England bounce back at Euros but Wales can only hope – Women’s Football Weekly

25:17Faye Carruthers:Faye I was so happy that it was Jess Fishlock who got that historic goal for Wales their first women's major tournament I don't think you will find anybody in global women's football who wasn't smiling at the fact that it was Jess Fishlock and when you saw what it meant to her and her Wales teammates. She has given so much to this team. She's put her heart and soul into playing for Wales. She's committed to travelling back across the Atlantic for all their fixtures, no matter what. She's been so committed to this cause and it was just fitting that it was her who got her name on the score sheet.

25:50Faye Carruthers:I think even though it was quite a strippy goal, it will go down in the history books of Wales and it was a special moment for them and her. She fully deserves it. I mean, she's been part of this set up for essentially two decades and nobody deserves it more. It will give Wales a lift as well because now they've got a moment to save. They've broken that barrier. They've scored at a tournament. There's still a big quality gap against France and England and Netherlands, but they did improve. They were a bit braver with the ball last night. I thought Kerry Holland played really well, made some good runs and there were things for them to cling on to and they've improved.

26:25Faye Carruthers:And England cannot be complacent when they go and play Wales. one of the reporters in the England media conference with Serena Vigman last night was sort of hinting that you know should Serena Vigman make changes because quote you've only got to beat Wales by any squadron now and I think Serena Vigman came straight back on that very strongly and said listen we've got to be really careful not to be complacent and don't assume we can beat Wales it's still a good team but we all know there is a gap in quality and resources and hopefully now Wales can use this tournament as a platform to qualify for further campaigns more regularly?

27:02Yeah, the plucky Wales narrative is annoying me a little bit because I think it's really disrespectful. I actually think they've played really well in both their opening games against opposition of France and Netherlands. I think that has to be put to bed on board of it now. And actually, they did get off to the perfect start, France, but we all hoped an upset could have been on the cards when that equaliser came. And they got behind France quite a few times. So what do you think that was down to?

27:35Tom Garry:I think since Ruin Wilkinson's come in, she's made Wales a very good, compact defensive unit. And that's been, you know, before this tournament, or actually before the final Nations League game, I don't think they conceded more than two in a game in that Nations League A, which is pretty impressive given who they were up against. So I think she has made them compact. She's made them more resilient and more like harder to break down, I guess. I think last night it was a combination of things. It was them improving a little bit or learning a lot from the first game. but I also do think I was a bit surprised by the seven changes that France made.

28:11Tom Garry:Seven is a lot of changes and I think to do that in a second game is a bit mad. Is there a little bit of arrogance there with that? Yeah, maybe. It's not like the seven replacements are highly quality players, right? They're very, very good and they're all like excelling at club level but it just disrupts the flow of things, I think, and it's just a bit strange. You normally expect it for the third game, right? In a group stage where you've topped the group, you're pretty much through, and then you kind of take the foot off the gas a little bit for that game. So, yeah, I think that didn't help France in the beginning as well either.

28:47Tom Garry:So that's probably a reason why they were a bit disrupted in terms of their creative flow, I guess. I mean, timing is everything, isn't it? And it happened to them in their opener, France, with Netherlands and Viv Miedema's goal just before the stroke of half time. And then we get the Diani penalty pretty much at the same time, which was a momentum killer for Wales. Conceding early and late in halves happens quite a lot when you've got younger developing teams, Amy. Why do you think that is? I think, you know, you look at Wales and they've said themselves, they know they need to suffer. So that penalty came at the back of bouts of not having the ball for periods of time.

29:33And when you're defending that low, it needs a lot of concentration, a lot of focus. And I think that that happens, doesn't it? Equally, like, I applaud Rhianne. I think she made some really brave changes, like the goalkeeper change, bringing in Middleton Patel. And I thought she did really well. I thought the structure changed. They had a solution to a lot of the problems, such as the high press that France used. And they looked good. They looked aligned and they looked pretty fluid when they had that ball as well. They caught France out. France had a real high back line, quite naive in my opinion.

30:07Holland's very good double movement, exploited it, Fishlock followed it up. I was really pleased for them. It's just being able to sustain it. And like you said, late on, just before halftime, that penalty was a real blow. and actually Rachel Rowe mopped it up. So it's a shame actually, but Kerry Holland has been excellent in both games. So it's more a shame for her and it was a pretty poor penalty, if I'm honest with you. It just seemed a little, the whole game, I'm going to be brutally honest, from France's perspective and they made seven changes and it helps them now, right? They have fresh players.

30:42I think they'll do it against the Netherlands because they'll be sharp and they'll be ready. So it's worked in that context, but also quite naive and it was passive. The game was passive from them. And that's going to happen with that amount of changes. Yeah, it was a difficult watch at times, actually, the game. And you mentioned Sophia Middleton-Patel, fifth cap on the biggest stage, 20 years old, massive experience for her, Tom. Olivia Clarke swapped out as a result. What did you make of Rianne Wilkinson's decision?

31:15Faye Carruthers:Well, there was a bit of a gasp around the press room in Zurich amongst the England press pack when everyone realised that Sophia Middleton Patel was playing. But in a nice way, I think everyone was really pleased to see her get that opportunity. She's had to be so patient to wait for her big moment, not just for country, but for club as well. If you think about the way that Manchester United operate with their goalkeepers, it's really rare for anybody other than the first choice goalkeeper to play under Mark Skinner. So Fallon Tullis-Joyce has played not just league, but cup as well, including league cup and for almost all of the matches.

31:46Faye Carruthers:So Sophia Minas-Matellis had to be really patient, but I was thrilled for her that she got that chance on the big stage, which she can now learn from and take so much experience from. I think she would accept that she could have done better with a couple of the goals. I didn't think it was her finest performance, but she also did make some really good saves, particularly later on. I really liked the one diving down to her left, low to palm away a bouncing ball that was quite awkward. And I think she should take a lot of encouragement from some of the good things that she did. And now, you know, she's only 20 years old.

32:14Faye Carruthers:She's still a really young goalkeeper. So there's a lot for her to build on now for the future. Yeah, without a doubt. She'll be disappointed with the goal that she gave away, no doubt. But I thought she made some great saves, almost got to the penalty, which was a poor penalty. But she almost got there, even though she'd guessed the wrong way. Her legs almost caught it. But yeah, I mean, what a prospect for the future, without a doubt. not so much a prospect for the future but still someone we absolutely love Sophie one of your namesakes Sophie Ingle I want to just discuss she got three minutes, came on for Jess Fishlock how good was it to see her on the Euros stage though lovely embrace between the two of them when she came on

32:56Tom Garry:You could just see how much it meant, you know Sophie Ingle has been such a servant for the Wales for so so long and she almost, I mean when you think about how she almost didn't make the squad She did her ACL in August 2024. She hasn't played a minute of football since until last night. So it's for her to be able to come into this team, get fit enough and recover. I mean, she's not in the early stages of her career either, is she? She's in the twilight of her career. So to be able to fight back like that, get herself ready, have that drive to get herself to the Euros. And, you know, there must be days when you're recovering from that injury and you're thinking, I'm not going to make it.

33:31Tom Garry:You know, you've got such a tight timescale, realistically, in that period of time. You know, ACLs can really, really, you know, take a long time to recover. So the fact that she got that moment and you could just see how much it meant to her, how much it meant to Jess. Jess's smile on her face as she went over to spot places with her. And then I think it panned to the crowd and there's a lot of emotion within the red wall as well. Everyone knows how much it meant. I think Sophie Ingle has been one of the underrated midfielders of her generation. She does so much work in terms of what she's done at Chelsea.

34:05Tom Garry:but because she's surrounded by the more glitzy stars, I guess, at Chelsea, she never quite got the credit I think she deserves for holding that team together. And I think it's the same as well. She is such a world-class midfielder. I'm so glad she got to go to Team GB and do an Olympics as well. And I think that just shows what kind of calibre she is. So for her to have this moment with her country, which she captained for a long time on this stage, is incredible. Yeah. And they've still got a faint glimmer of hope. It's very faint, but it's still there. They've got England next. We've talked about that.

34:38They're going to be so up for it, Amy, as well. And it feels like there's so much more to this fixture. What kind of Wales are going to come out to try and upset England? Well, I think a large majority of those players in that Welsh side play with a lot of the English players or have played against them. So straight away, you've got an extra bit of bite. You know what to expect. You referred to early goals. And I think Wales will be used to maybe the tempo that will be set a little bit earlier now. They've got two games under their belt. They have got better every game. So I think we're going to see probably a lot more direct play from Wales, certainly down those outside flanks.

35:18I think they can utilise Holland in those positions, but also Fionn Morgan. I think it shows a lot of pace and that's an area that England will have to be really mindful of. I think it'll be a real crunch match, to be honest. And I think England cannot be naive because, like I said, Rian has had solutions to every problem. They haven't always come off completely, but they have created opportunities for them. All those little things, even set pieces, we're going to have to be alert and ready and really make sure that we keep the tempo of our ballplay high. What Wales do really well is they slow down the opposition.

35:51They did it to France again last night and they force you into long balls and long balls don't work against a low block. so we need to avoid that and we need to utilise our midfield effectively to make sure that we can break down that block Yeah, so that's 8 o 'clock in St Gallen, England against Wales that's British summertime by the way and Netherlands-France is at the same time in Basel and I tell you what, that game, Netherlands-France Tom could make the group very, very interesting how do you think it's going to go?

36:21Faye Carruthers:Well on the evidence of last night's matches it's really hard to see anything other than a France win against the Netherlands. But then that's what I guess I thought after, you know, France beat England, you would never have really foreseen England putting in that fantastic 4-0 performance. And maybe the Dutch team can surprise us with their bounce-back ability. But realistically, if we look at the quality in the France side and the fact that France were able to rotate a bit against Wales and get some fresh legs in, you can only really see a France victory if you think about how much those Netherlands full-backs struggled against Lauren Hemp and Lauren James.

36:57Faye Carruthers:And now, you know, it's going to be even more challenging. Now they're going to have Sandy Baltimore running at Kasparaj down the French left. And you're going to have Cascarino running at Esme Brooks down the France right. So it's not going to get any easier for the Dutch. And they've got to win by a sizable margin of goals to overturn the head. You know, if England were to beat Wales as you would on paper expect them to. So it's going to be really tough for the Netherlands now. They are staring at the real possibility of going out in the group stage, which when you think about the fact they won this competition just eight years ago, you know, would be a massive disappointment for them.

37:32Faye Carruthers:And they once again, you know, are victims of this really difficult group and adding to that their own poor performance last night here in Zurich. Yeah. So those final Group D games come on Sunday, which is the 13th of July. Various complicated permutations involved. But the bottom line is if England beat Wales, then they're through. Wales must beat England comprehensively to have any chance of getting through. Before we go, let's look back at the two Group C fixtures that took place on Tuesday. Sweden and Germany progressed to the quarterfinals. Christian Vuk's Germany booked their spot with a 2-1 victory over Denmark.

38:11Amelie Vansgaard sent the Danes into a first-half lead. Bershukka Nushkin's penalty and Leah Schuler's finish saw Germany complete the comeback. It was a dramatic game, Tom. Germany had two VAR interventions in the first half, denying them a goal and a penalty. Denmark probably should have scored more goals. Plenty of controversy as well surrounding the winner when Emma Snell got knocked out in the build-up. Actually, I wanted to mention that. It feels like they've not been as hot on head injuries in this tournament. The officials have been slightly slower than we're used to seeing when a player has gone down.

38:46Just as an aside, having watched a lot of football over the past 10 days or so. But what did you make of this game overall, Tom?

38:55Faye Carruthers:It was a lot of fun this game, Faye. And I think Denmark improved a little bit. But really, Germany should have scored by more goals. I was actually quite happy to see Schiller get her goal in the end. She's been under a little bit of criticism for being wasteful in front of goals, shall we say, from some of the German media reports. So it was really nice to sort of see her eventually get her goal, even though I think she'll overall be disappointed that Germany didn't score more. They look good to me, Germany, but maybe not quite as good as we thought they would be before the tournament. Obviously, the loss of Julia Quinn, the captain's injury, is a massive, massive blow.

39:33Faye Carruthers:And they'll be pleased that they've dealt with that psychological blow, you know, the losing your captain, and they've still come away with another victory. I think they'll be really proud of that. But yeah, Denmark, generally quite disappointing in their campaign. I think they'll be a bit gutted that they've not been able to make more a dent into Germany or Sweden's chances. They'll want to beat Poland to finish strong. Overall, I thought it was another fun game at what's an increasingly fun tournament to watch. And Germany, room for improvement, but still looking dangerous. Yeah. Sweden then went on to beat Poland in Lucerne.

40:12It finished Poland nil, Sweden three. Really dominant performance from Sweden this one. Soph, how did you analyse the match?

40:20Tom Garry:Yeah, Sweden were on top from the minute one. They controlled the ball. They weren't letting Poland out of their own half. They weren't letting them find Eva Payal up front. I think she was really well marshalled by Natalie Bjorn, particularly, you know, that she just almost followed her everywhere and just didn't give her an inch. And that's what you kind of have to do with a striker like that, with the numbers that she has. So they kind of cut that out of Poland's play. Going forward, they looked okay. I do still think they waste way too many chances in Sweden. They had, you know, probably a good eight chances in the first half, six of them high quality.

40:57Tom Garry:That should have been put away. Stina Blackson should have probably had four. She literally missed two open headers and a goal. It was saved that she should have put on target, I think, a bit more. But she got her goal, got them up and running. And I do think at halftime, Peter Koharsson probably made them very well aware of what can happen when you have a striker like Payor on the pitch. And that they need to go out and kind of take it by the jugular, I guess. And Kosovari Aslani did that. It was her 201st cap for Sweden, which is quite ridiculous. She got an assist and a goal in that game. and there were three-headed goals, so that kind of shows where their strength is, I think.

41:40Tom Garry:I think they do struggle to score from other variations at the moment. So, yeah, things to work on for Sweden. It looked dominant, it was dominant, but I do think there are a few holes in there which can be exploited. Yeah, OK, so how are Germany going to exploit them then, Amy? Germany and Sweden meet in Zurich on Saturday in the battle to top the group. Obviously, two heavyweights of the game, which hopefully means a very exciting match. Yeah, I think it will be a great game, actually. I think I agree with Tom, actually. Both are waiting to get into their real attacking flow. And Sophie mentioned it about Sweden as well.

42:17Germany, for me, are really strong. But when it gets to the final third, they're so disjointed. It's really breaking down. Schuller looks isolated in the box. They make incorrect decisions. I think if Germany can get their attacking central midfielders higher and to progress with play quickly enough because they do break wide very quickly with their fullbacks and their wingers, then they'll punish Sweden. I do think that. But I wouldn't write Sweden off. They have a lot of experience in that side. And Sophie said they're very good at managing the game. They're managing the tempo of the game, which could help.

42:52But if Germany get into their flow, I think they will go further in this tournament and do well. But we're waiting for them to really click in that final third. Yeah. So that game, eight o 'clock, British summertime in Zurich. A bit of a dead rubber, but Poland, Denmark at the same time in Lucerne. That straight shootout in Group A, by the way, takes place between Switzerland and Finland tonight. night that's thursday night at 8 p.m in sion because i asked if you remember someone swiss to get in touch and set me right on the pronunciation of sion and rafael eiberg obliged dear women's football weekly podcast staff thank you for all the podcasts sion is pronounced exactly like leon it's a french-speaking city on are just one sound in french their Wikipedia page pronounces it for you.

43:46Keep up the good work. Go England tonight. Thank you, Raphael. You gave us luck. I appreciate that message coming from Switzerland. Much appreciated. I can now carry on knowing the right pronunciation. I'm so terrible. I always look and then we looked, didn't we, Soph? And there were about three different pronunciations of it. So thank you for clearing that up for us. Right. Let's look at what's going on in Morocco, the latest WAFCON action. Morocco themselves lighting up the tournament with a dramatic 4-2 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo. Captain Ghislaine Shebak was on the score sheet again with a hat-trick, launching a comeback after Merval Kanjenga had given the Congolese the lead.

44:29Flavine Maweti briefly levelled Yasmin Marabat's penalty, made sure of the win for the hosts though. Elsewhere, Barbara Bander scored twice in Zambia's 3-1 win over Senegal to put them on the brink of securing a quarter-final spot. Some more transfer news back in England as well. Germany midfielder Sydney Lohmann's signed for Manchester City. Not particularly surprising. Bearing in mind the club shop started selling her jersey last week. Wonderful. Everton have signed another Japanese defender as well. Hikaru Kitagawa has signed from BK Haken following the signing that I mentioned the other day of Rion Ishikawa from Yorua Red Diamonds.

45:09Aston Villa as well have signed Ellie Roebuck from Barcelona. She is back in the UK. And you reported yesterday, Tom, Liverpool have been talking to former Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor about their vacancy. What more can you tell us?

45:23Faye Carruthers:Yes, they are. Our understanding is that Liverpool have held talks with Gareth Taylor and they've been talking for quite some time, we believe. Quite advanced age talks now. Nothing's actually formally decided, no definite decision, but it does sound like the direction of travel is that Liverpool and Gareth Taylor are moving towards an agreement. So I think at this stage, while he's not definitely in the job, I would think that's the most likely route that Liverpool will go down. And it could suit both parties really well. In Gareth Taylor, Liverpool would have a coach who's won the FA Cup in 2020, coaches won the League Cup in 2022, and also finished second in the WSL, missing out on the title only by goal difference.

46:02Faye Carruthers:So he's got good experience in the WSL, and I think Liverpool admire the way he likes to try and play football. His kind of passing style is well thought of. It would suit the sort of passing style they want to play going forward. And for Gareth Taylor, you know, geographically, it wouldn't involve a huge move from where he's been living, working at Man City, and it's a good job opportunity in the WSL. And I can see why it would suit both parties. So, yeah, talk's ongoing, but I would imagine this one might be wrapped up before, certainly before the end of the Euros. is Liverpool will want to crack on and get busy with their pre-season, their signings, and get everything in place for the summer because this has been a long time since Matt Beard's departure.

46:42Faye Carruthers:And on a personal note, I hope for Amber Whiteley that she's able to stay on as a coach in the backroom team because she did a decent job, I think, as the interim head coach in the meantime and is really part of the heart and soul of that club. And if this appointment does get wrapped up, then that would, I think, finally spell the end of this really long managerial merry-go-round where we had Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool, and also, of course, Palace of Hampton, Bristol City, all looking for managers this summer. And this will now, if it all goes through, finally bring that to a conclusion. The carousel has been a waltzer, I think, from February.

47:16Everyone just wants to get off now and feels a bit sick. Let's just start again, shall we? Go back to the serenity of a slightly slow-moving carousel. Amy, it's been a pleasure. Your debut, how was it? I thought you were brilliant loved it thank you so much sorry about my voice you can tell we're back in training can't you it's hit me first week you've got to use that whistle more get a megaphone we will see you soon no doubt and if we don't speak to you before the end of the Euros then very good luck for the rest of the season for the start of the season looking forward with interest to how Birmingham gets on Tom lovely to see you you take care of yourself hope you're getting plenty of rest.

48:01Faye Carruthers:Great to speak to you as ever, Faye. Lovely to see you all. And happy birthday, Sophie. Soph, happy birthday to you. We need Chris Poweros, don't we, to pen you a ditty and a proper one rather than my terrible singing. But what have you got planned for your day?

48:18Tom Garry:I am going to Tyn, which is a very pretty place in Switzerland. I'm going to see Norway, Iceland this afternoon. I haven't seen Iceland play yet, so I'm quite excited about that. You've told me about the football already. I meant, what are you doing for your day? My day kind of revolves around football always. But yeah, no, I think I'm being treated to brunch. So that's going to be good. Excellent. Excellent. Well, I look forward to celebrating with you when you're home, which hopefully won't be earlier than we think. Lovely to see you all. Thank you very much. Thank you for your emails as well.

48:51We're going to be back on Monday to review the next three days of fixtures as the group stage reaches its conclusion. keep having your say send in your questions via social media or emailing us at womensfootballweekly at theguardian.com a reminder as well that we're on the social channels for the Guardian Football Weekly as well during the tournament and as ever a reminder to sign up for our bi-weekly women's football newsletter penned by Sophie this week all you need to do is search moving the goalposts sign up the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray music composition was by Laura Iredell our executive producer is Salamat

49:31This is The Guardian.

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