Column: Arnold Clark Cup poses interesting tests for England
While perhaps not as eye-catching as the 2022 line-up, a deeper dive into the three nations coming to England this week shows valuable lessons to be learned for the Lionesses.
On paper, this year’s Arnold Clark Cup isn’t quite as glamorous as its predecessor, the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup of 2022 which saw England beat Germany, Spain and Canada to the first title, and Millie Bright share the Golden Boot with Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.
2023 has a lot to live up to.
Yet gone are Germany, Spain and Canada, three teams who offered tests against top 10 ranked nations for a side which 12 months ago hadn’t won a major tournament, but yearned to.
The tournament itself wasn’t just designed to offer supporters a glimpse of four top nations in a mouth-watering round robin style format, but to offer hosts England and head coach Sarina Wiegman a glimpse at what they would need to overcome to take that next step to glory.
As luck turned out, they would face both Germany and Spain in the summer, overcoming both to lift the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley in July.
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So, while this year’s tournament lacks any top 10 opposition, it does bring about three interesting challenges and nothing to be complacent towards given all three of Korea Republic, Italy and Belgium rank between 15th and 20th in the world.
It may also not be as eye-catching for fans as it was 12 months ago, but these tournaments all around the world are largely to help teams start preparing for what is to come, and that is the World Cup this summer.
England are now proven winners and while the tournament is led by Pitch, a PR company who have the rights to organise the tournament for the length of its contract, the FA and Wiegman do have a say in conjunction with the organisers when it comes to opposition.
When you look closer at the three teams in question, it’s obvious to see why England will look at all three matches as good tests for what may lie ahead in the summer.
Korea Republic’s style of play is not unlike China’s, though with subtle tactical differences and approaches, and they are separated by just one spot in the rankings, so Colin Bell’s side should offer Wiegman a good insight of what to expect when they face off against China in Adelaide in the summer.
While Korea Republic may rank just below their fellow Asian nation, they are a nation on the up under former Champions League winning coach Bell. They drew 0-0 with the USA at the end of 2021 and repeated that score line against Canada last year, and they’ve certainly become a much tighter unit defensively in the past couple of years.
They only narrowly lost to Japan 2-1 last year and drew 1-1 with China, ending the year with three consecutive 1-0 wins against Jamaica and then New Zealand in back-to-back matches.
They are though missing a couple of experienced heads for this tournament, with Madrid CFF’s Lee Young-ju and Incheon’s WK-League Player of the Year Lee Min-a both out long-term with ACL injuries.
A familiar face to Women’s Super League fans, Tottenham’s Cho So-hyun, is also out, but fans will get a glimpse of Chelsea legend Ji So-yun, and there’s plenty of quality throughout the Korea squad despite some key losses.
The two European sides should also offer interesting challenges, for different reasons. Italy were one of the most disappointing sides at last summer’s European Championships, going out of the group stages after a hammering from France, a draw with Iceland and a decisive defeat to Belgium, who they will meet again this week in the opening match in Milton Keynes.
Generally, they’ve been a well-coached side under the respected Milena Bertolini and they have the talent to stack up to the hype around them last summer, yet things are still not going quite so smoothly ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
While Korea Republic come into the break with three 1-0 wins, Italy are exactly opposite, having lost by the same score line to Brazil, Austria and Northern Ireland back-to-back at the end of 2022.
Every single player called up originally plays their football in Italy, but an injury has led to Everton’s Aurora Galli becoming a late addition to the squad.
But in forwards such as Cristiana Girelli, Valentina Giactini and in-form Milan forward Martina Piemonte, there should theoretically be plenty of quality for the other three sides to worry about, while they remain reasonably solid at the back, as is a tradition of Italian football through the ages,.
Belgium meanwhile may be the lowest ranked of the four nations taking part, but they are potentially the most interesting from a set up point of view.
I spoke to a couple of head coaches after last summer’s tournament and they had one thing in common, they all described Belgium as one of the best sides tactically at the tournament, as they marched through a group including France and Italy and took Sweden all the way to stoppage time in the quarter-finals.
They only lost 2-1 to France too and had for a large part of the game frustrated England when the sides met weeks before the tournament, eventually losing 3-0 in Wolverhampton.
Ives Serneels has been in charge sometime now and has created a well drilled side, though they will have been disappointed to miss out on the World Cup in a narrow defeat to Portugal.
This tournament is an opportunity for Belgium to get back on track, but it will also be interesting to see how their new generation of young talent continue to emerge.
While it may be nothing like the golden generation so often talked about on the men’s side in the past decade, there are several exciting young players to watch, including Hannah Eurlings and Jill Janssens in attack, as well as Feli Delacauw in midfield and Sari Kees in defence.
There are also the stalwarts people will be familiar with, such as Nicky Evrard in goal who was so impressive at the Euros. There’s also Lyon’s Janice Cayman, Hoffenheim’s Tine De Caigny and Fortuna Sittard’s Tessa Wullaert to keep an eye out for in attack too.
The one key element recent results and style of plays though emphasise about the three nations England will face is a solid defensive structure, whether by tradition or design. Korea Republic’s recent defensive record is the most impressive, while Belgium have a clear tactical way of dealing with attacking threats, and Italy too concede very few goals, but struggle at the other end too.
For England, this could be crucial, even if it may not be as eye-catching as 12 months ago. As a team that goes into the World Cup as European Champions, sides are now likely to approach the Lionesses differently, as they found out to their detriment in a frustrating and surprise 0-0 draw with Czech Republic at the end of last year.
How much of an influence Wiegman and her staff had in the selection only she will know, but she will be prepared for more and more teams to sit deep against her England side and try to nullify their quality and depth in attack, so three teams all who one way or another are known for defensive solidity will offer the perfect taster for what may be to come in five months’ time down under.
Yes, KOR drew 0-0 with the US and then they played again days later again and lost 6-0. suspect they're going to simply bunker down in the ENG match up before trying to play a bit against ITA & BEL. if they play Ji, they'll try to play a bit. If not, they're just going to go 5-4-1 and stay compact.