Crises are not formed by results in friendlies, but England’s shambolic defensive display, a conservative starting XI and the concession of three goals inside 30 minutes, in a loss to Germany at Wembley, will certainly feel pretty bruising.
The last time these two teams met on this stage, the spoils were far greater and the result very different, England securing an extra-time win over Germany courtesy of Chloe Kelly’s famous goal to give England a first major trophy at the Euros in 2022.
England have nine months until they begin their defence of that crown in Switzerland. Based on the performance against Germany, on the back of a not entirely straightforward European Championship qualifying campaign, Sarina Wiegman has a big job ahead of her if she is to restore England’s solidity and fear factor.
Germany arrived at Wembley with a new manager, Christian Wück, and some significant absences, including Lena Oberdorf due to injury and Svenja Huth, Marina Hegering and Lina Magull all not selected in the squad. Giovanna Hoffmann was picked to lead the line for the Germans, handed her first cap despite just nine career goals in the Bundesliga because she fits the profile of forward that Wück wants.
The surprise in England’s starting XI was that there were no surprises, Wiegman choosing to go with tried and tested over players who are in form at club level. Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Clinton, Jess Park and Alex Greenwood were all missing from the starting lineup, with Jess Carter at left-back. The Euro 2022 winning centre-backs, Leah Williamson and Millie Bright, were reunited despite unconvincing recent performances for Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, and Ella Toone handed the No 10 shirt in the absence of the injured Lauren James. The only player to be given the nod over a more established counterpart was Hannah Hampton, who was preferred in goal to Mary Earps.
Wiegman would not entertain the idea that the Chelsea goalkeeper was her new No 1 though, saying before kick-off: “No, that’s not right. The competition is going on. We have really good goalkeepers. Mary and Hannah are in competition with each other, and we’ll see what that brings.”
The manager’s decision to stick with players from the squad that earned a 2-1 win over Germany in the final of the 2022 Euros, and seven starters in that final, despite the opportunity to test players in friendly fixtures for the first time in a long time seemed staid.
The trust had been placed in experience delivering at Wembley, but experience let them down almost instantly. Williamson’s short pass was straight to Hoffmann and the forward fed Linda Dallmann who was brought down by a recovering Bright. The Germany captain, Giulia Gwinn, converted from the spot, firing low into the corner to stun England on home turf.
Wiegman’s side had the ball in the back off the next shortly after, Alessia Russo latching on to Toone’s backheel before firing in, but Toone had been offside in the buildup and a late flag quashed the celebrations. They would be punished further immediately, Gwinn skating into acres of space on the right before striking past Hampton.
It was a chastening first 11 minutes, and things only got worse for England, a swaggering counterattack leaving Klara Bühl with the ball on the left and she rifled it past Hampton at her near post. It would be unfair to say Wiegman’s side had been toothless up to this point, Russo had smashed the ball off the inside of the post between the second and third Germany goals, but they were being run ragged.
Luck would finally tip their way within minutes of Bühl’s goal, a VAR review confirming the ball had grazed Gwinn’s hand after Lauren Hemp sent in a cross from the left and England were handed a penalty of their own. Georgia Stanway swept the ball in from the spot and collected the ball to deliver it back to the centre circle, celebrations muted on the pitch but not in the stands.
England would reduce the deficit again, exposing the defensive frailties in the Germany backline, and Russo was at the heart of the buildup, playing the ball wide to Beth Mead who squared for Stanway to fire in.
Having been poor for the third goal conceded, Hampton kept the margin to one with a fine fingertip save shortly before the break, pushing Dallmann’s 40-yard effort on to the bar.
There was one change for England at the break, with Park replacing Toone, while Hoffmann and Sarai Linder made way for Felicitas Rauch and Selina Cerci.
The second half was a little less frenetic and more controlled but still end-to-end. England were spared further defensive humiliation by the linesman after Jule Brand slotted in with Cerci having strayed offside in the buildup.
Hoping to settle things, Wiegman reverted to the centre-back pairing that reached the World Cup final in Australia, while Williamson was out with an ACL injury, bringing off the Arsenal defender in favour of Greenwood on the hour.
There was controversy for Germany’s fourth, Russo adjudged to have fouled Pia-Sophie Wolter with a high foot in the box, VAR not correcting the decision of the referee despite replays showing the forward had got the ball before Wolter’s foot came into her. Sara Däbritz scored the penalty to make England’s job that much harder.
There was time for one more England goal though, Hemp’s free-kick, shortly after she had been denied herself by the offside flag, fumbled by the goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger allowing Lucy Bronze to turn in.
The deficit was narrowed, but this was the first time England had conceded four under Wiegman, and only the second time they had conceded more than two since the manager arrived in September 2021.
