- England forced to swallow 4-3 loss to Germany in first of four friendlies
- Sloppy defending at the back sparks cause for concern
- Sarina Wiegman's side face South Africa next week in Coventry
England were forced to pay for their costly errors against Germany after falling to a 4-3 loss in their first international friendly at Wembley Stadium.
The Lionesses could've been commended for their fighting mentality, but it certainly wasn't their most convincing performance. There is no doubt that England's backline will be under scrutiny moving forward as Germany exploited the huge amount of space they left on numerous occasions.
Sarina Wiegman's side managed to keep clawing back with two goals from Georgia Stanway and another from Lucy Bronze, but in the end it wasn't enough to make up for their poor errors.
How the game unfolded
England experienced a shocking start at Wembley Stadium. They went 1-0 down in the first few minutes after Giulia Gwinn successfully converted an early penalty. Millie Bright was punished with a yellow-card after bringing down Linda Dallmann in a scramble to recover a sloppy ball from Leah Williamson across the backline.
England soon began to dominate and an equaliser came from Alessia Russo not long after, but it was quickly ruled offside. From there things went from bad to worse for the Lionesses.
Gwinn celebrated her second within eleven minutes, after exploiting a huge amount of space left untapped by England's back-four. From then on, the home side struggled to find their composure and were very much under pressure.
Germany of course, didn't waste any time using this as their opportunity to cause damage once more. Klara Buhl was the scorer this time around, with a low strike into the bottom left-hand corner beating Hannah Hampton. At less than thirty minutes played, England were now trailing 3-0 to the away opponents.
However, Georgia Stanway became England’s lifeline before the first half drew to a close. A VAR decision ruled in her side's favour gave them a chance to start a slow claw back. The midfielder stepped up to the spot and delivered the ball into the left-hand corner.
The intensity evidently grew and it was clear the Lionesses weren't going down without a fight. Their efforts were rewarded once more as Stanway shot another one past Ann-Katrin Berger from short range taking the score to 3-2.
The pace of the game levelled out in the second half with both sides maintaining a similar amount of possession. Sarina Wiegman made two changes, bringing Jess Park and Alex Greenwood on in replacement of Ella Toone and Leah Williamson.
However, the gap became bigger for England after Germany were granted their second penalty of the night. Sara Dabritz had her turn at stepping up this time and successfully tucked it past Hampton.
The home side refused to give up despite consistently being on the back foot. Their determination paid off towards the end of the second half with Lucy Bronze keeping hopes alive hitting the back of the net. But this didn't last long. England's efforts weren't enough to draw level and they were defeated 4-3 at the final whistle.
England player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Hannah Hampton - 6/10 - The 23-year-old was let down by her defence a lot, but ultimately she failed to stop four goals.
RB: Lucy Bronze - 6/10 - The Chelsea star might be impressing for her club, but the right-back struggled for pace on the wing ultimately leaving exposed space on the backline.
CB: Millie Bright - 5/10 - The centre-back was outrun too easily on the attack by Germany and contributed to England's lacklustre defensive play.
CB: Leah Williamson (c) - 4/10 - The skipper's sloppy passing in the first few minutes contributed to Germany's penalty.
LB: Jess Carter - 5/10 - The NSWL star unfortunately contributed to the gaps left by England's backline and only totalled 19 passes during the game.
CM: Ella Toone - 5/10 - Missed an open shot on goal to take England level with Germany, before being taken off at half-time after looking rusty.
CM: Georgia Stanway - 8/10 - The lifeline England needed 3-0 down, the midfielder scored twice while embodying a must-win attitude.
CM: Keira Walsh - 3/10 - Forgettable. A far cry from her usual ability to dominate the centre of the pitch.
RW: Beth Mead - 5/10 - Always a reliable option but like Walsh struggled to find her rhythm.
ST: Alessia Russo - 7/10 - Certainly one of the striker's more improved performances when compared to recent weeks for Arsenal, she was unlucky to be ruled offside when her goal hit the back of the net.
LW: Lauren Hemp - 6/10 - Made a few promising runs but struggled to get the better of Germany, a far cry from her usual dominant performances for Manchester City.
Substitutes
SUB: Jess Park (45' for Toone) - 7/10 - The Cityzen injected a new lease of life into the second half, accumulating a total of 15 passes.
SUB: Alex Greenwood (61' for Williamson) - 8/10 - Made a huge impact in tightening and strengthening England's struggling backline.
SUB: Chloe Kelly (61' for Russo) - 6/10 - Lacked her usual ability to influence the game, unable to get into any dangerous positions or have any shots on target.
SUB: Jess Naz (80' for Mead) - N/A
SUB: Maya Le Tissier (80' for Bronze) - N/A
Unused subs: Mary Earps (GK), Anna Moorhouse (GK), Esme Morgan, Aggie Beever-Jones, Grace Clinton, Lucy Parker
Manager
Sarina Wiegman - 6/10 - Not the greatest start to England's run of international friendlies, leaving the Dutch manager with lots of room for improvement and expected rotations ahead of their next fixture against South Africa.
