England head coach Sarina Wiegman said the side must be at their best as they come up against Spain in the Women’s Nations League this Wednesday at Wembley Stadium.
The Lionesses failed to capitalise on an impressive first half showing against Portgual on matchday one of the Nations League, as Kika Nazareth’s brilliant equaliser secured a 1-1 draw for the hosts.
“We work really hard and we try to play our best every game,” Wiegman said on reflection, on Tuesday. “We review the game and we want to do better again tomorrow, that’s what we are working on and that’s what we have to control in order to be at our best.”
Many have criticised England’s current form as the side continue to struggle to find their feet. The Lionesses head coach was firm that her side are “still adapting” as they prepare to defend their European title this summer in Switzerland.
“I think we have evolved, you can’t relate to the Euros [in 2022] and the World Cup anymore,” she explained. “We have so many new players coming in, the game has evolved too. The opponents have changed, now with the Nations League we have different matches at a much higher level and that’s what we want. We are still developing, adapting and trying to improve every day.”
England now turn their attention towards a meeting with the world champions under the Wembley Stadium on Wednesday evening. The last time the Lionesses took on Spain was the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, losing 1-0 to a solitary first half goal from Olga Carmona.
“It is absolutely a big game,” Wiegman admitted. “I think there are many big games at the moment because everyone is improving so quickly to the next level. It’s an exciting game tomorrow again, and we are looking forward to it.”
Wednesday’s opponents have struggled over the last few months, picking up draws with Italy and Canada prior to Christmas, before leaving it late to defeat Belgium 3-2 in the Nations League last Friday. But Wiegman emphasised the importance of patience if England are to challenge them.
“They are very comfortable on the ball, they want to play possession game, we are aware of that,” the head coach professed. “At moments we will have to be patient and wait until we can press and win the ball. We also know that we can exploit space behind them, so that’s what we are looking for because they’ve been struggling with that over the last couple of games too.”
When asked whether or not a victory against Spain would help to silence those criticising England’s current run of form, Wiegman was firm: “We’re not playing football to beat the critics, we are playing football to win games.
“We focus on what we can control and try to be at our best tomorrow again. What we want to do is to get more consistency and keep more momentum in the game. Sometimes things go really well, sometimes things don’t go that well, so we are trying to just stay very neutral to see where we are right now and focus on what we need to do.”