Beth England doesn’t get the recognition she deserves says Sanderson

Following on from England’s 1-0 victory over Haiti in their opening World Cup fixture, bettingexpert had the pleasure of catching up with former England footballer and broadcaster Lianne Sanderson. Sanderson had a stellar career playing for the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Espanyol and Juventus.

Sanderson was part of England’s World Cup squad in 2007 and 2015, earning a third-place medal in the latter.

In this article:

• Beth’s Scores Goals Wherever She Goes
• Walsh key to England’s hopes of progress
• Greenwood suggested as centre back alternative to Carter

Beth Scores Goals Wherever She Goes

Beth England has scored 12 goals in 12 league games after moving from Chelsea to Tottenham in January. Meanwhile, Rachel Daly finished the Women’s Super League season as top scorer. However, Alessia Russo who recently joined Arsenal has been tasked with leading the line for an England side that has struggled to put the ball in the back of the net recently.

Luckily, England have weapons in their squad to call upon. One of those being Beth England who Sanderson is a huge fan of. Sanderson highlights England’s ability to score goals wherever she is as something Serena Wiegman could utilise more as we get deeper into the tournament.

“Beth England is that type of player that doesn’t get the recognition she should and I ́ve always said that she should be in the squad 100%. I´m a big fan of hers.”

“She´s the kind of player that always scores wherever she is and when she wasn’t selected I couldn´t understand it.”

“She got picked for the Euro´s and didn´t play a single minute but I think she has improved a lot since then.”

“I think it has been a problem for many years at the English national team that we´ve had a centre forward that actually scores a lot of goals but doesn’t play on the national team.”

Whilst Sanderson is clearly a fan of England’s credentials to be the main striker for her national team, she remains wary of applying pressure on the likes of Russo and Rachel Daly. Would dropping one of the pair help England as they seek to advance into the latter stages of the tournament? What impact would that have on the players not given an opportunity to play their way into form?

“I´m not saying that Serena Wiegman should play with the most popular players and I´m 100% supporting the coach in this sense as well but Beth England is definitely the type of player that could have deserved to play more games.”

“I just can’t see it happening but we will see later in the tournament.”

“I don’t want to be in a situation where we put too much pressure on our players. It wouldn’t be good if we are putting Alessia Russo or Rachel Daly on the bench just because they don’t score in one game.

”We can’t put that kind of pressure on players. You need to show that you trust them in the long run regardless of the performances in a single game even though centre forwards always will be judged on their goals.”

Walsh key to England’s hopes of progress

Keira Walsh was a young fan of the Pep Guardiola Barcelona era and has continued to be a disciple of the Manchester CIty manager into her playing career. Her passing ability has been heralded and it has clearly caught the eyes of England’s opponents. Walsh found herself marked out of the game in England’s opener against Haiti and found it hard to get Walsh onto the ball.

England will need to get the best out of Walsh against Denmark according to Sanderson if they are to have hopes of defeating their European rivals. Sanderson has faith in the tactical nous of coach Serena Wiegman to get the best out of her talismanic midfielder.

“The opponents are often doubling up on Keira Walsh when they are pressing against England and they will press Millie Bright and Jess Carter in a way so they can´t find Walsh.”

“A team like Denmark will probably look at that. I don’t think they are confident that they can beat England just because of our result against Haiti but they managed to get Keira Walsh out of the game.”

“England has to find a way to get Walsh more on the ball. It’s easier said than done but they need to find spaces and pockets. They need to find areas between the lines and Ella Toone and Georgia Stanway weren’t really able to manage to do that during the game against Haiti.”

“But Serena Wiegman is a tactical genius and she is able to make in-game changes and decisions that affect the game to England´s advantage.”

“And I’m sure that she will plan to get Keira Walsh a lot more on the ball.”

Greenwood suggested as centre back alternative to Carter

Millie Bright started in the first group game after a long time out with her knee and partnered with Jess Carter at the heart of the defence. Coming back from injuries is always tough. Especially in the opener of a World Cup group game. Sanderson suggests a change England could make would see Carter move from her centre back position into full back. But why?

“It’s interesting for Jess Carter without making excuses for her but at Chelsea, two years ago, she was one of their best players, then last year she didn’t really play that much and went to the Arnold Clark Cup and played nearly every minute and started every game, without really playing in the team.”

“It’s difficult to do that and now she’s starting in the opening game of a World Cup.”

“It’s a World Cup, of course players would like to play but they also need guidance. This is her first World Cup and they need some type of help around them and I think because players like Millie Bright are trying to take care of themselves right now with regards to her coming back from an injury, and then it’s the first game, so there will be some nerves.”

“But it’s about players managing those emotions, helping the players that might seem a bit nervy.”

“At the beginning of the game, all the match reports were saying that Jess Carter was going to be a full-back. I think if they’re gonna play the same four, I think Carter should go to full-back and Alex Greenwood play as a centre-back. I feel like Greenwood is more composed on the ball, relaxed and able to still deliver the passes from that position.”

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