Match in Focus: France land a blow on below par England
France came from behind at St. James' Park to leave England third in their League A group halfway through the Euro 2025 qualifiers...
As was mentioned several times during the evening, this was not a particularly good advert for the now infamous May/June international window, and it’s a potentially long, hot summer ahead for England with three crucial games to go.
Neither England nor France showed their best, but it was the all too familiar sloppiness for the hosts which cost them a first defeat of the Euro 2025 qualifiers, leaving them now third in a group with away trips to both France and Sweden still to come.
It just didn’t click, and that’s been an all too common feeling with this England side since even during the World Cup, let alone since.
Chances were few and far between, with France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin only really making one save of any meaningfulness in the first half, and while returned-from-Australia centre forward Alessia Russo doing a great hold up job, there was little behind her to pick up the scraps.
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France were also not at their best, and like England looked a little tired and disjointed playing out, but they did just enough to take the three points off two set-pieces.
They too did little to really regularly test Hannah Hampton after the Chelsea shot-stopper replaced Mary Earps in the opening minutes, and in truth it wasn’t a great spectacle for the 42,000 inside St. James’ Park.
From unbeaten in 30 under Sarina Wiegman, it’s now five defeats, and while this is far from terminal, it leaves England in a tough spot in League A, and no improvement will see them staring down the barrel of a play-off to make it to Euro 2025.
Here’s five key takeaways from the match in WFC’s view…
Wiegman opts for defensive compromise
Alex Greenwood, not for the first time in her career, may have felt somewhat harshly done by to not be in an England starting eleven, with the main talking point in the build-up about who would play at left-back.
With Rachel Daly now retired and Niamh Charles injured, there was an assumption Greenwood would slot in there as she has in the past, particularly as a natural left footer, but Wiegman opted for Carter, specifying pre-match Greenwood was more adept to centre-back with Carter's defensive solidity clearly wanted against France's quality out wide.
In general, it worked, but it came at a compromise. Apart from when Delphine Cascarino got away from her towards the end of the first half and drew a yellow card from the Chelsea defender, Carter's presence had the desired impact, but England lacked the attacking quality of a Daly, Charles or Greenwood.
It also ensured England had four right-footed defenders, and it showed at times in their build-up play, and with Williamson and Bright, the latter in particular, still building back up after long-term absences, while Greenwood’s absence at left-back was understandable, perhaps her absence in the heart of the back four was more questionable.
It was though in many ways a sensible compromise and showed some rare compromise from Wiegman, and it will be interesting to see if she sticks to the same way of thinking when the sides meet again on Tuesday in Saint-Etienne.
The Walsh problem remains
It's nothing new now, to see an opposition player sit specifically on Keira Walsh at the base of England's midfield, and it's a great compliment to the stature the Barcelona star has in the game now that it has become one of the go-to tactics for any team post-World Cup.
On this occasion, it was Aston Villa's Kenza Dali tasked with being Walsh's shadow for the evening, and she did it reasonably well, with Walsh enjoying the kind of solid night we've come to expect, but not allowed to do anything too spectactular with Dali always in close quarters.
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