Sarina Wigman and England away from history. English football to be able to witness the final of the World Cup in which England will play. The national team had a breakthrough game on Wednesday night as their experience against host Australia showed and I believe they can now beat Spain on Sunday.
All involved, from youth football to the elite level, played their part in reaching this stage and credit should go to all concerned, but this team's ruthless winning mentality is what sets them apart. As a winning team, once you're in a position where you have the right mentality and experience, you're very, very hard to stop.
In Sarina Wigman, the Lionesses have a world-class coach. who can handle expectations and pressure. For the last three or four years, we all believed that this group had the opportunity to become European and world champions, and they are realizing it in many ways.
We all know that this is England's golden generation and they need a coach to help them reach their potential. Sarina did this and more. She brought her experience with the Netherlands to England and proved in this tournament what she had not shown before: her flexibility. England have adapted and managed to revive some players, including Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.
The final between England and Spain, which pits the European champions against a side heavily influenced by Champions League winners, should come as no surprise. At least Europeans are not surprised, given the latest trends in English and Spanish talent. It's the right generation for both sides, which makes the match very interesting.
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While Spain will be looking to avenge last year's European Championship quarter-final — they should have won that game in Brighton and knocked England out — I feel England's strength and speed will be too much for them on Sunday.
Maybe I'm getting a little emotional with this comment because I want England to win. Spain are an exceptional team, but they don't have a perfect nine. This sometimes prevents them from winning: they dominate the ball in other ways, but they have to score more goals for quality. they show the ball.
Leading up to this tournament, many felt that Spain should win this tournament. Their talented players have gone on to huge success at youth international level and many of them played a key role in Barcelona's latest Champions League triumph. And I think all of Spain's differences off the field have brought the players together on the field. This makes them very dangerous opponents.
We always talk about their Barcelona stars, but the contribution of the Real Madrid players to this tournament in particular is also very impressive. However, they have a young Barcelona player, 19-year-old Salma Paralluelo, who helped Spain when it was absolutely necessary. Their threat was the difference with Sweden.
However, Sweden showed in the semi-final that Spain is vulnerable to physical attack — here the quality of England in the last third will cause incredible problems for Spain.
England will have to choose a system to counter the Spanish. I'll be curious to see what adjustments Sarina can make to the defense to offset the threats Spain have — in particular Spain's ability to hold the ball for long periods, which will push England away. In terms of staff, I would be surprised if there were any changes to the starting line-up, but the return of Lauren James from suspension gives England a threat off the bench that could make a difference at Stadium Australia.
England needs another big one performance
The 3-1 semi-final victory over Australia was a tricky performance by the English. They targeted the spaces behind the full-backs on both sides. They limited Australia's threats to the sides. Catley, Foord, Carpenter and Raso were strong throughout the tournament, but England controlled most of the game and limited Australia, at least for the first 65 or 70 minutes, to very few opportunities. England showed excellent game management. They instantly silenced the crowd and were solid.
They have leaders — Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, Mary Earps, Kira Walsh — and seasoned players like Rachel Daly who have been there and made it. And they now have two forwards in Russo and Konopli in fantastic form. Cannabis has reinvented itself and Rousseau has taken shape when it matters most.
Although Russo has shown what she can do with number 9, Russo excels when given the opportunity to flank like Hemp, and the 3-5-2 system is especially suited to these two players. Russo grew up in this tournament and got better with every game. Sarina deserves a lot of credit for this.
England have far more goal threats than Japan and Sweden, and Japan have scored four times against Spain. England can be devastating on the counter as they proved against Australia on Wednesday so I really think England can do it.
There is faith in the group and faith in the manager. I value adaptability and this England team has it in abundance. They had injuries to key players, including captain Leah Williamson, Euro Golden Boot winner Beth Mead and, of course, Fran Kirby — all great players — but they made it through the absence. They had suspensions and losses of very important players, but they got through it. They were written off before the tournament. But there are still so many qualities in this England team that they may not be getting the recognition they deserve. Now they need another grand performance.
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