The art of mastering the role of the box-to-box midfielder is often down to timing. With Georgia Stanway set to be sidelined for England’s Nations League campaign, and facing a race to be fit for the opening game of the Euros in July, a place in Sarina Wiegman’s starting lineup is up for grabs for the foreseeable future.
Crashing the penalty area with a late run ahead of the Euros appears to be Grace Clinton, who has started games for the Lionesses in front of Stanway and Keira Walsh as a No 10 but now looks to be an ideal candidate to feature in central midfield. Wiegman likes Clinton’s versatility and believes the 21-year-old can play as an eight as well as 10.
The loss of Stanway, who is set to miss “several months” after undergoing knee surgery, leaves the England manager with a “puzzle” that she has rarely had to consider ahead of facing Portugal in the Algarve on Friday night and world champions Spain at Wembley next week. When fit, Stanway is as close to an automatic selection as anyone in the England side. The Bayern Munich midfielder has started 16 of England’s 18 fixtures since the World Cup, more than any other player, and her bustling energy in midfield has been a near constant during what has been an otherwise inconsistent spell of results.
Clinton has been knocking on the door. She began 2024 by scoring on her England debut against Austria, and finished it by netting the winner in the 1-0 victory over Switzerland in December. With another goal in the 2-1 win over South Africa in October, she has scored three times in five starts for England, to go along with her increasingly influential role for Manchester United. A prominent place in England’s midfield, replacing Stanway to be the dynamic presence alongside Walsh in Wiegman’s trusted double-pivot, would be deserved while also bringing additional responsibilities.
“I think she can play that position,” Wiegman said. “She’s played several positions with Manchester United, [on loan at] Tottenham last year and with us. I think she can be a No 8.”
Wiegman has other considerations. Manchester City’s Jess Park is also becoming a regular in Wiegman’s side and has started alongside Walsh before. The return of the in-form Ella Toone from injury means Wiegman has her preferred No 10 option available again, while Lauren James could make her first England appearance since last April following a series of injuries. The return of the Chelsea forward is a boost to Wiegman and adds a much-needed creative spark while Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead are unavailable.
It may also bring further tinkering as Wiegman looks for balance. The Dutch coach rotated heavily for England’s final fixture of the year against Switzerland and her experiment brought debuts for Ruby Mace and Laura Blindkilde Brown – both are more inexperienced options after following Clinton’s progression from the Under-21s but could feature in the folder of Wiegman’s possible combinations after keeping their places in the squad.
“We have been puzzling all the time,” Wiegman said. “We’ve thought a lot about things. We know what the next step could be, which we’re trying out."
The return of the Nations League brings memories of some difficult games for the Lionesses. Their most recent meeting against Portugal was a 0-0 draw in July 2023, a stalemate which was not the World Cup send-off they had hoped for. The arrival of world champions Spain to Wembley, in a rematch of that World Cup final, offers a reminder of what could have been in Sydney and a stern test against the best team in the world. Belgium, the final team in Group 3, beat the Lionesses in the last Nations League, as they then felt the effects of a post-World Cup hangover.
Portugal have qualified for Euro 2025 and England’s Lucy Bronze, whose father is Portuguese, is an interested observer of their progress. “I think that they have a good array of players now,” she said. “I think that they have developed a lot in the last 10 years, and having been watching them quite closely I know that the league has developed a lot more and the teams that you see in the Champions League are also developing a lot.”
Wiegman, meanwhile, will be hoping her team just requires a couple of finishing touches.
