Women’s World Cup: Spain Defeat England in the Final

It’s an extremely sad day for supporters of England and the Lionesses. They were comprehensively beaten by the Spanish in their first ever Women’s World Cup Final earlier today, falling 1-0 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. The score line belies the nature of the match, though. It could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 if not for the outstanding play of England keeper Mary Earps. She was England’s best player by a mile in this match, but your keeper being the best player on the day is usually a sign that nothing else went right. England’s midfield was completely overrun for most of the match by a well-drilled Spanish side, with left back Olga Carmona getting the only goal on 14 minutes. The resiliency and ruthlessness the Lionesses showed against Australia and Colombia was simply not there today. Perhaps the injuries England had pre-tournament finally caught up to them. Congrats to the Spanish players on a deserved victory.

But I don’t want to do a full match report. It doesn’t feel right. Instead, I’d like to highlight two important takeaways that more accurately capture my thoughts.

For one, these ladies should be incredibly proud of themselves and their efforts. They are still the reigning European Champions and they are the first senior England team to reach the final of the World Cup in 57 years. They’ve brought joy to a national team that has been devoid of it for so long. Sarina Wiegman may have been out-coached today, but she’s still the best England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey. They’ve inspired women and young girls all over the country to pick up the game, and their success has been crucial to a levelling of the playing field between men and women both on the pitch and off. From the 1920s to the 1970s, women were banned from playing professional football in England. It wasn’t seen as “proper”, but we’ve come a long a way since then! There’s still progress to be made of course, but the level of inspiration provided by this team both this summer and last summer has been nothing short of monumental. I’m sure they’re all hurting right now and that’s totally normal, but in time they will see just how important they were to the growth of the game in England. All of them are heroes, and they were going to be heroes regardless of the result today.

The other point of focus I wanted to explain was how this loss is the perfect encapsulation of what it’s been like to be an England supporter since 2018. From about 1968 to 2016, every England team was a perennial under-achiever. Lots of talent and decent coaches, but they could never really figure out how to put it together. From 2018 to now though, it’s become a scenario where they play really well and get close to winning, only to lose it in the most heartbreaking and gut-wrenching fashion possible. The women’s Euros title last summer was a notable exception, but it seems like there have been multiple scenarios in recent years where senior England teams get everyone’s hopes up before dashing them in dramatic fashion. The men’s 2018 World Cup semifinal, the men’s 2020(1) Euro final, and now this women’s World Cup Final today. We always expect our teams to do well, but nowadays there’s even more expectations since our teams are typically better than they used to be. England fans are dying for a taste of glory and success, and while we are the closest we have been to achieving that in decades, it’s agonizing to get so close without actually winning. Put succinctly, a high degree of mental fortitude is needed to be a fan of the England national team, and matches like today’s are the exact reason why.

Euro 2024 for the men’s side is next summer in Germany. I am excited to naively get my hopes up again!

As always and forever: IT’S COMING HOME!

I Hate That I Have to Care About the Nations League

First things first, it feels weird that football is being played in a non-tournament summer. These players need time off. It’s not long that the club season is off each year, so for there to be international matches with some degree of value being played is odd to me. There’s 3 months of club season and then a World Cup coming. Let them have June and early July off, as is tradition. Their bodies need it to keep performing at the highest level. It won’t happen though. Not as long as UEFA and the respective football federations want to keep making money. It’s all about the money!

I’m also pissed off because England suffered their worst defeat on English soil in almost a century today, losing to Hungary 4-0 at Molineux in Wolverhampton. I watched the most tepid draw I’ve seen in years versus Italy at the weekend, and I expected more of the same today. That did not happen though. England looked toothless in attack for most of the match, and the defense went to shit when center back John Stones was (controversially) sent off after a second yellow card late on. Just a very bad outing overall.

What’s going to be even worse than the loss though is the reaction from the press and social media. It’s a long summer with few fixtures, and one of England’s worse losses under manager Gareth Southgate will give them plenty to chew on. In all four of England’s Nations League games this month, he has been criticized for a conservative style of play that has so far only netted two points and 0 (zero) goals from open play.

I dare say that the seat under Southgate may be starting to heat up. Had England just gone out and played to another dull draw, this match probably would have been forgotten about as soon as the final whistle blew. But a 4-0 loss at home to a frankly inferior team attracts attention. A 4-0 loss at home makes people ask questions. What’s wrong with England? Are they crap again? Is Southgate the right man for the job? The questions mount easily.

Now it’s going to be an endless debate over the summer about whether Southgate should manage England at the World Cup in November. It’s true these results are not encouraging, primarily because Southgate does not want to seem to adapt his game plans to whoever England is playing. He hasn’t learned his lesson, as he plays the same way each time. Sometimes it works, but it frequently does not work against talented opposition.

The other side of the debate is that Southgate is (perhaps sadly) the most successful England manager in 50+ years. He took us to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018, the semifinals of the Nations League in early 2020, and the final of the European Championships in 2021. Despite his style of play, he wins matches at tournaments. No other England manager, aside from the legend Sir Alf Ramsey himself, can really say that. Factor in as well that he has been experimenting with the team selection in the last few matches and they simply haven’t worked. There’s also the fatigue factor for the players, as mentioned above.

Yes, a 4-0 loss at home is bad. Very bad. But I think once the reactive takes and opinions calm down a bit, cooler heads will prevail. Southgate needs to deliver a win to make everyone feel better and get some confidence back in the team. There are at least two more matches to do that in September, and they are against quality opposition in Germany and Italy. I think the FA will also schedule a friendly fixture or two against smaller nations so that England can use them as tune-up games. I would not feel confident about England’s chances if the World Cup were starting this week like it usually would, but given that we are still 5 months away, there is time to fix things. I think Southgate should be given the opportunity to do so.

But I ask – no, I implore – him to try being a bit more adventurous with his tactics. We have glorified friendlies coming up along with some actual friendlies most likely – so push the edge of the envelope a little! The matches mean next to nothing, so take a few risks and let the lads play a little bit. The Three Lions have an array of depth in attack, and we need to use it!