1) Who are the new supersubs?
Critical to England’s success at the Euros last year was the balance between a strong and experienced starting XI and a youthful and hungry bench of substitutes. Match after match the introduction of Manchester United duo Alessia Russo and Ella Toone breathed life into the Lionesses attack. With the retirement of Ellen White and injury to Fran Kirby, Russo and Toone are staples of Sarina Wiegman’s starting XI, but they have left a gaping hole on the bench. Against Australia, three of the four forwards on the bench (Katie Robinson, Jess Park and Lauren James) were not involved in the Euros and they have 18 caps between them. It would be silly to dismiss the potential impact of Park, Robinson and, in particular, James. Each is capable of becoming supersub a la Russo and Toone. The problem is the short turnaround between the Euros and World Cup means we haven’t seen much of them.
