The Lionesses enter the start of “a new cycle” ahead of upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Australia this month.
Goalkeepers
Ahead of WEURO2025, a common concern among England fans was that if Hannah Hampton were to pick up an injury, there were only two inexperienced goalkeepers behind her. Manchester City’s Khiara Keating and Orlando Pride’s Anna Moorhouse are both uncapped, although Keating has experience with the England youth groups.
It is unclear at this point which keeper is the preferred backup to Hampton as there are positives on both sides. Keating has that experience in the England setup, and will be more familiar with international football. However, she is currently not the clear first choice at City, and has been part of some unconvincing displays over the last year. Moorhouse is Pride’s undisputed number one, and helped them to a double last season. She also holds the 2024 NWSL golden glove. However, at 30 years old she is older than Keating, and has gone through a drop in form of her own.
It remains to be seen how important establishing a clear number two is for Wiegman. At twenty-four, Hampton is young enough that barring injury, she is set to be England number one for a long time. Having a recurring competition between the remaining two goalkeepers could be beneficial for morale and to avoid either Keating or Moorhouse becoming complacent. It also means that if the time comes, form becomes paramount – the keeper who takes over is the one on better form. However, it also means that there will be a clear lack of experience and the potential for squad upset if either keeper is perceived to be suddenly chosen, particularly if form is even.
Defenders
Following Wiegman’s squad announcement, much of the discussion has centred around Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier’s best position. The 24-year-old plays as a centre-back for United, however it is known that Wiegman envisions her as a right-back, much to the consternation of both United and England fans. In Wiegman’s favour, Le Tissier has consistently played on the right throughout her England pathway and before joining United, and the squad also faces a notable lack of depth in the right-back position in Lucy Bronze’s absence.
At centre-back, there are options. Le Tissier plays on the right side, which is England captain Leah Williamson’s position, and there are a number of other players who can fill in. Arsenal’s Katie Reid has filled in for Williamson at club, and has performed strongly, receiving her first call up for this camp before withdrawing through injury.
At right-back beyond Bronze, there is only Niamh Charles, who most regularly plays on the opposite flank. There is also Taylor Hinds, who also plays on the left. Tottenham’s Ella Morris received her first call up in 2025, however suffered an ACL rupture during training. It is likely that Wiegman wanted to assess Morris as a potential back-up to Bronze on that right hand-side, with the injury providing a barrier to both Morris and Le Tissier.
There is also the fact that Wiegman is from the Dutch school of football, where positions are seen as fluid, with focus on tasks and spaces rather than strict positional responsibilities.
With Williamson absent for this camp and Bright’s retirement, there is an opportunity for a fresh central pairing for England to be trialed. With the number of injuries in the current Lionesses squad, Wiegman will not get a true opportunity to assess her options until November, however the games against Brazil and Australia will provide a strong test for a makeshift backline.
Midfielders
The England midfield is relatively settled. Wiegman has a range of options at her disposal, at least when it comes to the attacking spaces. Ella Toone and Jess Park are both on good form, and Grace Clinton will return from injury. Georgia Stanway has nailed down the eight and is in good form for Bayern Munich, already on five assists and one goal in the Frauen Bundesliga. There are less options in defensive midfield. Keira Walsh is widely hailed as one of the best players in the world, and as such plays almost every game for both Chelsea and England. She has recently added goals to her game, even scoring England’s first goal at Women’s Euro 2025.
Behind Walsh, the options lack experience. Manchester City’s Laura Blindkilde Brown has performed well in the first half of the season at Manchester City, however the 22-year old only has one cap after making her debut last December against Switzerland. Blindkilde Brown is versatile and can play as a box-to-box midfielder, recently scoring second goal for City. There is also Everton’s Ruby Mace, who made her debut alongside friend Blindkilde Brown. However, Mace is currently injured having withdrawn from the U23s England squad.
That Wiegman is searching for more midfield options was further displayed by Maisie Symonds’ call-up in April. The Brighton player was named captain ahead of the WSL season and has been in strong form. Missy Bo Kearns has also been recalled – the Aston Villa midfielder was a standby player for the Women’s Euro 2025 squad after making her senior debut against Spain in June. Kearns’ teammate Lucia Kendall received her first senior call up for this camp and at 21, Kendall has already played for the U23s.
Forwards
Another area where England have a wealth of talent is in the forward line – and it is arguable that the difficulty is in how to best utilise the talent. In the central forward area, Alessia Russo is on fine form and recently came third in the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings. Women’s Euro 2025 Young Player of the Tournament Michelle Agyemang has returned on loan to Brighton from Arsenal, playing every league game for the club and putting in a string of strong performances. Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones is also in top form, scoring four goals in the club’s first six games of the league campaign.
However, performances have dipped recently for both Russo and Beever-Jones and there is a sense they may have been overplayed. Both have started every game for their clubs this season and have been showing signs of fatigue in the last couple of weeks. It could be that game time for England would give either player a burst of energy, or Wiegman may prefer to give Agyemang her first senior international start.
Out wide, England are hindered by injuries. Lauren James is only due to return after this break after a prolonged spell on the sidelines, and Lauren Hemp is not due back for Manchester City for a number of weeks. Arsenal duo Beth Mead and Chloe Kelly have been alternating their place for the Gunners, both occasionally getting game time together. Mead has plied her trade on the left for Arsenal this season, something that may provide Wiegman with another attacking outlet. They have established a strong relationship with Russo at club level, something Wiegman may decide to exploit over the coming months.
Beever-Jones can play on the left, although her performances in that position have been mixed. For example, against Belgium in the Nations League, the Lionesses were depleted as players including James, Hemp, Russo, Stanway, and Greenwood were all missing due to injury. Beever-Jones was utilised on the left wing with Nikita Parris up top. The young Chelsea forward struggled to get into the game, not helped by Parris’ lack of pace against a fast Belgian team. In contrast, Beever-Jones was played centrally against Portugal and scored a hat-trick in the first half.
Sarina Wiegman
The last, and most important, thing to look out for in this window concerns the head coach herself. There are various ways of approaching this window, and it will be interesting to see which option Wiegman chooses.
There is a popular myth that the Dutchwoman does not rotate, even for friendlies. This can be disproven by looking at the Lionesses’ friendlies across 2024. In the February games against Italy and Austria, there were a number of changes: against Austria, the back line consisted of Le Tissier, Esme Morgan, Greenwood, and Charles. Against Italy, only Greenwood and Charles retained their places as Bronze and Lotte Wubben-Moy were given the nod.
Against Switzerland last October, Wiegman fielded an extremely experimental starting eleven consisting of ten changes from the previous game. Morgan was joined by Millie Turner and Bright in defence, with debuts awarded to Mace and Blindkilde Brown, and a front two of Jess Park and Beever-Jones. Given the number of new or returning faces in the current squad, this could be the approach we see against Brazil or Australia, although the bigger experimentation will likely be reserved for China and Ghana later in the year.
The fact that this series has been billed as a ‘Homecoming’ for the Women’s Euro 2025 squad could be a barrier to experimentation, particularly if there is a feeling that fans will want to see the players who won the tournament. However, the injuries will force Wiegman’s hand here as there will be no Williamson, Hemp, or James. As a result, the head coach will be forced to experiment in some areas.
Whichever option is chosen, the window will be an exciting one, with implications reaching ahead to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027.
