Lauren James brought some much needed coherence to England's attack on Haiti. Photo: DARREN ENGLAND/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Sarina Wigman has trouble qualifying ahead of Friday's Group D game against Denmark – and it's a real dilemma. Sarina has a history of sticking to XI throughout the tournament and I fully understand the reasons for that. She doesn't have the luxury of the 44+ games in a season that I get as a club manager; she only has six games left in this competition to succeed.
From a manager's point of view, it's so easy to talk about change and change, but the problem is that England needs a cohesive team and they need a team, who will line up together in this tournament. So if there are changes, then no more than one or two.
However, I think that Lauren James should play for England because the team desperately needs her. I understand that playing with Lauren is difficult in every game because she is only 21 years old and this is her first tournament, but I would like her to start against Denmark.
When James came out against Haiti in Vaud In the second half, the most important thing was that she brought Kira Walsh into the game. Tactically, this is important for the Lionesses.
When teams block passes to the England supports, as they often try to do, Walsh can't always hit the ball. But once James was on the field, she brought Walsh into the match, and then Walsh was able to create switches on the field. To me, that means James is critical to Walsh.
To get the most out of Kira Walsh vs Denmark, Lauren James should play. Photo: Elsa/FIFA via Getty Images
Fran Kirby always had the opportunity to hit the ball out of the half-space when Walsh was heavily spotted by the opponent. Without Kirby in this World Cup, you need James. They really missed Kirby as a link in the build-up, and when James got on the field, at least you could pass the ball from Alex Greenwood to James and then from James to Walsh.
Why England always ran on same side against Haiti? They couldn't change the ball the way I thought they could last summer. They got it done as soon as James got in the game because the game went through so if you want Walsh to step in, James has to play.
More broadly, England should not make too many changes after beating Haiti 1-0 last Saturday. Denmark is a completely different type of team. The competition with Haiti was an extremely physical game in which England played against an unknown side. In physical combat, the Haiti dominated and really excelled, and they had some great attacking threats that gave England problems on the counter.
But don't expect England to be perfect all at once, with the experienced players they lack. You can't just put together a brand new rear quad and expect it to work right from the start. After the end of the season, there was also a big break.
Kira Walsh: I can hold my own in physical challenges
Compared to the Euro-winning starting XI, England lost Ellen White to retirement and Kirby, Beth Mead and Leah Williamson to injuries. It is very important. And the players who were amazing on the bench last year should now do it as a starter.
Yes, some people might say “Maybe Greenwood will be a centre-back now” or “play with another option” but I think Wigman should stick to the back four she's going to play this tournament with because you have to building partnerships. Partnership is crucial when you only have seven games in the entire tournament.
England haven't scored a goal from a field game since April, but let's not blame the strikers. It's important to focus on keeping the “team” from scoring and when I watched England the other day there was only Alessia Russo in the box and so Georgia Stanway and Ella Thoon were too deep for me. England should get more numbers in the field. It's not about who plays ahead; this is command behavior.
However, I thought that England's intentions and intensity against Haiti were excellent. Was their performance excellent? No. But if they were my team, I would say: “Listen, I like your intention.” They intended to enter the World Cup playing at a faster pace than we've seen in England before. However, the execution of this was not at the level we saw this team at, but again, you have to look at the experienced players that are in short supply. It is not easy for young players to come and immediately show themselves at such a level, and the team immediately get together. That's why, in my opinion, a lot of cuts and rearrangements won't help.
Friday's opponents, Denmark, will defend the central zones very well. In their first win, they prevented China from dominating anything in and around the box, they forced China into a wide area where they didn't want to be, and forced them to shoot from long range. But if Denmark loses possession, England will have opportunities. Of course, you should be aware of Pernilla Harder's threats – and they will be more clinical than Haiti because of her quality – but you can flip Denmark. And England's ability to flip teams in their formation is what they do so well.
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