Sarina Wiegman reflected on a performance of two halves after her side beat Switzerland 1-0 at Bramall Lane thanks to Grace Clinton’s eighth-minute goal.
Wiegman made ten changes from Saturday’s 0-0 draw with the USA, and her experimental side had Hannah Hampton to thank for a number of second-half saves. Georgia Stanway hit the post in injury time, with the Lionesses continuing to pass up chances in front of goal.
“I think the first half we played really well,” Wiegman reflected. “We challenged them all the time, mainly played in their half of the pitch and created chances, scored one goal. I was very happy with that, with a very young team- some debuts, some starting for the first time, one starting who hadn’t started in six years for us, so many changes.”
Reflecting further on the performance, Wiegman assessed “I think the second half our level dropped, we were more sloppy. We didn’t find the pockets well enough. That was a little bit harder. Switzerland did some different things as well, we were not as good aligned as we were the first half.”
Despite the scoreline remaining at a fine margin, Wiegman said that she is not concerned by what the performance may mean going forward. She said, “I was not concerned about the lack of creativity in the first half we played, the second half I thought we needed some more creativity and better aligned decisions and opposite movements.”
“When we played the USA that was a hard game, so in the final third the last pass and those moments we needed to do better. I’m not really concerned. We have to improve it, absolutely, we know that, but be concerned? At least not yet.”
Wiegman analyses ‘developing’ youth
The starting lineup in Sheffield allowed for several young stars to show what they are made of, with Ruby Mace and Laura Blindkilde Brown earning their first senior caps. Aggie Beever-Jones and Millie Turner received their first starts for England, with the likes of Grace Clinton, Maya Le Tissier and Gabby George also making their way into the starting XI.
Wiegman assesed the heavily rotated side, expressing “You can tell that for some players, for the first time they have to get through these moments, become more comfortable and everyone’s different so some were maybe a little bit more anxious than others.”
The head coach added, “But that’s ok, you have to get through and think about going forward, how quick does the development go. And that’s what we see with other players who are now more starters than they were a couple of months of years before.”
