England boss Sarina Wiegman said she would not “make changes just for the sake of it” as she defended her team selection after the Lionesses were beaten by Germany at Wembley.
England collapsed defensively to concede three times inside the opening 30 minutes and could not fully recover despite launching a valiant comeback in an epic 4-3 defeat to Germany at Wembley.
Germany, under new manager Christian Wuck, exacted revenge in the first meeting between the two sides since the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 final victory by clinically picking apart Wiegman’s back four as England conceded four goals in a game for the first time under the Dutch coach.
Questions were asked of Wiegman’s selection post-match, with many surprised in-form stars like Man City duo Alex Greenwood and Jess Park, and Manchester United pair Grace Clinton and Maya Le Tissier were not given opportunities to impress against Germany.
All but two of Sarina Wiegman’s starting XI – goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and defender Jess Carter – featured in that historic final, though both were in the squad 817 days ago.
‘I’m not going to make changes just for the sake of it’
However, Wiegman defender her selection, suggesting that the competition for places in the England squad is healthy.
When asked whether her team selection was wrong, Wiegman said: “That’s always easy to say after a game, so if we would have won then I think the question is different.
“I’m happy with the starting line-up, I’m happy with the team, and what we wanted is also to see other players, which we did, and we know there’s a huge competition going on, and that’s good for the team.”
When pressed on whether enough players had enough opportunities to impress, she added: “Yes, I think so. We’re playing Germany, they’re an absolute high-level team, and players are knocking on the door, players are competing for minutes.
“I’m not going to make changes just for the sake of it, I’ll start and stop, I want to get ready for July 2, all the choices are based on that one, and we want to have information.”
‘Defeat shows us what we need to do better’
Georgia Stanway scored twice but England could not complete the comeback after slipping to an early three-goal deficit at Wembley.
The visitors stunned the hosts with a penalty in an early brace for captain Giulia Gwinn and a third from Klara Buhl in the opening 30 minutes, before Stanway clawed two back including a spot-kick of her own.
England conceded another penalty after the break, converted by Sara Dabritz, with Lucy Bronze only able to draw the sides within one late in the thoroughly entertaining contest in front of a 47,967 crowd.
“I didn’t want the result and I wanted us to do a couple of things better and I’m not the only one, the players too,” Wiegman said.
“That was disappointing, but I do think that it was a very high-level game, where there were so many challenges for us, but also for them, and that’s what we want at this stage.
“It gave us so much information and it shows us exactly what we need to do better and also the challenges tactically.”
On defensive issues for her side, she added: “That started with losing the ball, and we wanted to press high, and in moments we didn’t get the press right, and then they are really powerful and they’re good in a counter-attack, so that exploited us.”
England given reality check as defence exposed
Sky Sports’ David Richardson at Wembley:
Germany ran riot at Wembley despite facing an England defence with almost 300 caps between them as Sarina Wiegman’s tried and trusted were exposed.
Manchester City’s in-form left-sided centre-back Alex Greenwood, who instantly showed her impressive passing range as a second-half substitute, watched on from the bench as the rusty Leah Williamson sloppily conceded possession for the opening goal.
England’s all-right-footed back four lacked balance, were often too deep with the full-backs out-of-position and were unable to recover to make last-ditch blocks to prevent Germany’s second and third.
The Lionesses lacked control and, in truth, they never had any, as Germany overran them in midfield. This was a reality check for Wiegman following a tense and tight Euro qualification campaign.
Tuesday’s friendly against South Africa offers a chance for the England boss to properly experiment with the in-form Women’s Super League stars who are desperate for a seat on the plane next summer.
What’s next?
England will now shift their focus to the next friendly against South Africa on October 29.
Wiegman, added: “We are going to review this game [ defeat to Germany] tomorrow, then recover and see how everyone comes out of this game, and then we will make decisions for Tuesday.
“And yes, we’ll make some changes because we have a great opportunity to play and see many things.”
After that, the international side will next link up in the latter stages of November for friendlies against Emma Hayes’ USWNT on November 30 and Switzerland on December 3.