As Sarina Wiegman gathered with her staff in Lang Park, the mood was really one of relief rather than raucous celebration; puffed cheeks instead of pumped fists.
The England manager admitted she felt “10 years older” after Nigeria put her team through it for well over two hours. This unprecedented World Cup may be losing most of the biggest names, but nobody will be able to say the path was easy if the European champions do get to the final here. Quite the opposite, and for reasons greater than the fact Nigeria have clearly been underestimated.
Wiegman actually said it was as “intense” a game as she’s ever faced. One other reason for that, however, is exactly why this tournament has been so arduous as a whole.
Every time the manager solves one problem, it feels like an even bigger one presents itself. There’s always something bigger to fix.
Now, after impressively reshaping the team in the wake of Keira Walsh’s absence, she has to do so again for Lauren James’ red-card suspension. This might well feel all the more frustrating given how self-inflicted and needless it is, although Wiegman made sure to publicly defend the forward.
From that, though, she did make a different admission.
“I have never experienced so many problems,” she said, at least able to laugh at this point. She did immediately turn serious of course. “But of course that’s my job to think of things that can happen in a game, or in a tournament, or ahead of a tournament, so you try to turn every stone and already think of the solution before it happens. Today, we got totally tested on those stones!”
It feels like this is going to the defining question of a tournament England could otherwise be hugely confident of winning. Will it eventually get to a point where the problems surpass even Wiegman’s ability to solve them; where there’s just too much.
Her team were already looking stretched, especially in attack. That was visible in the huge distances between players when England attempted to get forward as well how few chances they created. The latter was something even Nigeria’s Randy Waldrum commented on. There were times when England’s looked like they were on fixed tram lines, rigidly sticking to routes.
Much of that was down to how Nigeria pressed, of course, but it also points to one way a problem can become progressive.
The game made it clear that the 3-5-2 wasn’t quite the great fit it looked in the win over China. Or, perhaps more relevantly, it isn’t as effective when you have a player of Walsh’s quality in that role. It was almost like her abilities were wasted. Walsh’s late substitution seemed to pose another problem, but Wiegman later confirmed it was just cramp. She should be fine for the quarter-final.
James won’t be, and could be out for the rest of the World Cup if England make it that far. This very contest changed even the context of that, mind. As brilliant as the young star has been, the Nigeria match showed her very inexperience is an issue in itself, and that doesn’t even refer to the red card. It was more how she struggled to get into the game, and was almost marked out of it. That showed it might have been far too much responsibility on James to hope she could drive England to glory.
Wiegman now must come up with something more sustainable and collective than individual genius. You get the sense she wouldn’t have it other way, but the fact England created so little is just one more problem.
Do they now have enough firepower? Are too many attackers off form at the wrong time.
It would normally be said it’s impossible to win a World Cup like that, and especially with James potentially added to the absences of so many Euro 2022 leaders.
But that is in a reality where sides like USA and Germany are still involved. They are out, having been unable to display the resolve England did.
That is just one other positive. In a campaign where there have been so many surprises, and it would have been easy for a certain fatalism to seep in, England instead dug in.
They still haven’t conceded a goal from open play. It shows how this World Cup might come down to tenacity as much as talent.
There is now no truly outstanding team. Spain could have been that but are missing too many stars as questions remain about the manager. Japan are more the supreme collective, precisely because of a lack of world-class individuals. Australia are building momentum but it is still just momentum
All of that means England’s problems may not be as influential as they otherwise would be.
Wiegman still has to turn the stones, as she’d put it. This World Cup has shown Colombia or Jamaica would be only too ready to turn England over.
