The Story
England Women’s manager Sarina Weigman has named her final squad of 2023
The squad sees Beth Mead return for selection, after a year out with an ACL injury. She has slowly been building her minutes back up, since her return for Arsenal on the 15th October, in a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. She got her first start for the club against Brighton on Sunday
There have also been second senior call-ups for Khiara Keating and Grace Clnton, who have both had great starts to the season at their respective clubs.
The announcement sees the exclusion of Ellie Roebuck for the first time in over two years. She currently isn’t making team sheets for Manchester City, and it is unknown the reason behind this. Although manager Gareth Taylor has said that she is fit and doesn’t have an injury.
England are still missing some key players through injury; Bethany England and captain Leah Williamson. They could prove crucial during these fixtures, where England need to be strong defensively and start being more clinical with their chances.
Context
This is the last set of fixtures in the group stages of the Nations League, where England currently sit third in the table, below the Netherlands and Belgium
Both the last fixtures in October were against Belgium, and England only managed to secure three points.
They won the first fixture 1-0 at the King Power Stadium, in Leicester. Lauren Hemp scored the winner in the 13th minute, but it was a less than convincing win. The Lionesses had 23 attempts on goal, but they only managed to register seven on target. Overall, they made it a fairly easy job for Belgium goalkeeper Nicky Evrard.
It didn’t get any better for the Lionesses when they headed to the King Power in Belgium, as they suffered a 3-2 defeat. Laura De Neve scored in the eighth minute, to put Belgium ahead early on. Two quick goals from Lucy Bronze and Fran Kirby put them ahead, in what they hoped would be the half-time score.
Belgian captain Tessa Wullaert had other ideas though, scoring in the sixth minute of stoppage time, to make it all level at the break. She also sealed the deal for the Red Flames, cooly slotting past Mary Earps, from the spot.
It was the same story for England. They hadn’t been clinical enough in front of goal, with only 27% of their shots registering on target. 80% of Belgium’s shots registered on target, and only one didn’t find the net.
They have now also conceded seven goals in their last four games compared to 15 in their last 30.
The View From Here
The two fixtures against the Netherlands at Wembley and Scotland at Hampden Park are both crucial wins that they need to qualify for the Olympics. Only the team sat at the top of the group will qualify.
England were the nominated team to earn Team GB qualification for the Olympics, in Paris 2024. A feat that would’ve been thought of as relatively easy given their recent success.
In order to qualify for the tournament, England would need to reach the Nations League Final, or at best finish 3rd [if France make it to the final]. This means to put themselves in this position they would need to pick as many points up as possible from their remaining games.
Although, a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands wouldn’t be enough, if they and England went on to win the final match. The Lionesses need to match or better the Dutch 2-1 victory back in September, for them to finish top of Group A.
If both England and Scotland win their first fixture, it would go down to the last game to decide on who tops the table. In this situation, unusually, it would be in Scotland’s favour to lose to England. As without claiming those vital three points, they would fall short on points, which would mean Scotland players miss out on potential call-ups too.
Counterpoint
Some England fans could welcome this break for the players, as due to the Covid pandemic, they have had a major tournament in every summer between 2021 and 2025.
This would allow the players to have a lengthy rest period over the summer, allowing them to reset and be in better shape to defend their European title in Switzerland the following summer.
Having said that, fans want to see the England players playing football at a major tournament. They want to see them do well in another major tournament and continue their success.
Nikita Parris has missed out on selection for the England squad since the Euros. It could be argued that she has earned her place back after being on a run of good form and finding the net four times in her last three starts for Manchester United.
Some fans have also questioned the omission of Aggie Beaver-Jones, who received her first senior start for club Chelsea on the weekend. Currently this season she has netted four in four, so is in great form in an area England seem to be lacking.
It is a well known fact that Sarina Weigman needs to see a player getting minutes to earn their call up for international duty and we can see this with Ellie Roebuck being dropped. Although it is then controversial why Hannah Hampton also hasn’t been dropped, as she has also registered zero minutes in the first seven weeks of the WSL.
There have been other English goalkeepers performing well in the league this season, and registering regular minutes. One of these is Sophie Baggaley, who made some superb saves to help her Brighton side beat Manchester City for the first time. Rachel Lawes has also made some superb saves, and started the season strongly, keeping a clean sheet in Liverpool’s first game and win of the season against Arsenal.