Sarina Wiegman said her Lionesses side found a sense of “urgency” to book their place in the quarter-finals of the European Championships with a comfortable 6-1 victory over Wales.
“This urgency comes [after the France defeat],” the England head coach said. “You could see the togetherness of our team. We knew today would be a different game because we knew we would have the ball a lot.
“I’m very happy with the performance. We knew that Wales really wanted to fight and we tried to stay out of it. I think in most of the moments we did but in the beginning we were sloppy. I hope we keep going with this. We created great chances like we did against the Netherlands and now we have to break down Sweden.”
A key part of England’s improved form during a tough Group D was a shift in gameplan from Wiegman and the coaching staff. One change has been the introduction of Ella Toone back into the No 10 role against the Netherlands with the ever-creative Lauren James moving out to the right.
Keira Walsh, the Uefa player of the match, credited Toone for England’s change in fortunes. “She’s come in and done an incredible job,” she said. “People speak about her offensively, but the defensive work she does for me and Georgia [Stanway] when she’s in [the No 10 role] is incredible. She covers a lot of spaces that we can’t.
“That’s probably been the main thing that’s stopped other teams from playing. Obviously with Lauren James on the wing, we’ve managed to get both of them on the pitch at the same time and they are two world-class players.”
In her two tournament appearances, Toone has looked back to her best. A goal and two assists in 45 minutes against Wales made her a standout performer and her 100% pass completion rate caught the eye.
“I feel like I’m in a really good place,” the 25-year-old said. “I’ve missed this Ella Toone. I’ve not had it for a while. I feel like I’m really coming into it and I’m really enjoying it. I love playing with these girls. I love the football that we play.
“I feel like I’m in a good mindset and enjoying my football and that’s when I’m probably playing my best so it was nice to get two assists and another goal tonight. Hopefully I can keep continuing in that form.”
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Walsh also spoke about the Lionesses’ ability to navigate their way through a difficult group that contained France, the Netherlands and Wales. “It was a slow start,” she said. “But we’ve definitely built on that. I think the intensity in the last two games – we’ve really attacked. In defence, we’ve tried to win the ball back really fast so I think we’re happy with where we’re at.
“Sarina [Wiegman] wanted us to be confident and to enjoy it. We obviously play better football when we do that. There was more flow to the game tonight and better connections so we just have to keep that going and keep the momentum up in the next game.”
England will face Sweden next in the quarter-finals, an opposition that they are well-acquainted with. “They’re always very powerful,” Wiegman said. “They have speed up front on the counterattack. They are a hard team to beat and have done well in the group. We will see and we will get ready.”
