Highly talented teams adorned by the most extravagantly gifted individuals do not always win major tournaments. Technical ability and improvisation will always matter a great deal but togetherness, tactical intelligence and simply being what Howard Wilkinson calls “a good tourist” also count for an awful lot.
During his stint as the Football Association’s technical director Wilkinson was a big champion of the women’s game and played a key part in securing the investment and infrastructure that, a few years on, has led to England winning a World Cup knockout game for the first time. The man who guided Leeds United to the English title in 1992 will presumably approve of the emphasis Mark Sampson has placed on his Lionesses being “good tourists” in what, to date at least, is a particularly harmonious camp.
Following pre-tournament training camps at St George’s Park – another Wilkinson project – and in Toronto, the England squad preparing for Saturday’s quarter-final against Canada (early Sunday UK time) have been living and working together for almost two months now.
It is the sort of timespan that can strain relationships but a squad that became fractured during the latter days of Hope Powell’s tenure two years ago seem a study in unity. The hours they have spent working with sports psychologists and undertaking bonding exercises alongside motivational experts from the corporate world appear to be paying off.
If certain players are disappointed not to be getting more minutes on the pitch they are hiding their hurt well, and so far no one seems to be going stir crazy or indulging in the sort of ego-fuelled, destructive internal politics that has wrecked many a quest for major honours.
As England’s most experienced individual, Fara Williams is revelling in being part of such a healthy atmosphere. “To come back from 1-0 down against a very good Norway side and win 2-1 [in the round of 16 in Ottawa on Monday] showed our character, how together our group is,” says the 31-year-old Liverpool midfielder. “The support from our bench was unbelievable.
“Whoever’s on the pitch, everyone on the bench is right behind us. It’s such a nice thing to have all 23 people together and behind each other. It’s great to know you’ve got that support. It just shows what good shape we’re in. The spirit is fantastic and it’s nice to have been part of a team that helped make history by winning our first World Cup knockout game.”
Sampson’s side have been criticised for some slow starts and a certain lack of on-pitch cohesion at times during Canada 2015 while his constant rotation – of both personnel and tactics – has raised questions.
Williams refuses to take much of it too seriously. “If we listened to everyone outside our circle there’d be a problem,” she said. “In Sweden two years ago [where England exited the European Championships at the group stage] we listened too much to the media, there was too much bad criticism. We’ve had criticism now but I think this is the best England team you’ve seen for a long while. We know how to defend and we can finish teams off. We found a way to beat a very good Norwegian team.”
Next up is John Herdman’s Canada in Vancouver on Saturday. “Their organisation’s fantastic,” acknowledged Williams. “To play the host nation in front of 55,000 is incredible. I guess it’s motivating. The girls are excited, everyone’s buzzing, positive, looking forward to it.”
The Lionesses are also still adapting to the artificial playing surface. “The pitches are a little bit different to grass, well vastly different and faster too,” said Williams, suggesting the need to adjust has explained the tendency of Sampson’s side to start games tentatively.
England’s chameleon nature, their ability to switch tactics at the click of their coach’s fingers has helped circumvent such difficulties. “If we need to change a gameplan we adapt,” she added. “We deal with it. And we know how important set pieces are at tournaments.”
While Steph Houghton is England’s captain, Williams’s voice commands considerable respect in the dressing room. “She’s my room-mate but she’s definitely our best player,” says Lucy Bronze, scorer of a stunning winner against Norway. “Fara’s got great technical ability. She’s the anchor of our team, the rock, the one that pulls the strings.
“On the pitch she’s totally switched on. Fara’s the only England player to have scored in three World Cups – and her experience of having been in all those past England camps really helps us.”
