So, the dust is settling following England’s opening game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 and still it seems that opinion from supporters is fairly divided, or at least covers a broad spectrum.
One school of thought considered the performance and/or tactics in negative terms, as overly cautious, relatively poor in quality, creativity and ambition. These were fans who wanted to see more from the team and players they admire.
But the above appraisal was not the only reaction to England’s performance. Words like ‘disciplined’, ‘committed’ and ‘brave’ were commonplace. The game against Germany at Wembley in November last year – when England went toe-to-toe with the world’s top ranked side, played openly and were punished – was a reality-check to the staff and the players and it was the starting point for the approach England took in this game against France. And it’s a system and game-plan that has been worked on for months, with behind closed-doors practice matches and in friendly games. This performance was all about containment – whether you liked it or not – and it almost paid off.
Sampson reaction
Sampson felt that not only did England restrict France to just a handful of long range chances, they also finished the stronger and could have nicked something towards the end. He was very positive post-match:
“The team defensively and the way they managed the game was outstanding. We’ve limited one of the best teams in this tournament to three shots on target, [and conceded] a goal in transition from 25 metres”.
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