Sarina Wiegman admitted England made “too many unforced errors” in their 4-3 home defeat to Germany — but the Lionesses head coach defended her team selection.
England lost 4-3 to Germany in a Wembley thriller and were exposed in defence as they shipped more than three goals in a single game for the very first time under Wiegman.
A brace from Georgia Stanway and late goal from Lucy Bronze were not enough for the Lionesses, who found themselves 3-0 down after just 28 minutes.
Of the suggestion her side gave away too many chances, Wiegman said: “We did, but what we look at is also how their chances developed. Most of the chances they created developed in transition moments.
“Those are huge learnings for the team. I don’t think it’s a team thing how we defended today. We had too many unforced mistakes, unforced errors, and then they are gone because they have so much power and explosiveness up front. If we are tighter on the ball, we don’t get into those moments that quickly.
“I wanted us to do a couple of things better, of course. That was kind of disappointing. I think it was a very high-level game. There were so many challenges for us but also for them.”
Wiegman controversially selected Jess Carter at left-back instead of the in-form Alex Greenwood and opted for Ella Toone as her No10 instead of the much-acclaimed Jess Park.
“That’s always easy to say after a game,” Wiegman said when her team selection was called into question. “We know there is huge competition [for places] going on.
“We have a couple of centre-backs in our squad. The three that I pick the most are Alex [Greenwood], Leah [Williamson] and Millie [Bright]. The decision I made was the balance of in possession, out of possession, heading, all these things — what I thought was best for the team. It was based on all these things.”
England will seek to put right their defeat to Germany when they host South Africa in Coventry on Tuesday night in another friendly.
