It’s been a while since there was so much to discuss from an England camp. After qualifying automatically for the 2025 European Championships in July, the Lionesses have been afforded the luxury of organising friendly matches of their choice for the remainder of the year, facing opponents that will challenge them in different ways as they prepare for next summer’s tournament. In these games, head coach Sarina Wiegman will have wanted areas for improvement to be highlighted, though it’s hard not to be concerned by the degree to which they were this past week.
On Friday, England were picked apart by Germany in what was actually defeat by a flattering scoreline. With less than 30 minutes on the clock, the Lionesses had conceded three goals for the first time in almost 10 years. Midway through the second half, they conceded a fourth, the first time that has happened under Wiegman. Fortunately, some heroics from Georgia Stanway helped pull the score back to 4-3, but that shouldn’t paper over the cracks.
It likely won’t either, because just four days later, South Africa exposed the England defence in a very similar manner. The Lionesses started that outing in a more impressive manner and deserved the 2-0 lead they held at half-time. However, things quickly changed after the break, as one sloppy mistake gave the African champions a goal back and several more errors gifted them the chances to at least equalise, if not win the game.
Fortunately, on that occasion, there were a lot more positives for Wiegman to take as her England side emerged 2-1 winners, with young Grace Clinton a particularly bright light as she staked her claim to start for the Lionesses. Still, it’s hard not to feel like this was a camp that produced more questions than answers, with the coach and her staff having a number of concerns to address ahead of their European title defence next summer.
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