England 1-0 Denmark (James 6’)
SYDNEY FOOTBALL STADIUM — Just as England’s World Cup hopes came to life in the blink of an eye with a 1-0 win over Denmark, they may have unravelled just as quickly.
To lose Keira Walsh, at a tournament when they are already blighted by the absences of Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, was unthinkable. She is not only the foundation of their midfield, but in her understated way, the conductor of the final two thirds of the pitch – without a doubt, she is Sarina Wiegman’s most important player.
On a night that had started with such elation with Lauren James’ sixth-minute strike, the mood plummeted with four words from Walsh: “I’ve done my knee”. The frustration seeped through as she told her teammates to “get off” and with one hand, signalled to the bench that she knew her tournament was all but over.
Walsh will await tests, but as she was stretchered off with her leg hyper-extended – and was later seen on the bench in crutches – Wiegman must have felt nothing but crushed for her.
England’s fervour dampened a little once Walsh was no longer on the pitch. They had been playing with a totally different tempo and energy to the narrow victory over Haiti – spurred on by James’ arrival.
On her World Cup debut, the Chelsea forward had picked the ball up from Rachel Daly, knocked it onto her right foot and curled it beyond the reach of Lene Christensen. You can quantify her strike with precision – 57mph, 20 yards out – but the celebration cannot be reduced to statistics, a bundle of joy as England players swamped the 21-year-old close to the corner flag.
Lauren James, take a bow
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 28, 2023
What a way to mark your first start in a major international tournament#FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/TuhnmRJ1bk
It is safe to assume Wiegman’s 3D chess helped reinvigorate England after the nervy, niggly encounter in Brisbane. Whatever personnel she had selected, her instruction was simple: “Move the ball quickly.” That does not necessarily mean it is easy to carry out, though, and for a coach so conservative by nature in her team selections, it was still a rare gamble to see Daly thrown into her old haunt at left-back, with James replacing Lauren Hemp out wide.
For perspective, she did not change her starting XI once at the European Championship last summer. To see her break a well-versed habit was a sign that after Haiti, something had to give.
Nor could she resist waiting any longer before unleashing James on the rest of the world. There was a fear that she is a little too fizzy, not direct enough, to replace Ella Toone as a No 10, so went the thinking that placed her out wide.
That changed late on, with the introduction of Beth England and Lauren Hemp in place of Toone and Alessia Russo, a reminder that James’ versatility can be particularly crucial when closing games out.
The question was whether she was ready, not because of any psychological frailty on her part, but simply because the challenge throughout her career has always been avoiding the temptation of too much, too soon.
It was the bane of her early days with Arsenal, when coaches caused a stir by inviting her to train with the senior team instead of other schoolgirls. By Euro 2022, she was the third-most expensive female player of all time but did not make the squad.
There can be no question now that starting her was the right decision, but whatever plans Wiegman may have had will need to be reassessed in light of Walsh’s injury. Jose Mourinho used to liken it to a blanket that is too small: pull up the neck, and the feet get cold, push it back down and so do the shoulders.
That is how Wiegman must feel – that the fates are colliding against her side. Laura Coombs will now come in, as she did from the bench here, and at least Georgia Stanway did not receive a booking that would have ruled her out of the final group game against China.
In spite of it all, the outlook is not that bleak: England have six points from two games and can start looking ahead to the last-16. There were a couple of hair-raising moments, not least when Denmark struck the woodwork through Amalie Vangsgaard, or when Millie Bright gave away possession in a momentary lapse of concentration.
Yet on the whole, this was a unified front from England, who can afford to take their foot off the gas against China – albeit they will want to go on and star at this tournament for a stricken Walsh.
Quote of the day
“The pitch looks very dry and you can see on the movement, when she slides with the right foot that it stops and she then twists her knee. I think an example of that was the celebrations on the first goal that Lauren James scored. She tries to knee slide but you can see, when she does that you can see she just stops and falls over.” – Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall reacts to Walsh’s injury in the BBC studio
Player of the match: Lauren James
Even aside from her goal, she was England’s most creative player, from her driving runs to a brilliant cross-field ball to Chloe Kelly. Completely transforms the front line with her pace.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/MBvN2SY
Post a Comment