attacks.
England dominated possession but when it came to being clinical and converting in front of goal nothing seemed to be fitting. Rachel Daly had been pushed back to left-back after she had game time upfront last match, and Lucy Bronze, as usual, filled the right-back position. These two players pushed up the pitch which allowed the press to develop well: this is a tactic I would love to see be used in another game as it really worked. Maybe there was a lack of communication or just a lack of execution in the box, it was hard to tell, but for the shift the girls put in for the first half, they didn’t have a lot, other than one goal, to show for it.
Coming into half time, however, the Lionesses were out of sync as world-class holding midfielder, Keira Walsh went down with a serious looking knee injury. England manager Sarina Wiegman has always had Keira as a consistent player to play the full 90 for her country and this has worked wonders for the squad. But, because of this consistency, has anyone in England ever thought of a plan B?
As it seems, England build their style of play from Keira Walsh. She’s targeted in the midfield because of her impeccable footwork along with her ability to cut oppositions defensive lines. The Lionesses have rarely had to play without her so its almost as if they know nothing different. Keira’s injury silenced Box Park where all the fans nervously watched as her teammates came to show her the love whilst she was being stretched off the pitch.
I think the shock also came for everyone as Walsh has almost been seen as the ‘invincible’, ‘untouchable’ player for a long time and it’s impossible to imagine the squad without her. Many people were quick to jump on the assumption that the injury she suffered was a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), even the commentators, just because of the amount of ACL injuries we have seen this season in women’s football.
It is disappointing, in my opinion, that people instantly expect the worse and significantly, the commentators and post-match reporters, lead people to believe that this is the outcome even though they didn’t have any results to any tests that had been carried out on the injury. The FA confirmed the following day, 29/07/23, that the injury suffered was not an ACL injury which definitely brought relief for many Lionesses fans and as I can imagine, the whole squad, who I am sure are hoping Keira Walsh will be back on the pitch before the end of this World Cup.
In the second half, England were messy. It ultimately looked like they played worse because of the change in formation without Walsh. There was a significant amount of space left empty, which Keira Walsh had left, and it seemed now necessary that there were 2 players needed to fill this void on the pitch. The defensive line started to lack communication and Lucy Bronze and Rachel Daly’s high pressed positions left centre-backs Millie Bright and Alex Greenwood with more work than ever.
Denmark seemed to pick up the ball most in the area where Walsh was before and driving the ball forward, into the box, time and time again. Mary Earps is evidently FIFA’s best goalkeeper for a reason and despite the team’s distraction from the game her focus, again, kept England from conceding multiple goals.
I think that with Walsh’s absence, for an unknown period of time, is going to leave the team with a massive gap and result in Mary making massive saves to single-handedly help England progress.
It has been confirmed that Keira will not be available for the Lionesses last group game against China so it will be interesting to see what Sarina will decide is tactically best for the team. It’s now time to turn to the plan B that hasn’t even been thought about until now.
Personally, I would love Jordan Nobbs to be given the opportunity on the field in Keira’s absence as from midfield she’s known to be great in attack and score absolute worldies for goals.
England must focus on a promising attack as well as a good defence so maybe a 4-4-2 formation would work now, especially if you bring in more attacking-minded midfielders.
It will be exciting to see who starts in Keira’s place against China and whether there will be some changes in the midfield to try others in her position.
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