In this issue:
Keira Walsh gets injured, what now?
Vibe-less Group D needs rescuing
Day nine of the tournament has come at a price for England fans. A match that could have signalled a return to a free and more dynamic England, will now be remembered for an injury to midfielder Keira Walsh, arguably the team’s most important player and one of the best midfielders in the world.
Things had started so well with Lauren James’ early goal breathing life into a defence that had looked stale for the entirety of 2023. James’ brilliant goal visibly lifted the team and it felt like for 20 minutes or so that England were going to go on and cruise to victory.
But it all came crashing down in the 38th minute when Walsh awkwardly bent her knee while sliding to retrieve the ball. Walsh instantly signalled to the bench in pain and the BBC cameras caught her pushing away her teammates and holding her knee in pain as she seemed to mouth “I’ve done my knee”. She was stretchered off with her shirt over her head and in that moment everything about England’s tournament and about the World Cup as a whole, especially if you’re an England fan, shifted.
There are only a few moments in football where suddenly you feel like the floor disappears from beneath you and everything just feels a bit shit. That injury was one of those moments. It happens a lot for England fans, and for football fans in general really, when a player that is seen as the lynchpin to everything, the most important and essential player to any gameplan or tactical decision, and they depart the game.
England fans had it with David Beckham and his sending off in 1998 and Rooney in 2006. There are definitely more that have escaped my immediate memory. But the sort of player that England feel like they can’t go without.
It’s unclear to what extent Keira Walsh is injured but it seems unlikely she will feature for England at this World Cup, but we wait and see once there is a proper evaluation of the injury.
For now, Sarina Wiegman has some decisions to make.
Against Denmark, Wiegman showed she could be a little more malleable with her starting line up making some rare changes, bringing in Lauren James and putting Rachel Daly at left back. But trying to plug a gap in a position where you don’t have any clear like for like replacements is a huge challenge.
Laura Coombs replaced her and slotted in alongside Georgia Stanway but she doesn’t usually play that deep, she’s used to playing higher up the pitch with cover behind her. Katie Zelem and Jordon Nobbs on the bench also don’t play in that role, they are more traditional central midfielders.
Ellen White said during the BBC coverage that England didn’t have a Plan B for Walsh getting injured during the Euros and it’s not an obvious spot you can double up on. But a player is going to have to step up into that position or Wiegman will need to change formation and structure, whatever happens it will require some tactical tweaking. It’s unlikely she will want to change formation as England have played in a 433/4231 for basically all of Wiegman’s tenure. Whether she opts to have the coverage of a double pivot in front of the four or she loses that extra body it remains to be seen.
Wiegman can slot in a number of more traditional midfielders into that position - Coombs, Nobbs or Zelem - but they will all likely push higher than Walsh and not look as settled or comfortable defensively. They just don’t play the same role. The composure Walsh has on the ball, the way she drops deep to help her defenders and the cover she provides as England’s full backs push high is all so crucial to how England play, without that comfort blanket England look and operate as a very different team.
There is so much for Wiegman to think about heading into the final game against China on Tuesday.
Where are the vibes in Group D
With all the chaos, shock results and drama in this tournament, England’s group seems to be the most rudimentary and least fun group in this World Cup. There’s was some ref controversy in Haiti’s game against China but apart from that the interesting moments have been few and far between, and there’s been hardly any goals!
Bring us some vibes in the final round of games please!
Something to read….