Georgia Stanway urges the Lionesses to be ‘ruthless’ ahead of a must-win face off with the Netherlands at Euro 2025.
The English midfielder said the Lionesses must return to being a ‘proper England’ if they are to revive their tournament hopes following a matchday one stumble against France. If the title holders are to lose to the Netherlands on Wednesday July 9, that will mean an early Euro 2025 exit for the Lionesses.
Stanway was blunt and honest when considering the scenario of a tourmanet crash out, expressing “It’s reality, if we’re not good enough on Wednesday then we don’t deserve to continue in the tournament.”
Lionesses must return to being ‘proper England’ says Georgia Stanway
Reflecting on the lacklustre showing last Saturday, Stanway said there is plenty of focus being set on ‘putting things right’.
“We know as a team that we underperformed. We know as individuals that we underperformed. I didn’t want to do the press conference today because I’m fed up of talking now. It’s time that we focus on putting things right on the grass,” Stanway said.
“We’ve spoken about wanting to be proper England , and we want to go back to what we’re good at. We want to go back to a traditional style of football in terms of tough tackles, getting back to our roots and remembering why we’re here, remembering that we’re playing for the little girl that wanted to be here.”
The side will return to Zurich’s Letzigrund and will aim to block out the noise, as well as the mounting pressure being placed on their shoulders.
“Sometimes it’s about blocking out the noise and getting on the pitch and getting stuck in,” Stanway said. “I had a message from someone I know that said it was just like a bad night out and you want to forget it as quickly as possible!”
You can read all of the latest news, analysis and opinion at Euro 2025 on The Halfway Line.
