'England need to bottle disappointment and use it as fuel against Dutch'

BBC News

08-07-2025

I was part of the England squad that lost our opening group game at Euro 2009 and went on to reach the final. We lost 2-1 to Italy. Casey Stoney got sent off, I had to move into the left-back position and got injured. It didn't go to plan.But unlike this England team now - who will have to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat by France - there wasn't the same external pressure. Sarina Wiegman's side are defending champions now and there is more expectation. Ultimately, there's another opportunity to recover and make improvements. You can't dwell on that result for too long. We lost and were gutted, but we had to park it and bottle up that feeling of disappointment and use it as added fuel. That's all you can do. Every player handles that emotion differently. But it's about handling that disappointment.
Where did it go wrong against France?
France winning that game doesn't make them European champions. England losing that game doesn't mean they are out.Everything seemed to click for France and they executed everything with quality - they were brilliant on the day. That was the difference.England just didn't execute things properly.It wasn't a shock result. France have rebuilt to try to win something and are one of the tournament favourites. England have been inconsistent for two years now, since reaching the Women's World Cup final. They didn't take control of the game at all. The level in Europe is getting stronger all the time. You have to be at your best in every game.Everyone talked about England losing their duels afterwards. Was that a tactical issue or a lack of desire? Were we too far away from the opposition to make the tackles or did we just not take control? If it's the latter, the players just have to be better - and they will know that. The best example was when Sandy Baltimore had two players on her during the second goal and she wriggled away from them. We didn't do what we should have done and engaged with conviction.In midfield, Sakina Karchaoui was running everywhere and we needed someone to lay a glove on her and let her know she wasn't going to have a field day. We needed to disrupt the game, use the dark arts a little bit to decompress and just figure things out.Who are the characters and leaders in the squad who can sense that momentum is going against us? I think that's a question mark for England. I don't see it from the outside. I don't see the communication. We have mature players and considered personalities, but do we have a presence on the pitch? Lauren James got herself into great positions in the first 10 minutes and she could have scored but that didn't happen. Alessia Russo did score, but it got chalked off for offside. For whatever reason, it felt like the air left the team when those things happened as opposed to them realising they had breached the France defence. That should have given the team the lift to go again - but it had the opposite effect.
Can England still reach the quarter-finals?
Of course, England can still qualify for the quarter-finals. Absolutely. But they can't afford to not have learned from the France game. They face the Netherlands next and that will be an equally challenging game, but can we take advantage of our qualities more often? We need to frustrate Vivianne Miedema so she's further away from the goal. We need to stop Jill Roord taking long-range shots.The Netherlands are very similar to England in their style of play, and we know so many of them individually because a lot play for English clubs or have done recently.England, when they are at their best, can play through the lines, find Russo to link up with the other forwards and get Keira Walsh involved in the game. There is a fluidity to the way they play. But I have always questioned how good we are at defending fast transitions and whether defensive midfielder Walsh can do that role solely. She does not really have a defensive presence when the game is scruffy. We emphasise her in-possession game, but we don't really look at her off the ball. Maybe that's where England look vulnerable and exposed, when she is on her own in a single pivot.I often wonder why we don't play with two defensive midfielders? Everyone knows we want to play through Walsh so they mark her out of the game. Why don't we recognise those moments when Georgia Stanway might need to drop back? It's little tweaks. I'm not saying make wholesale changes. Within the system, the players have to recognise how to change when the game is transitional.We looked vulnerable for the same reasons against Haiti and against Nigeria at the World Cup two years ago. We are not counter-pressing well enough to stop those attacks, so we need a structure that allows us to not be so vulnerable.I'm a big fan of James but she only had an impact in spells of the game against France in the number 10 role, and a player of her quality needs to be in a position where she can isolate defenders more often. I could see Wiegman's planning but it didn't work. You have to have good awareness in that role defensively. I would play her out wide against the Netherlands. Ella Toone can play in there. We have seen her have an impact off the bench, albeit less often over 90 minutes, but she can fulfil that role.Michelle Agyemang came on and made an impact but I don't think people should be screaming for her to start after five minutes. Aggie Beever-Jones could come in for this type of game because she will bring energy and runs in behind, which complements Russo's hold-up play.Wiegman had not experienced losing a game at a Euros until now but her side have experienced losing to France before. It's rare we see them lose back-to-back games against strong opposition so of course they can bounce back.Anita Asante was speaking to BBC Sport's women's football news reporter Emma Sanders.