Salina Wigman says her England side still have a lot of work to do in front of goal but they are unlikely to solve the problems overnight as the Lionesses move into a goalless draw with Sweden next summer to secure the A seat at the European Cup final in Switzerland.
The reigning European champions have failed to replicate the clinical display of their title-winning campaign in 2022, scoring eight goals in six qualifying games, but Wigman is now grateful he has had almost 12 months to make amends for this.
“That’s something we definitely need to improve on,” the Dutch coach said. “The main thing we need to improve is the final third and the attack. Fortunately you still have a year because you can’t change that overnight.
“These top games show us what we need to do. When you play other teams in the lower divisions, these things don’t stand out as much as they do now. We know exactly where we are and where we need to improve. We Research on this issue will begin soon.
Centre-back Millie Bright seemed to agree with these sentiments and believes England will be ready by July 2025, saying: “It’s not about getting ready, it’s about playing. Now it’s time to defend our trophy and we There was plenty of time to work on everything we wanted to do.
“We were not calm and ruthless about opportunities, [but] In the end we succeeded, so we’re very proud. We showed our fight and resilience.
England are drawn into a tough group dubbed the “Group of Death” with two of the 2022 European semi-finalists, France and Sweden, as well as the Republic of Ireland, and attacking midfielder Ella Toon agrees with Wigman. That difficult opponents will help England.
Thune said: “The team played well and won 10-0, but these games are what you learn from – tough games. It’s great to come out of the group of death. It feels really good.
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Wigman also praised outgoing England men’s head coach Gareth Southgate, quickly dismissing such talk when asked about reports linking her to the vacancy as ” “It’s inappropriate,” he said: “First of all, I’m disappointed that he’s leaving. I really like Gareth as a person and as a coach and I think what he’s done for England is very inspiring. . To be honest, I think it’s really inappropriate to have this conversation because I’m with the Lionesses in England and it’s at the highest level.
