Mistakes remain but England friendlies valuable

Sarina Wiegman made eight changes to the starting XI against South Africa

England manager Sarina Wiegman said "football is a game of mistakes" and her side want to have "as few of them as possible" - but they have learned from this month's friendly matches.

The Lionesses beat South Africa 2-1 on Tuesday after a disappointing 4-3 defeat by Germany at Wembley Stadium last week.

Both performances showcased good attacking intent, but also plenty of concerns defensively.

It was a mixed night for captain Leah Williamson in Coventry for example, as she marked her 50th England appearance with a goal in the first half, before her error led to a South Africa goal.

Wiegman was "very happy" for Williamson to score, but acknowledged England want to cut out sloppiness.

"We had more moments and they punished us. We all know – the players know – they don't want to make those mistakes," added Wiegman.

"Football is a game of mistakes, you just want to have as few of them as possible. It’s better to have those mistakes further from goal as possible."

Williamson has had a tough week after facing scrutiny for her performance against Germany, while calls for in-form Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood to start have grown.

But the Arsenal defender, who only returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in January, remains a key part of Wiegman's side as they prepare to defend their European title in Switzerland next summer.

Former Arsenal team-mate Jen Beattie said the errors have been "out of character" for Williamson, and it has been "forgotten" how incredible she has been for England.

"We all know the worldie passes she can do. Everyone gives the ball away, that’s part of football. You never know what has led to those moments," Beattie told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly podcast.

"It’s out of character. You can't peak 24/7. Mistakes are part of football. Maybe the criticism has been a bit too harsh.

"We focused on mistakes maybe too much recently and forgot how incredible she has been for this England side. I hope she comes away with that amazing memory [of scoring]."

'We don't need to have all the answers now'

There was plenty of change against South Africa, as promised by Wiegman this week, and she said it led to some of the sloppiness on show.

England were caught out on numerous occasions at the back, with not just Williamson making errors.

"We swapped players in different positions so that’s not easy to adapt to and to get the right connections," said Wiegman.

"Maya le Tissier moved from the right side to the left side and Ella Toone came into a different position [in midfield]. That needs some time.

"I saw some struggles so we have to get through that and try to take the sloppiness out.

"We want to keep playing forward and getting better connected with players in different positions. I ask a lot from them."

Earlier this week, Wiegman said England needed to deal with criticism as expectations have grown around her side.

As well as claiming the Euro 2022 crown on home soil, they reached the Women's World Cup final in 2023.

While these two friendly performances did not assure supporters they will be up to scratch when Euro 2025 kicks off next July, there is certainly no need to panic.

England have two more friendlies this year against Olympic gold medallists the United States - managed by former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes - and Euro 2025 hosts Switzerland on 30 November and 3 December respectively.

Wiegman insists she wants to use these matches to "gain information" that will help them at Euro 2025, and has been pleased with what she has gathered so far.

"I think we still have more questions, but that was what we said to each other before this camp. We don't need to have all the answers now," said Wiegman.

"We have two more games [this year] and we're just trying to get as much information as possible. We want to see more players.

"Some players have to be a little more patient than others but we are moving forward and we need these games to try out different things to be better later on.

"We put players in other positions that we wanted to see [against South Africa]. This is the moment to do that.

"Some things I was really happy with, and in other moments, of course, we can improve."