England head coach Sarina Wiegman said her side have been working on “ruthlessness” ahead of their Women’s World Cup 2023 group match against Denmark.
Only thanks to a Georgia Stanway penalty did England win their opening tournament fixture against debutants Haiti, with Wiegman’s side having scored just twice in their four games so far this calendar year.
Alex Greenwood and Lauren Hemp have played down concerns over the team’s struggles in front of goal but questions remain ahead of England’s toughest test in Group D.
“We talked about ruthlessness — coming in the final third, having the connections right, having the crosses at the right time, being in front of goal at the right time,” Wiegman said ahead of Friday’s game against Denmark.
“We’ve worked on that again. We had a couple days — today looked really good actually so we’re very much looking forward to tomorrow.
“What we try and do is play our own style of play, keep tight on the ball, keep the ball moving and trying to create as many chances as possible and score goals. We want to play a possession game.”
Wiegman’s lack of changes to her starting line-ups as England coach has also been a talking point at the World Cup.
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She has only made four tactical changes combined in her four major tournaments so far. Another four changes are down to injuries and the subsequent return of those injured players.
“More likely to make changes doesn’t have to do with that (being ruthless),” the 60-year-old added.
“I want to make changes but what we do is approach every game and then first we see who is fit and available and then we make decisions to what we need to start with.
“Then we decide whether we’re gonna start with same starting XI or make some changes.”
Denmark’s squad is headlined by former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder, and the Nordic side lead the group following their 1-0 win over China.
“Denmark offer a different bag in terms of Pernille Harder — a player that we know really well, played in England for a number of years, top quality player on the ball,” defender Lucy Bronze said.
“We’ve analysed them as a team and know the way they like to play but focused on, that if we do well as a team, that should be enough for us to get a result.”
Following the Denmark match, England face China in their final group fixture next Tuesday.
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(Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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