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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Suzanne Wrack in Zurich

Lauren James’s genius offers England hope but also presents a tricky dilemma

Lauren James battles past France's Oriane Jean-François
Lauren James stood out in England’s opener against France but was part of a midfield that was ultimately overrun. Photograph: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock

There is no doubting that Lauren James is a generational talent. There is natural ability in abundance. She is also an example of what technically gifted women’s players can be when given elite-level coaching from a young age. She is an example of what is to come, an outlier among her peers, having benefited from her father, Nigel, being a Uefa-qualified coach with his own coaching programme that is, in his own words, “about pure ball mastery and delivery with panache, to ultimately create elite technicians of the game”.

James is effusive about her father’s input into her career, saying on the Nigel James Elite Coaching website that she is “grateful to my dad for all the time, effort and love that he has put into my football by coaching me in order to help me reach the very best level and fulfil my full potential”.

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