ZURICH — No regrets. That was the message from Sarina Wiegman after seeing England humbled by France in their Euro 2025 opener – but something has to change. And quickly.
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.
And on a night when England’s wide players were painfully exposed by the frightening pace of Delphine Cascarino, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Sandy Baltimore, left-back Jess Carter conceded: “We all have days when we’re just having a bit of a mare on the ball – and unfortunately today, there was more than one player doing that.”
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)
One obvious move is to start Niamh Charles, given the Chelsea full-back replaced Carter as part of a trio of changes around the hour mark. That would give Carter a breather after a torrid opener and Charles is well thought of because of her attacking threat.
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
Wiegman was adamant she had not been wrong to start Lauren James despite her injury struggles. “I don’t see it as a mistake,” she said. “It was a choice. If she scored in the first minute, and if the cross where we couldn’t just get a head on it, we’d be having a different conversation.”
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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Ella Toone would fit the bill more closely; she was unfortunate not to score after coming on in the second half. Starting Toone behind the front three would allow James to move onto the right, in place of Beth Mead.
“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.
That does James a disservice too, leaving her reliant on individual moments of inspiration rather than operating in a system that suits her.
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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