A lauded coach under scrutiny, super-sub strikers, “Who else?” moments from world-class players, a Bayern Munich star labouring after injury, a statement performance against the Netherlands and some luck at penalties. It’s England at the Euros, but is it 2024 or 2025?
When Michelle Agyemang drove unerringly through the ball in the fifth minute of added time on Tuesday night, the mind flicked back to this time last year and Ollie Watkins burying a shot in similar fashion. His was a late winner against the Netherlands in Dortmund, Agyemang’s a crucial equaliser against Italy in Geneva. But both were clutch finishes with seconds left on the clock from substitutes who had barely been on the field.
Having a pair of dependable closers is not the only similarity between these two England teams and sometimes the parallels can be uncanny. On the surface level, there’s the fact both teams have reached a final against Spain while, by and large, playing miserably. England should have lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals a week ago and to Switzerland at the same stage in 2024. They have managed only one dominant showing each, against the Netherlands, and arguably the men sustained that for only 45 minutes.
These performances have led to increasing scrutiny of the coaches. Sarina Wiegman (to be made a dame at the end of this tournament, if England win) and Sir Gareth Southgate (knighted after stepping down from the Three Lions last summer) have been questioned over their selections, formations, substitutions and, most of all, style of play. What can England expect when their teams take the field? The answer seems to be unclear and underwhelming.
But England have also reached both finals. A never-say-die attitude has been cited as the key reason for the Lionesses enduring. In the words of Lucy Bronze: “I don’t think you’ll find a team in world football with more fight and more resilience than this England team.” To a lesser extent the same rationale was applied to the men’s side, thanks to the late goals not just from Watkins but from Jude Bellingham against Slovakia and Bukayo Saka against Switzerland. This, we were told, showed the mindset of a team used to going deep in tournaments under Southgate.
Wiegman, of course, is about to take a team to a fifth consecutive major championship final (two with the Netherlands, three with England, and a record in the women’s and men’s game). She describes a “proper England” mentality as being one that “supports each other” and “works really hard” and these values have been seen on the pitch amid all the errors and misses. They have also been embodied by key players, none more than Bronze, whose performances across the tournament have been outstanding and whose personal intervention against Sweden was defining, scoring the first goal in the comeback from 2-0 down and stopping a rotten run of penalties with a thumping effort in the shootout. An honourable mention should also go to the new first-choice goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton, who has made crucial saves at critical times, none more than her double stop to deny Italy a two-goal lead.
Other key players have been less impressive. Georgia Stanway and Harry Kane are stars for Bayern Munich and England. Both had to recover from serious injury to make their European Championship but, while each has looked laboured in their on-field movement, they retained the trust of their coaches owing to their abiding quality. Equally there have been adaptations so as to platform more mercurial talents – for Lauren James in the women’s team read Phil Foden in the men’s – with mixed results.
The list of comparisons gets longer the deeper you look (which team have played the most successful long balls in the tournament? It’s England, both times!), but there are also subtle differences that may prove key. For a start, Wiegman has retained more control than Southgate over her team and their approach. Southgate flipped from a 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 and three at the back before going back to the start for the final against Spain. Fluidity did not ensue. Wiegman, after attempting a variation in formation in the defeat against France in order to play James in her favoured position, returned to the familiar, shifting the Chelsea forward back to the right against the Netherlands and reverting to her favoured 4-3-3.
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Questions over style of play persist for both teams, with an emphasis on set pieces being perhaps the only identifiable feature shared by both sides. But while Wiegman’s England may not have a clear style or identity in this tournament, they have a consistent tactical approach. They look to get the ball forward quickly (see above) and deliver early crosses. England have averaged the highest number of successful crosses in the tournament, at nine per game compared with second placed Spain’s 8.2. Perhaps as a result, they have also created the most big chances at the tournament, 27 to Spain’s 20 (all stats according to FotMob).
A lot of those big chances have been missed, but at least they are being created, which is more than Southgate could say of his team a year ago. Such was the pressure on him in Germany that for many it was a given he would lose his job regardless of the outcome. Managing the Lionesses is not quite the impossible job just yet and, despite the criticisms, Wiegman has endured, she has not gone on the defensive, and her players continue to speak with confidence about their abilities.
This can make a difference. As can one final small distinction: for all the relative success that England’s men have had this past decade, it’s the women who have won a trophy, this one, three years ago. This team know how to win. Despite the performances to date and the quality of their upcoming opponents, it would be foolish to rule them out.
