The Lionesses: ENG v Swi (Tu 19:45 ITV4) | + Euro Quals for Wales, Ireland, NI, Scotland & others

Kicking off the inaugural Womens Nations League tonight vs Scotland



 
England leading 2-1 at HT - headers from Bronze and Hemp. Scotland got one back via (ex-United) Kirsty Hanson. All the goals in the last few minutes of the half.

England dominating most of the play but Scotland could have had a penalty in the first half (and England scored soon after)
 
jojojo said:
England leading 2-1 at HT - headers from Bronze and Hemp. Scotland got one back via (ex-United) Kirsty Hanson. All the goals in the last few minutes of the half.

England dominating most of the play but Scotland could have had a penalty in the first half (and England scored soon after)
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Poor 2nd half for England, only just held on for the win in the end - maybe not that surprising since players are still in preseason mode

Always find Weigmann's lack of subs a bit strange - only Ella Toone used from bench

Bigger test on Tuesday Vs Netherlands
 
England manager Sarina Wiegman says it will feel "special but strange" to face her home country the Netherlands in the Women's Nations League.

Wiegman led the Netherlands to Euro 2017 glory on home soil before winning Euro 2022 with England at Wembley.

It is the first time she has returned to her homeland with her current side and the teams will play in Utrecht.

"Of course I have some memories here and so do the English. It's very nice being here," said Wiegman.

"It's just very special. We know each other really well. I know most of the staff, the players and it's in the Netherlands so lots of people will be in the stands.

"When we arrived, we have some memories that came back. Of course you have to move on. We have a big game tomorrow so we have to focus on that game."

Full article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66912611
 


3 MUWomen in starting line up, 1 on bench

7pm kick off on ITV4, can catch first half before United start
 
Rood said:
Bugger - close the thread, I cursed them !
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I thought that when I was watching the first half last night :lol:

I also thought we looked all over the place defensively - offside goal or not, we didn't deserve much out of the game. I had the second half on the computer (sound on!) while I was watching United on the TV but I did watch the last few minutes properly. From what I saw of it we deserved to lose.

I don't know if it's just tiredness (mental as well as physical) after losing the WWC final but England haven't looked good in either of these matches.

Terrible timing for an international break of course - WSL season starts this weekend, Arsenal have already been knocked out of the WCL. United have 6 games on the next three weeks including 2 matches against PSG (WCL qualifiers) and games against Arsenal and Villa.
 
jojojo said:
I thought that when I was watching the first half last night :lol:

I also thought we looked all over the place defensively - offside goal or not, we didn't deserve much out of the game. I had the second half on the computer (sound on!) while I was watching United on the TV but I did watch the last few minutes properly. From what I saw of it we deserved to lose.

I don't know if it's just tiredness (mental as well as physical) after losing the WWC final but England haven't looked good in either of these matches.

Terrible timing for an international break of course - WSL season starts this weekend, Arsenal have already been knocked out of the WCL. United have 6 games on the next three weeks including 2 matches against PSG (WCL qualifiers) and games against Arsenal and Villa.
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I only watched highlights as I was at Old Trafford, I guess Keira Walsh is a big miss on the defensive side. Also Maya Le Tissier should be playing, she's far better than Carter.

Anyway this was the most difficult group game so hopefully get things back on track.

Is there any word if when the likes of Williams, Mead, Kirby will be back?
I was surprised that the Lionesses managed to get the WC Final without them TBH.

Totally agree on the crazy timing for these games but looking forward to the start of the WSL season on Sunday.
 
Forgot to update that Lionesses got back to winning ways Vs Belgium on Saturday - now going away to play Belgium again tomorrow



 
Coverage from 6:45pm on ITV4

4 Lionesses (Earps, Daly, Bright, Stanway) featured in the Ballon D'or Top 30 yesterday

 
England losing 1-0, but Alex Greenwood has gone down after a clash of heads and stretcher out there. She has been down an awful long time.
 
On the stretcher after about 15 minutes. Looked a bad clash for both, both just running towards eachother and was a full hit.
 
Really painful looking incident. The only surprise is the Belgium player is staying on. Hopefully just precautionary with Greenwood, but that did look nasty.
 
Walsh to Hemp to Kirby and that's 2-1 to England. Nice move.
 
Fast break by Belgium, too fast for England's centre backs 2-2
 
Admittedly I'm newish to the woman's game, but for the past 18months or so I've followed it I really don't get why they bang on about James, Kirby and Bronze all the time but the real spark on our team barely gets that level of credit. Hemp is our best player IMO, and she's only 23? She is going to be our heartbeat for a long time.
 
Defence is definitely England’s weak link. Dunno what MLT has to do to get a chance. She seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order at the moment.
 
Dunno how England are losing this. Totally dominating the game but Belgium have scored with basically every attack.
 
Well and truly jinxed our ladies with this thread - had a great record past few years and now lost 2 in quick succession

At least it's just the Nations League
 
Rood said:
Well and truly jinxed our ladies with this thread - had a great record past few years and now lost 2 in quick succession

At least it's just the Nations League
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And qualification for the Paris Olympics. You truly have wrecked the team.
 
utdalltheway said:
Earps looked off her line when the peno was taken. But then I watched it again and it looked really close. She does come out fast!
She guessed the right way but the power was too much.
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It was close, but there were two Belgian players in the area when she struck the ball.
England looked very sloppy all game, not much pace at the back, probably a little slow in the build up (is that a Dutch thing?), in fact several players looked a little jaded, and not really on their game.
Would have been a good opportunity to blood three or four promising players this tournament.
 
jojojo said:
And qualification for the Paris Olympics. You truly have wrecked the team.
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What's the qualification criteria for that?
Still have a chance but have to win the remaining games

Netherlands at Wembley and Scotland away in December

 
Rood said:
What's the qualification criteria for that?
Still have a chance but have to win the remaining games

Netherlands at Wembley and Scotland away in December

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As far as I know it's the 4 Group winners unless one is France who qualify automatically as hosts then I think it's the highest ranked runners up alongside the other 3 group winners
 
Fr. Todd Unctious said:
As far as I know it's the 4 Group winners unless one is France who qualify automatically as hosts then I think it's the highest ranked runners up alongside the other 3 group winners
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I think it's France + 2 other UEFA teams who qualify for the Olympics.

Only the winners of the four A groups make the WNL finals. It's then France + the two finalists from those playoffs who get the Olympics places. If France makes the final, the winner of the third place playoff will qualify.
 
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