Impressive cohesion despite new faces
It is rare for any team to make a huge number of changes without paying a price performance-wise. The most impressive aspect of the Lionesses’ trip to Spain was that Sarina Wiegman and her staff experimented with the starting XI and made numerous substitutions against both Austria (7-2) and Italy (5-1) but were able to maintain cohesion and fluidity in their play. “I think that has to do with the quality of the players, we have been together the whole week, we’ve had a lot of football conversations,” said Wiegman. Clubs following similar strategies helps too: “They have all the tactics at clubs, and some are more similar [to ours] than others, but we’re all talking about decision-making and creating overloads and I think that really helps. What I’ve seen, and what I like, is that everyone wants to play to win and they want to take action … when you take action and there’s energy in the team to play and they’re trying out the things we’ve spoken about, then things like today can happen.”
The kids are alright
The joint camp between the England senior side and the under-23s allowed attentions to turn to some of the future stars in the set-up. Grace Clinton is one of those who impressed. Called up by Wiegman in October and December, Clinton made her debut against Austria this time around, scored, and then started again against Italy. Deemed not ready for Manchester United, spending this season on loan at Tottenham, Clinton slotted seamlessly into the England midfield, playing alongside Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone against Austria and Stanway and Keira Walsh against Italy. Her teammates were impressed too. “I absolutely loved it,” said Toone of playing with Clinton. “She’s a great player with a lot of talent and is very good on the ball. To link up with her – we’ve never done that before, we’ve never played together – felt so natural.” Clinton’s emergence as a viable midfield option adds some important depth. Against Austria, England were able to rest Walsh and sit Stanway deeper, pointing to a possible new answer to how England might cope should their linchpin Walsh be unavailable.
Wubben-Moy’s patience pays off
Lotte Wubben-Moy has had to be extraordinarily patient. Having made her Lionesses debut in 2021, the Arsenal centre-back has made just 12 appearances for England despite being included in the squads for the 2022 Euros and 2023 World Cup. With Leah Williamson and Millie Bright injured and Wubben-Moy arguably one of the two most in-form English centre-backs available, alongside Alex Greenwood, the defender was finally handed her first start since June 2022. Wiegman said that Wubben-Moy’s start against Italy, added to her second-half appearance against Austria, was down to her club form. That is nothing new though, with Wubben-Moy having carried her excellent form towards the end of last season, after the injury to Williamson, into the new campaign. While Wubben-Moy has waited, players such as Greenwood, Bright, Jess Carter, Esme Morgan and Maya Le Tissier have been picked ahead of her in central defence. Wubben-Moy seized the moment against Italy, scoring from a corner in the second minute before putting in a strong defensive shift.
Hard reset completed
Wiegman and her staff spoke of needing a reset, a fresh start, after being knocked out of the Nations League, and missing out on the Paris Olympics as a result, at the end of last year. Against Austria and Italy actions spoke louder than the words: the reset button had been hit. England looked sharp, hungry and fired up. “The Nations League was a huge disappointment for us but ultimately we can’t change it,” said the goalkeeper Mary Earps. “All we can do is affect what happens going forward and I feel like this is a really, really positive start to 2024, and we keep pushing.” Wiegman agreed and said England were “flowing” again. “Of course it was a huge disappointment in December, although I thought we had a really good camp in December [beating the Netherlands and Scotland but still failing to progress] and I thought our game flowed again, so that was already really good and I think that’s what you saw now too.”
Home sweet home or home and away?
Wiegman was forced to tackle criticism of the decision to host back-to-back friendlies in Spain in the fairly inaccessible Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Algeciras. “It’s about finding a balance,” Wiegman said in between the fixtures. “What we wanted to do was play good friendlies in good circumstances … We did know there probably wouldn’t be as many fans here as we had hoped.” Yes, the Lionesses could have sold out many of the biggest stadiums in England had they played the fixtures at home, allowing fans to show up and support them, but the purpose of this international window has always been about more than putting on a show.
In coming to Marbella, England were able to experiment with the pressure off, to enjoy a warm-weather camp, have a change of scenery, and share space with the under-23s. England will be back in England in the spring and fans will be able to watch them, but sometimes finding the balance between what is best for the development of the squad, mentally as much as anything else, and maintaining the momentum of growing crowds will not be possible.
