Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Laura Hartley

Alessio Russio lesson, Mary Earps decision - Five things learned from Lionesses draw vs Portugal

As the Women's World Cup approaches, Sarina Wiegman has decisions to make, and the lack of those made for a less-than-entertaining game.

The Lionesses went out on more of a limp than a bang, with the Portugal friendly ending in a bland 0-0 draw, that saw 23 shots for England compared to Portugal's two.

Newly-appointed captain Millie Bright missed out on the friendly as she continues to recover from an injury, and was sorely missed - especially as England looked for the presence in the final five minutes to look for a winner.

Despite an anti-climatic final send-off, Sarina Wiegman still has a number of things to think about.

Ahead of a number of decisions to make, football.London looks at five key things to take from England v Portugal...

READ MORE: England player ratings as Lauren James shines but Lionesses held by Portugal ahead of World Cup

Different starting line-up than we’re used to

It was a very different starting line-up from what we’re used to under Sarina Wiegman. The Lionesses boss is already without Leah Williamson, but her World Cup replacement both as captain and in defence, Millie Bright, was also left out of this friendly due to injury.

Jess Carter and Esme Morgan started at centre-back, while regular Alex Greenwood was a welcome sight at left-back following her injury scare in training earlier in the week.

Another gap in the starting XI was Chloe Kelly and Alessia Russo, who despite coming on for the second 45 minutes, were missed in the first half.

Rachel Daly’s solid position up front

Rachel Daly showed exactly why she’s one of England’s new favourites up front. It was Daly who created the first couple of chances of the match but just couldn’t get enough power on the ball. Her confident play then got her giving an overhead kick a chance, but she couldn’t quite get on target.

Unfortunately for Daly, she wasn’t given enough chances by her England teammates in a slightly rusty performance as a team.

Daly, who's become famous for being the most versatile Lioness, has made her stance as a forward that Wiegman can count on, as shown by still trying to create as many chances as she could to open the scoring.

Alessia Russo is the star forward

Made an impact immediately after coming on as a substitute, especially pairing up with Chloe Kelly. Both of them created the most exciting and more frequent opportunities during the second half after they came on as subs, with Russo admitting at full-time to ITV that she should've scored.

Russo, whose new club is yet to be announced following her departure from Manchester United, is still a hero among young fans from that Euro's backheel, but she needs to ensure she's finishing her chances to get on the World Cup scoresheet and help England through.

Mary Earps as captain

With Millie Bright still out injured and not risking further injury by playing, Mary Earps took the captain’s armband.

It was a largely quiet game for Earps, with the most drama happening when Lauren Hemp almost scored an own goal in an attempted backpass that wasn’t quite received by Earps.

Still, despite the basics not quite being observed, Mary Earps proved to be the right choice for captain as she holds strength and leadership for her England teammates.

Squad depth is key for England

Sarina Wiegman has already had a very good problem of having quality squad depth, and it’s clear the options are key for England to change up the game.

Youngster Katie Robinson seeped speed and agility into the squad, making her name known as soon as she came onto the pitch.

She got into all the right places and was able to feed the ball to Russo but despite the effort from Robinson, Russo couldn't quite find the target - however a very bright future for the Brighton striker.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.