Lucy Bronze believes England’s ability to mix things up has made them more unpredictable, after the team looked refreshed in a back three for their 6-1 defeat of China on Tuesday. “In the Euros we were able to keep the same team because everyone was fit and firing,” she said. “We were very fortunate to have that. Other teams had misfortune with injuries last year but we have shown now that we can change things around and still be dangerous.”
England went into the tournament without their Euros captain, Leah Williamson, the Golden Boot winner, Beth Mead, and the dynamic Fran Kirby, while the loss of Keira Walsh after injury against Denmark meant Sarina Wiegman had to think differently. Against China she used 3-5-2 instead of the 4-3-3 the Lionesses have tended to deploy under the Dutch manager. England play Nigeria on Monday in the last 16.
“Keira is irreplaceable, there isn’t anyone who can do what she does in the world,” said Bronze, a Barcelona teammate. “But you could see in the first two games that we needed to spruce things up a bit. It was the same against Portugal [England’s final game before the World Cup]. A lot of teams have studied England, they have wanted to beat England, being the European champions.
“We have shuffled things about a little bit and it keeps other teams on their toes. They don’t know what to expect, it makes us unpredictable. If Keira does come back and play, who is to say how we will play? We might keep this formation with her in it.
“We need to be unpredictable, we needed to refresh things; you need that in the knockout rounds. Seven games is like a mini-season. We have shown we are capable of changing things, which I don’t think many people outside the group expected us to be able to do. It shows what a good manager Sarina is.”
Lauren James was the star of England’s third World Cup game, with two goals and three assists. Bronze announced her arrival on the world stage at the 2015 World Cup in Canada, scoring a thunderbolt goal in a 2-1 defeat of Norway in the last 16 and England’s second in a 2-1 win over Canada in the quarter-finals. James has scored three in three games at her first World Cup.
“I can’t expect LJ to score in every game and turn in performances like she did against China in every game,” Bronze said. “She has definitely announced herself on the world stage, but this is just the beginning.”
Bronze has taken James under her wing, in part because she sees similarities between the forward and her younger self. “When she came into her first camp she was already asking me a lot of questions about things other players didn’t ask,” she said. “We have formed a bond; we are in similar situations. I was thrust into the limelight in a different way but I can help give her advice. I can help keep her feet on the ground, but she is good at that anyway.
“She’s someone like myself who gets misinterpreted a little bit by other players or the media because she hasn’t always got a smile on her face. She reminds me so much of myself when I was younger. She is shy but she believes in herself a lot.”
Bronze is not surprised at how the World Cup is unfolding for England. “People expected us to do the same as we did at the Euros, but I spoke to Sarina before the tournament and we were both saying this would be harder. It was never going to be the same.”
