BRISBANE – In the space of 24 hours, Lauren James had publicly apologised for her World Cup red card, England had issued a statement on her behalf, and she had found an unlikely ally in Michelle Alozie – the Nigeria forward whose back she stepped on in the first place.
“All my love and respect to you,” James wrote to Alozie. “I am sorry for what happened. Also, for our England fans and my teammates, playing with and for you is my greatest honour and I promise to learn from my experience.”
In return, Alozie defended the 21-year-old over her moment of “passion” and “insurmountable emotions”.
The FA said James was “full of remorse” and described the incident as “wholly out of character for her”.
“We will be supporting Lauren throughout and will be putting forward representation on her behalf,” they added. “We fully respect Fifa’s disciplinary process and will not be making any further comment until after any decision has been made.”
Fifa are currently assessing the dismissal to determine whether an automatic one-match ban will be extended – and if it is increased to three games she would miss the remainder of the tournament.
The process is ongoing but it is possible England won’t know the outcome until after facing Colombia in the last eight on Saturday. Deborah Abiodun was sent off for Nigeria against Canada on 21 July and it took until 31 July for her ban to be officially extended to three matches.
In the meantime Sarina Wiegman has been left with another tactical headache as she weighs up how to replace James.
No sooner had Keira Walsh returned ahead of schedule than Wiegman was left with another gaping void in midfield, this time one which threatens to stunt the Lionesses’ creativity and essentially cast them back to the drawing board of the opener against Haiti, for which James was benched.
The danger, when moments of individual brilliance come in flashes, is that they can just as quickly disappear. Two of her three goals at the World Cup so far were long-range strikes from outside the box and the other an artfully struck volley; without those, England are back in bed with their old nemesis: creating chances.
Option one: Bring back Toone, 3-5-2
Against Colombia, whom they face in the quarter-finals, the most straightforward solution would be to stick with the 3-5-2 and bring back Ella Toone. Despite Walsh being subbed in extra time against Nigeria, Wiegman confirmed she was simply “cramping a little bit”, which suggests England could otherwise go unchanged.
Toone would slot straight back into the No 10 role she was occupying before being replaced by James.
Option two: Kelly starts, 4-3-3
Strangely, it seems out of favour now – but it remains England’s most tried and tested system under Wiegman. The difficulty is not shackling Rachel Daly at left-back. Against Haiti, Daly did not start at all, but that is a waste of a player who is simultaneously their best left-back and one of their quickest attackers.
Lucy Bronze could drop into a more conventional right-back role with Millie Bright, Jess Carter and Alex Greenwood making up the back four, with a midfield three of Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Daly on the wing. Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp could start either side of Alessia Russo, with Beth England used as an impact sub.
Option three: 4-2-3-1, Daly at left-back
In a slight variation, Walsh and Stanway could hold the fort in midfield and England could look to overload Colombia with three players behind Russo. Daly would retreat to left-back, Bronze at right-back and Bright and Greenwood at centre-back, albeit Jess Carter would be unfortunate to lose her place.
Wiegman would not be short of options behind Russo with Toone, Daly, Hemp and Kelly all possibilities, though it would risk leaving the Lionesses off balance. James started the pre-World Cup warm-up match against Portugal on the right – though that was with Daly starting up front instead of Russo.
i‘s verdict (3-5-2): Earps; Bright, Carter, Greenwood; Bronze, Walsh, Stanway, Toone, Daly; Hemp, Russo
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