The Lionesses are already in must-win territory against the Netherlands on Wednesday. Lose and they could be out. A group-stage exit for the defending champions would be nothing short of catastrophic.
There is still no need for panic – Carter insisted players “made a lot of mistakes that we wouldn’t normally make” – but Wiegman will know her team selection has to be at 100 per cent for the second group match.
Charles came off the bench during England’s defeat to France (Photo: AFP)
The other option would be to use Alex Greenwood as a left-back, but that would risk disrupting her centre-back partnership with Leah Williamson and would need Esme Morgan drafting in.
Re-think James’ role
James carved a marvellous run out of nothing to create Alessia Russo’s goal, subsequently disallowed by VAR, jaunting 30 yards from her own half. A half-hearted scissor kick might also have broken the deadlock, but much like the rest of England, James tailed off after 20 minutes – still edging back to full fitness after managing half an hour in the Jamaica friendly.
There are two questions for Wiegman. Is it best to start James or use her to inject some creativity from the bench, if she is still not up to 90 minutes? And should she be playing as a No 10 when Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway need a stricter safety net in place ahead of them?
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“She didn’t have a total free role,” Wiegman said when asked about James’ positioning. Yet there remains a sense that the Lionesses, for all the Chelsea forward’s brilliance, are still to really find her best position.
The difficulty is her injury record. Both club and country have so often had to find ways to work around James’ absence – before last weekend she had been out since April in her latest setback – that it has become difficult to build a team around her.
England’s potential XI vs Netherlands
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