Alex Scott concerned by England’s defensive frailties at Women’s World Cup

Former Lionesses star Alex Scott is concerned by how many chances England are giving up at the Women’s World Cup after they conceded 20 shots in their penalty shootout win over Nigeria. Despite Sarina Wiegman’s side enjoying 57% possession and dominating the ball for large spells even when reduced to 10 players, they gave up by far the better chances and had both the woodwork and the reflexes of Mary Earps to thank for keeping out a rampant Nigeria attack.

England’s Defensive Struggles

Aside from a thumping 6-1 win over China, England were also a little underwhelming in the group stages with Earps arguably the side’s most impressive player in Australia aside from Lauren James – at least until the Chelsea star was sent off in Brisbane. Scott is concerned about the trend she is seeing from England’s back-line – who are, of course, without skipper Leah Williamson – and feels it is a bad sign that Earps is having to be so involved.

Asked about Nigeria’s plethora of chances and the effort that rattled the woodwork, Scott said on BBC Sport at half-time: ‘I think it rattled us in the studio as well! This is where their attacking in transitional play has been really good for Nigeria. The reaction and confidence to hit that!’ Former England striker Ellen White chimed in: ‘The amount of numbers Nigeria are getting in the England box are really kind of stifling our defence. Great save obviously from Mary there as well, she’s keeping us in the game.’

Talking about how influential Earps has had to be Down Under, Scott replied: ‘How many times in this World Cup are we having to call on Mary Earps? That’s my worrying thing. Because you never want [your goalkeeper to be overworked]. Yes, she’s having a great tournament, but you don’t want your goalkeeper to be pulling out big save after big save every game.’

What England Need to Adjust

On what England need to adjust, Scott added: ‘You could see just before half-time how frustrated Sarina Wiegman was, saying, “Move, we need to up the tempo, we need to move this Nigeria defence around!” So hopefully England regroup, get on the ball more and open this Nigeria team up.’ White added: ‘It’s confusing why it’s a bit of a shock for England because they obviously would have done their homework, like we did against Haiti they seemed quite shocked at the way they were performing. So I’m surprised they’re not understanding the intensity they’re going to come out with, they’re front-footed, they want to get on the ball, they want to attack, they’ve got a great forward line that’s very fluid.’

Conclusion

England have been far from their best defensively at the Women’s World Cup and Alex Scott is concerned by how many chances they are giving up. Mary Earps has been forced into action far too often and it is clear that England need to adjust if they are to progress further in the tournament. They must regroup and get on the ball more in order to open up the Nigeria defence and create more chances of their own.

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