England Women manager, Sarina Wiegman praised her team for getting “back to business” with a 6-0 victory over Portugal at Wembley Stadium.
Wiegman’s Lionesses had been rocked by Mary Earps’ shock retirement at the start of the international window, which they had come into off the back of a disastrous first-half performance in April’s 3-2 away loss to Belgium.
Aggie Beever-Jones’ hat-trick plus goals from Lucy Bronze, Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly however saw England bounce back with a ruthless victory over Portugal, which means that a win over Spain in Barcelona on 3 June would see them top League A3.
“It’s what we wanted,” explained Wiegman who wanted her players to get back down to their task after the distraction of Earps’ exit. “You go back to business and you want to show on the pitch.
“It’s an important game. We want to do well in the Nations League, we want to keep in the running to win it so we needed a win and it’s really good to see the team show up like this.”
With one eye on England’s title defence at UEFA Women’s Euros in July, Wiegman iterated that the dominant result doesn’t disguise where they still must improve, especially when oppositional teams change tactics mid match.
“There’s always things to improve, of course, but it was a good score,” commented Wiegman. “We started really well, they played in a shape and after 3-0 they changed to a different shape and we adapted really well.
“The second half, they dropped very deep and played a 5-4-1 so the spaces became smaller for us. I think the goal we scored was really good but it was harder to find the space.”
Immediate focus now switches to Spain and Wiegman hinted that she will make some tactical tweaks for a difficult must-win game, having already beaten the world champions at home in February through Jess Park’s strike.
“When we played Spain here, we dropped a little deeper,” acknowledged Wiegman. “We will review this and make final decisions. Spain are so tight on the ball, so smart, so you have to do that really well. I’m really happy with how the team did today though.”
The win over Portugal though saw Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Georgia Stanway return after lengthy injury absences, with Hemp having gone straight into the line-up whilst Greenwood and Stanway made substitute appearances.
“I know how hard they have worked and how much they have done to come back,” said Wiegman who explained although winning the Nations League is on the agenda, the immediate priority was giving the trio minutes ahead of the Euros.
“Of course, it’s a step up and it’s very good we could build them now. It’s the Nations League that you want to win, but at the same time, it’s preparation for the EUROs so they need meaningful minutes.
“You have to make decisions but when the team does so well and you score so much, then it’s easier to sub than when it’s tight. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have brought them on, because they are ready to play anyway but it’s really nice.”
