England began their latest Women’s Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw away in Portugal. It was a result that left them with just two wins in their last six matches, and familiar issues plaguing Sarina Wiegman’s side.
Despite taking the lead through Alessia Russo in the 15th minute, Barcelona’s Kika Nazareth equalised in the 75th, and England were unable to hit back.
For the visitors, the match was a game of two halves. It appeared at first they had rediscovered some of the intensity that has been so lacking in the way they have played over the past year.
But as the game went on and Portugal made changes, England’s energy dipped. It was a return to the stodgy play that has become curiously prevalent, with a lack of control coupled with limited attacking ideas making matches a tough watch.
Injury issues have continued to leave England without a number of key starters which has not helped. Midfielder Georgia Stanway, centre-back Alex Greenwood and winger Lauren Hemp are all long-term absentees. The second string have not always looked capable of stepping up, leaving Wiegman clearly reluctant to make substitutions.
This was in stark contrast to Portugal, who were far more proactive in their changes, with a substitute scoring the equaliser. England, meanwhile, made a precautionary switch at half-time to take right-back Lucy Bronze off for Jess Carter but then made no further changes until the 83rd minute when Chloe Kelly and Aggie Beever-Jones came on.
With bench players only being given limited minutes to prove themselves, it becomes a vicious cycle where they are unable to impact the match and are then not turned to in future games.
Wiegman’s European Championship winning team used young players off the bench in every match, often to swing games in England’s favour. This version of the team could not be further from that.
Spain offer timely test
England have a further test tonight as they welcome world champions Spain to Wembley, the first time they have faced each other since that August evening in Sydney, when Spain triumphed 1-0.
There have been a lot of changes for Spain since then with manager Jorge Vilda sacked weeks after the final. Last week former head of the Spanish FA Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting Jenni Hermoso after he kissed her non-consensually after that game.
Former assistant Montse Tome has been in charge since then and while Spain have maintained their high world ranking, as well as winning the inaugural Nations League last year, there have been hiccups too. They missed out on an Olympic medal after being thrashed by Brazil in the semi-final before losing to Germany in the bronze-medal match. They have also looked vulnerable defensively, having to come back from 2-0 down at home to Belgium in their first Nations League match last week to eventually win 3-2.
If England can make a fast-paced start against them, there are goals to be had but the Lionesses’ tendency to drop off the pace as games go on will certainly be tantalising to a Spain team who are experts at scoring late on.
A win would be a huge confidence boost for England, who have not beaten a top- five side in the world since a 2-1 win over the USA in 2022. It is an intriguing litmus test between two teams who will be considered favourites for this summer’s European Championship in Switzerland.
March madness
With the international break coming to an end, players will return to their clubs for what promises to be a busy March, particularly at the top end of the table.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City are all in the Champions League quarter-finals, with Arsenal due to face Real Madrid. Chelsea and Manchester City will face off against each other as part of a four-match mega-series where they will play each other in the League Cup final, Women’s Super League and Champions League all back to back.
Both Arsenal and City will be heavily focused on the Champions League with their title hopes all but over. Chelsea are 12 points clear of City and ten points ahead of Arsenal, with Manchester United their closest challenges with a mere seven-point gap.
Sonia Bompastor’s takeover from Emma Hayes at the London club has been a huge success, with Chelsea still unbeaten under her after 24 games in all competitions. She has won 23 of those and will have the opportunity to pick up her first bit of silverware when she competes against City for the League Cup on March 15.
The opportunity for an unprecedented quadruple is on the cards but Bompastor knows how fragile these situations can be, with the club exiting three competitions in the space of a month last season.
Despite the lure of domestic silverware, Bompastor has been clear her primary aim is, as is always the case with Chelsea, that elusive first Champions League.