The extent of Keira Walsh’s knee injury sustained against Denmark on Friday is still not entirely clear but whatever the severity the influential midfielder is likely to miss some, if not all, of the tournament and potentially a lot more football beyond it. What, then, are Sarina Wiegman’s options in the Lionesses’ deep-lying midfield role?
Plan B against Denmark
Wiegman’s changes after Walsh left the pitch in the 35th minute offer a hint at one solution. The Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs came on for the stricken Walsh, but it was Bayern Munich’s Georgia Stanway who dropped deeper to fill the hole. Stanway is a competent replacement as she is good on the ball, but she is not a naturally deep-lying player and Denmark were able to change their pressing after the switch.
“We didn’t have the focus on the defensive midfielder,” said their manager, Lars Søndergaard. “Then we decided at half-time we could play with two strikers that could have different roles and go on pressing on Georgia Stanway.
“We were fortunate that England also got a bit insecure in their passing from behind. In the beginning, they made us run a lot and we had to always close down spaces.”
Shifting Stanway out of her more box-to-box role weakens England’s forward play. There will also be concern that she picked up a yellow card in the opening 1-0 defeat of Haiti and is one booking away from having to sit out a game.
The dead-ball specialist
Katie Zelem was omitted from the squad for the Euros last year but is back in the fold due to Fran Kirby’s injury, the retirement of Jill Scott and an excellent domestic run with Manchester United last season. If Wiegman wants a player who fits more naturally in the deep-lying role then Zelem is a viable option.
The United captain is also a dead-ball specialist, a valuable weapon against teams that are harder to break down. In March 2022, United’s manager, Marc Skinner, praised Zelem after two goals from corners in one game. “It’s the genius of Katie,” he said. “She has the wonderful ability to put the ball wherever she needs to put it. It’s a really brilliant trait that she can work on as she can be one of the best in the league – if not the best.”
Time for Nobbs to shine?
Jordan Nobbs has been extraordinarily unlucky when it comes to major tournaments. The former Arsenal midfielder played one game at the 2015 World Cup in Canada due to injury, missed the 2019 World Cup after she ruptured her ACL and the Euros last year because of a knee ligament strain. There may have been a time when England’s midfield would have been structured around the intelligent Nobbs had it not been for injury.
Instead, she has had to fight to make the squad, swapping Arsenal for Aston Villa in search of regular football. Nobbs is most effective in the box-to-box role but has played deeper before and performed well.
The option of having Nobbs and Stanway rotating between the deeper and more advanced roles could be an attractive and unpredictable option.
The Phil Neville experiment
Phil Neville’s experiment with the right-back Lucy Bronze as a deep-lying midfielder was widely criticised four years ago. It was in response to injuries and was not wholly successful, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Wiegman opted to play Rachel Daly at left-back against Denmark, which meant England played with two attacking full-backs.
Against weaker teams that may work, but against the top nations it could cause problems. Shifting Bronze into the middle and slotting a more defensive player, such as Jess Carter, in at right-back could be a way of bringing balance to the defence.
“When you have not got Jill Scott, Fran Kirby or Jordan Nobb, we have to find players of that quality, experience and physical capacity that will take us to the next level,” said Neville at the time.
“Lucy will go back to right-back. There’s this fixation with me playing her in midfield. Pep Guardiola did it with Phillipp Lahm, played him at right-back when he was one of the best players in the world in one of the World Cups, the next season I went to watch Bayern Munich v Borussia Mönchengladbach and he was in central midfield – he was the best player on the pitch. You’ve got to have a vision for someone, and you know what? Lucy has the same vision as me.”
Double pivot
Ultimately, trying to replace Walsh like-for-like is something of a fool’s errand. There is no player more important to England because there is no natural successor anywhere near her standard. So rather than putting one player into the Walsh-shaped hole, two might be better. Wiegman experimented with two deep-lying midfielders before the Euros, playing Leah Williamson alongside Walsh. She has neither of those players now, but opting to put Zelem or Nobbs in a two with Stanway, or each other, is another solution.
