To be honest, it doesn’t matter what formation England play when Lauren James is in this kind of form.
The Chelsea forward tore China to pieces, scoring two goals and laying on three assists for her team-mates. Had it not been for VAR, which was more of a thorn in England’s side than China, James would have had a hat-trick.
The 21-year-old deserved one as she was simply unplayable here as the Lionesses well and truly clicked into gear at this World Cup.
This 6-1 victory over China secured them top spot in Group D and setup a last-16 showdown against Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday. On the evidence of this, England will take some stopping as they excelled with a formation that caught everyone off guard.
The belief before this World Cup was that Sarina Wiegman is reluctant to make changes. But faced with the major headache of having no Keira Walsh for this final group game, the Lionesses boss sprung a huge tactical surprise.
Wiegman made three changes to her starting XI, the most she has ever made for a game at a major tournament during her managerial career, and England lined up in a back-three.
The last time they did that was November 2021, when England won 20-0. This victory over China wasn’t quite as emphatic, but the Lionesses still ran out comfortable winners and sent out a message to their tournament rivals.
After winning their first two matches 1-0, the Lionesses looked like themselves again here in Adelaide.
The new 3-4-1-2 formation got them flowing in attack as all of Wiegman’s tactical tweaks paid off. The Dutch women’s golden touch has not evaded her since Euro 2022.
The back-three looked solid, with Jess Carter justifying her place. Captain Millie Bright also looked the sharpest she has all tournament and was involved in the first two goals, winning the ball and setting England on their way to scoring.
In midfield, Katie Zelem, starting her first ever game for England, was neat and tidy. She wasn’t Walsh, no one is, but she was a solid understudy who should get more minutes going forward.
Zelem kept it simple and let those ahead of her thrive, in particular James. The 21-year-old was the match winner for England’s win over Denmark last Friday and she was the star of the show here too.
James was the Lionesses’ spark and around her everyone shone. Rachel Daly had boundless energy as a left wing-back, causing China all manner of problems. In attack, Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp clicked as a front-two, with both putting sub-par starts to the tournament behind them.
Indeed, it was Russo and Hemp who put England two goals to the good within the first half an hour.
Russo’s goal came in under four minutes, when everyone inside the Hindmarsh Stadium was still working out what formation England were playing. Hemp got in down the left and her cross found James, who set it to Russo to score.
Just over 20 minutes later, it was Hemp’s turn. Bright won the ball, shrugged off another player and fed James. The Chelsea forward then found Hemp with a through-ball which split the defence. Hemp has looked short of confidence recently, but she raced through and slotted the ball home with so much composure.
By now, England were flying and James made it three just before the break. A free-kick was rolled to her on the edge of the box and she curled it first time into the bottom corner. Leah Williamson was right, James is a “cheat code”.
She should have had a second before half-time when she curled one into the top corner, this time with her left foot. VAR, however, baffling judged Lucy Bronze was offside in the build-up.
Shortly after half-time, Bronze was on the wrong side of another VAR call. This time she was said to have handled a goal-bound shot. A penalty was given and Wang Shuang made no mistake.
For a brief moment after that, it looked like China may rally. They had the vast majority of support here inside this 14,000-seater stadium and the goal got their tails up.
James, however, swiftly ended that comeback. First she volleyed one home with her left foot from a Bronze cross, and then she setup Chloe Kelly for a fifth.
England added a sixth late on through Daly and, for once, James wasn’t involved. By that point she was, literally, wrapped in blanket on the bench.
And no wonder, the 21-year-old is England’s new star.
