WWC Day Three - Same old England always misleading
Nervous times for Wiegman's gals, Haiti immense and Sophia Smith flawless
Congratulations to those of you that made it through another day of penalties, VAR chaos and young stars. This third day of action saw big guns England, USA and Japan get their tournament campaigns under way, but it was a very different day for those three teams.
Stressful England
There was always an expectation that England might not start this tournament smoothly. The injuries, the retirements, the poor form and the general tendency to not start tournaments in emphatic fashion (Euros 1-0 against Austria and 2019 2-1 vs Scotland) had set the scene for a bit of a reassessment of expectations. But Saturday’s win over Haiti was particularly stressful even by those standards.
England were physically dominated by Haiti and struggled to match the energy, intent and focus of their opponents. Haiti’s Melchie Dumornay lived up to her star billing and if it wasn’t for a Fifa Best performance from Mary Earps England could have been in real trouble.
There was a competitive edge to Haiti that a tired England just couldn’t seem to cope with. Some of that could be general fatigue after a gruelling year of international and domestic football or maybe they underestimated Haiti’s intensity. It’s not that England didn’t work hard they just made hard work of the game.
One of the biggest dilemmas heading into Friday’s game against Denmark is what now happens to Lauren James. England struggled to create a lot of meaningful opportunities but James was brilliant in her 30-minute cameo, coming on for Lauren Hemp and playing out wide but also drifting in centrally. She held up the ball, drew players into her to create space for others while also looking to switch the play quickly.
James has played in the 10 for England and always looked pretty good there but Wiegman’s World Cup method seems to be involve Ella Toone in that role. Wiegman is leaning on Toone’s relationship with Alessia Russo to create magic this World Cup. It’s not that it can’t happen but it seems like it’s at it’s best when it’s the back up plan with super subs. Russo has struggled for form but looked sharp on Saturday, even if it didn’t result in a goal.
We know Wiegman likes to stick to her guns. She didn’t make a single change to England’s starting line up during the Euros and even with what seems like a glaring tactical gap in England’s team most of us feel like Toone will still get the nod next Friday. It’s not that she doesn’t see the issue, it’s that she trusts herself so much that she believes Plan A will come good, eventually.
If you didn’t catch the game but want to read about some of the key talking points, myself and Charlotte Harpur dug into some of the key issues for a final whistle piece you can read on The Athletic.
Should we be panicking? Absolutely not.
Sophia Smith
USA made light work of Vietnam in their opening match of the tournament and despite missing a ton of chances, their attacking play still looked slick and dangerous. Take note England.
It was 22-year-old Sophia Smith that stole the show with her dazzling performance. Smith grabbed two goals and an assist and was absolutely flawless in a stacked USA front line. It’s not surprising that Smith is already firing at this World Cup. She’s the real deal, she’s scored 10 goals in 13 games in the NWSL this season and 14 goals last season. Smith has the versatility and composure of a player in their second or third World Cup and she’s balancing that with being the Nike poster girl this tournament.
I think we so often forget the pressure of being the billboard star for a World Cup, especially when you’re that young. Sam Kerr is going through that now with the emotion of missing Australia’s opening game after being the country’s most important and recognisable player for the last 10 years.
To take the pressure and the plaudits and deliver in your first World Cup game, when the expectations are so high, is impressive and deserves so much credit.
I really liked this analysis piece from Jeff Rueter and Kudzi Musarurwa at The Athletic (sorry I know these are paywall but if you don’t have access message and I have some guest codes). They looked at some of the key takeaways from the Vietnam game and what it means for the team rest of the tournament.
Obviously we did a wrap on these games and some of the other big stories on Counter Pressed.
Here’s some other things I read and enjoyed (none behind a paywall):
The Making of America’s Other Women’s World Cup Team: The Philippines
Catch you tomorrow!