Ella Toone, Alessia Russo & Chloe Kelly made huge impacts at Euro 2022, but no one has stepped into their effective roles from the bench since
When England went ahead early in their first fixture of the new Women's Nations League campaign on Friday, they seemed to be in a strong position to come away from Portugal with all three points. The Lionesses were dominant for a good hour and always looked the most likely to score next, with their hosts lacking any significant moments in attack. That was until Francisco Neto made game-changing substitutions and Sarina Wiegman didn't react.
A triple-change with half an hour to go saw Portugal switch shape and introduce Barcelona starlet Kika Nazareth, who scored a superb equaliser 15 minutes later. It was a goal that felt like it had been coming for at least 10 of those minutes, with the home team turning the screw, taking over the game and eventually getting what they deserved.
As Portugal continued to come forward and trouble the England defence, all eyes were on Wiegman and how she would counter this. A substitution was surely needed, at least to kill some of the opponent's momentum, but it wasn't until nine minutes after Kika's goal that one came.
It sparked a lot of criticism of the coach in the moment, but it also highlighted a wider issue: England have still not established a 'super-sub' formula like the one that led them to European glory three years ago, despite this being an obvious problem for most of that time.
Getty ImagesTitle-winning changes
When England lifted that European Championship title at Wembley back in 2022, they did so thanks to the incredibly reliable impact of players from the bench. Ella Toone, a substitute in all six games, scored the opener in the final against Germany, that her third direct goal involvement of the tournament, while Chloe Kelly, introduced in the second half, bagged the iconic winner in extra-time.
Toone had also performed heroics in the quarter-final against Spain, scoring an 84th-minute equaliser to send the game to extra-time, where England prevailed, while Alessia Russo scored her fourth goal of the Euros in the semi-final win over Sweden, a memorable backheel that would be crowned Goal of the Tournament.
Wiegman nailed down the substitute formula to lead England to glory. It was almost always that Toone replaced Fran Kirby, Russo came on for Ellen White and Kelly granted Beth Mead her rest, with Jill Scott also a regular off the bench for Georgia Stanway to add experience in seeing games out. It was a huge factor in the title win.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesNew formula needed
A lot changed after that tournament. White and Scott retired while Kirby and Mead faced significant time on the sidelines due to injuries, which meant Russo, Toone and Kelly moved into the starting XI more prominently, and Wiegman needed to figure out who would be best to come into this new-look team from the bench and make an impact. As of yet, she's not really done so.
Since the start of the 2023 Women's World Cup, substitutes have contributed just two goals and one assist in England's 20 competitive fixtures. Only one of those was a result-altering contribution: Toone's match-winner against the Netherlands at Wembley in December 2023. The other goal and assist came in the Lionesses' 6-1 thrashing of China in the World Cup group stage, a game that was decided well before any changes were made.
Moreover, only once in those 20 games – and that's the Netherlands game again – has a match turned into a more positive result for England after Wiegman has made her subs. The impact from the bench just isn't there anymore.
Getty ImagesOptions aplenty
And that's not because Wiegman doesn't have great options. Yes, game-changing players like Kirby, Mead and Lauren James have missed time due to injury, with Stanway and Lauren Hemp also currently out, but England have plenty of depth.
On her bench on Friday, among others: Kelly, not at her most sharp right now but with a history of big moments; Aggie Beever-Jones, who has five goals in five league starts for Chelsea this season; Jessica Naz, a player Wiegman started against the United States at Wembley in November; and Nikita Parris, who has four goals in her last four games and 71 caps for her country. The former two were the only players introduced, and with just six minutes of normal time remaining. Kelly had seven touches, while Beever-Jones managed five.
That it took so long for Wiegman to make any changes at all in Portugal was a real surprise. After all, the last time she turned to her bench as late as that in a competitive fixture was at the 2023 World Cup, when England had convincingly gone 3-1 up in their semi-final win over Australia. Changes weren’t really needed on that occasion, but that it took so long this time around highlighted a lack of an effective formula when it comes to subs.
Getty ImagesNot everyone's problem
In stark contrast to events in the Algarve on Friday were those that took place in Belgium, just before England kicked off. It was there that Spain, the Lionesses’ opponents on Wednesday in their second game of this new Nations League campaign, used their bench perfectly to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.
The world champions were still in need of all three goals with less than 15 minutes remaining but, after Claudia Pina pulled one back, stoppage-time strikes from two substitutes – Lucia Garcia and then Cristina Martin-Prieto – sealed a dramatic victory. Martin-Prieto wasn’t even in Montse Tome’s initial squad, and was only called up after injury to Amaiur Sarriegi. Yet, winning just her second cap, she was trusted to come on and make a difference – and she duly delivered.
Tome certainly has her critics and some of the faults found in her decisions are fair. However, she will certainly use the breadth of her squad and so she should, because it is brimming with talent.
