England return from America’s east coast and the SheBelieves Cup with room for improvement but reason for cautious optimism ahead of this summer’s European Championships in the Netherlands.
If the euphoria of beating the USA, the world champions, was tempered by narrow defeats to France and Germany, the England full-back, Demi Stokes, reflected that “something special’s happening with this team”.
1 What is the SheBelieves Cup and why the big deal?
It’s a friendly tournament featuring four of the world’s top sides: the USA, France, Germany and England. Mark Sampson’s Lionesses – who exceeded expectations by finishing third in the 2015 World Cup in Canada – suffered a late 2-1 defeat against France in Philadelphia after dominating much of the match, beat the USA 1-0 in New Jersey and lost 1-0 against Germany in Washington. They ended up third behind France, the winners, Germany and ahead of the bottom-placed USA on goal difference.
2 Why was everyone so excited about the win over the USA?
Beating the world champions – courtesy of Ellen White’s 89th-minute goal - can be seen as a watershed in this squad’s evolution under Sampson. “We’re breaking barriers,” said Manchester City’s Stokes, who started all three games, avoiding being omitted by Sampson, known as one of football’s great rotators. “We’re in a good place. Something special’s happening with this team.”
Given the context that the USA were beaten 3-0 by France in their final game, no one should get overly carried away but Stokes’s positivity was endorsed by not just that strong showing against America but slightly harsh reverses to France and Germany.
3 Sampson really is one of the game’s biggest, and most successful, ‘Tinkermen’ isn’t he?
Yes, the young Welshman is a seriously clever tactician – that is why his advocates at the Football Association recently championed him as a potential men’s Under-21 coach – who constantly shuffles his squad, switches systems and makes bold mid-game substitutions. Against the USA for instance, he retained only four of the XI that had started against France and changed formation from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2 featuring a midfield diamond. Typical Sampson.
Happily the players seem to buy into a philosophy that ensures almost everyone enjoys game time and is kept constantly on their toes.
“There’s a lot of depth in the squad and it’s good Mark mixes things up for different games, which means players get proper rests,” said Stokes, who hopes to compensate for the disappointment of missing out on Canada 2015 by starring in the Netherlands. “Everyone in our team really understands that, just because you play one game doesn’t mean you’ll play the next, but you always need to be ready. Mark’s game management is very good and almost everybody in the squad can expect to be involved at some point.” Meanwhile Sampson is unafraid to make big selection calls such has his controversial decision to leave the Chelsea striker Eni Aluko behind this month.
4 Sampson may appreciate that the devil really is in the detail but does he grasp the ‘vision thing’?
Most definitely. As befits a man on a mission to “grow the game” in England, he compared beating the USA to “a rugby team winning in New Zealand against the All Blacks.” Considering England began SheBelieves as the tournament’s lowest-ranked side his delight is understandable. “The US had only lost once on home soil since 2004 and have been the dominant team in women’s football since the start of time, really, so it was a huge result,” he said.
“This was a tough tournament but, for our players now, it’s about fronting up in the big games. There’s often small margins between winning and losing and, unfortunately, against France and Germany we fell just the wrong side – but I know we’re much better than we were here. The important thing is that we reveal our full hand in July. The challenge is to be a much better team in Holland and we’ve definitely got the potential and the attitude to do that.
“We want to win the European Championship. It would be a game changer for the women’s game in England and my players know it’s big opportunity.”
5 What next for the Lionesses?
April friendlies against Italy (at Port Vale) and Austria (at Milton Keynes), then it’s off to their Utrecht base for the 16-team Euros in July and August which sees them facing Scotland, Spain and Portugal in Utrecht, Breda and Tilburg during the group stage.
