England boss Sarina Wiegman is not against making changes to the team that only narrowly beat Haiti as the Lionesses now face Denmark in their second game of the Women’s World Cup.
Georgia Stanway’s retaken penalty was all that separated England and the first-time qualifiers in their tournament opener last weekend and Wiegman was questioned over her squad decisions, choosing to leave WSL Golden Boot winner Rachel Daly and Chelsea superstar Lauren James on the bench.
The Dutch coach has earned a reptutation for keeping things steady, choosing the same starting XI for all seven games as the Lionesses swept to Euro 2022 glory last summer. But she admitted the Haiti contest that the team lacked ruthlessness in front of goal.
When asked if she would be more ruthless herself in squad selection, Wiegman replied, “That I’m more likely to make changes doesn’t have to do with [ruthlessness] I want to make changes.
“What we do is approach every game and then when we get ready to prepare, first of all we see who is fit and available, and then we make the decisions to what we need to start with, and then we decide whether we’re going to start with the same XI or maybe make some changes.”
Even before last summer’s Euros, Wiegman only made two changes to her Netherlands team that reached the 2019 World Cup final, while it was only three changes when they won Euro 2017.
England have a full squad available for the Denmark game, so any changes will be the result of tactical tweak or decisions based on form rather than fitness.
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Reflecting on the Haiti result, right-back Lucy Bronze believes it is not always how you get the win that matters in the first game of a tournament – England similarly only won 1-0 against Australia last year.
“Every game, it’s important,” the defender said, speaking alongside Wiegman. “You could win the World Cup by winning 1-0 all the time or drawing and winning on penalties.
“Performances mean a lot to us, but results are important too. It’s not always about scoring seven goals. If you have enough to win the game, that’s important. The performances are there in games, from individuals and collectively; it’s just being more ruthless, more clinical in front of goal, and I don’t think people would talk as much about performances and results then.”
Bronze continued, “I think Haiti were pretty good in attack as well. [But] Denmark offer a different challenge. Pernille Harder is someone we know really well and a top quality player on the ball. We’ve analysed them as a team and we know the way they like to play. If we do well as a team, that should be enough for us to get a result.”
WATCH THE LATEST WORLD CUP EDITION OF 90MIN TALKS
Shebahn Aherne is joined by Girls on the Ball, Chloe Morgan and 90min’s Lizzy Becherano to review the World Cup’s opening fixtures. England’s narrow win over an impressive Haiti is also analysed, as are the Lionesses’ attacking concerns going forward.
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