Ordinarily I would worry about young players coping with the spotlight of being a star at a Women’s World Cup, but not Lauren James.
Lauren is so down to earth and would have seen all this attention before with her brother, Reece.
She announced herself on the biggest stage with her stunning goal against Denmark on Friday but she will already have had a taste of the pressure she is now under, having had to deal with the tag of: ‘Your brother is Reece James, he plays for Chelsea and England’.
That meant automatically people were watching Lauren, so I am not worried about her handling this.
Lauren does not crave the limelight and all England need to worry about is getting the best out of her. She did well against Denmark playing out wide and drifting in, but I would like to see her used as a No10.
In a central role, where people are coming at you from all directions, Lauren is able to keep the ball.
She can keep the ball better than anybody in this England team because she is so strong and has such good close control. She is also clever with her movement and creates space for those around her.
If you can get her in a position where she draws players towards her, it could open gaps for Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp on the wings.
Lauren is not afraid to take risks. She plays with such confidence, believes in her own ability and England should aim to get her on the ball as much as possible against China.
Everyone said Denmark would be the toughest game for England in Group D, but China are pretty equal to them and this will be no walkover.
England have got to start off on the front foot, like they did against Denmark, and put China under pressure. Attack is the best form of defence for England now they are without Keira Walsh.
