England Friendlies Offer Valuable Lessons Despite Lingering Issues

England manager Sarina Wiegman stated that “football is a game of mistakes” and her squad aims to commit “as few of them as possible,” acknowledging that valuable insights were gained from this month’s friendly matches. Wiegman had implemented eight changes to the starting lineup against South Africa. The Lionesses secured a 2-1 victory over South Africa on Tuesday, following a disappointing 4-3 loss to Germany at Wembley Stadium the previous week. Both performances demonstrated strong attacking intent but also revealed numerous defensive vulnerabilities. Captain Leah Williamson, for instance, experienced a mixed evening in Coventry, where she celebrated her 50th England appearance by scoring a first-half goal, only for her subsequent error to result in a goal for South Africa. Wiegman expressed that she was “very happy” for Williamson’s goal, yet conceded that England needs to eliminate sloppiness. Wiegman further elaborated, “We had more moments and they punished us. We all know – the players know – they don’t want to make those mistakes. Football is a game of mistakes, you just want to have as few of them as possible. It’s better to have those mistakes further from goal as possible.” Williamson has endured a challenging week, facing scrutiny for her display against Germany, while calls for the inclusion of in-form Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood in the starting lineup have intensified. Nevertheless, the Arsenal defender, who only returned to play in January after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, remains a crucial component of Wiegman’s team as they prepare to defend their European title in Switzerland next summer. Jen Beattie, a former Arsenal team-mate, commented that Williamson’s errors were “out of character” and that her exceptional contributions to England have been “forgotten.” Beattie told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Women’s Football Weekly podcast, “We all know the worldie passes she can do. Everyone gives the ball away, that’s part of football. You never know what has led to those moments. It’s out of character. You can’t peak 24/7. Mistakes are part of football. Maybe the criticism has been a bit too harsh. We focused on mistakes maybe too much recently and forgot how incredible she has been for this England side. I hope she comes away with that amazing memory [of scoring].” The numerous changes implemented against South Africa, as Wiegman had indicated earlier in the week, were cited by her as a contributing factor to some of the observed sloppiness. England’s defense was exposed on multiple occasions, with errors not limited to Williamson. Wiegman explained, “We swapped players in different positions so that’s not easy to adapt to and to get the right connections. Maya le Tissier moved from the right side to the left side and Ella Toone came into a different position [in midfield]. That needs some time. I saw some struggles so we have to get through that and try to take the sloppiness out. We want to keep playing forward and getting better connected with players in different positions. I ask a lot from them.” Earlier in the week, Wiegman had emphasized that England must manage criticism as expectations surrounding her squad have escalated. Beyond securing the Euro 2022 crown on home soil, the team also reached the Women’s World Cup final in 2023. While these two friendly performances did not fully reassure supporters about their readiness for Euro 2025, which begins next July, there is no immediate cause for alarm. England is scheduled for two additional friendlies this year: against Olympic gold medallists the United States, managed by former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, on November 30, and against Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland on December 3. Wiegman maintains her intention to utilize these matches to “gain information” beneficial for Euro 2025, expressing satisfaction with the data collected thus far. Wiegman stated, “I think we still have more questions, but that was what we said to each other before this camp. We don’t need to have all the answers now. We have two more games [this year] and we’re just trying to get as much information as possible. We want to see more players. Some players have to be a little more patient than others but we are moving forward and we need these games to try out different things to be better later on. We put players in other positions that we wanted to see [against South Africa]. This is the moment to do that. Some things I was really happy with, and in other moments, of course, we can improve.”