Fara Williams reflects on England's 'problem' ahead of Women's World Cup opener

England legend Fara Williams is resisting hitting the panic button ahead of the imminent 2023 Women’s World Cup. The Lionesses have failed to win a game in 90 minutes since February and haven't scored in their last three games. But tournament are 'different', Williams tells 90min, also pointing out it has been just a single defeat in 32 official games under Sarina Wiegman.

It is impossible to ignore that England went from scoring 12 times across three games in the Arnold Clark Cup in February, to being pegged back by Brazil and winning on penalties in April's Finalissima, before a surprise 2-0 defeat to Australia and successive 0-0s against Portugal and Canada.

The first of those came after the players had been on holiday following the end of the club season and were not yet fully back up to speed, while the latter was an unofficial behind closed doors friendly which saw as many as 21 players get minutes and perhaps cannot be taken too seriously.

"Friendly games are a bit different to the pressures of tournament football, where it actually really matters," Williams tells 90min. "We used to win lots of out friendlies when I played for England and then we'd get to tournaments and weren’t able to win a knockout game for many years."

Instead, the retired midfielder turned popular pundit and broadcaster, suggest the 'bigger problem' for Wiegman and her staff is nailing down what the strongest XI actually is.

For reference, four of the players who started last summer's Euro 2022 final are unavailable this time around – Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby are all out injured, with Ellen White now retired. Rachel Daly also won’t be starting at left-back, so it is half the outfield group.

"I think what we've seen is a lot of disconnection because of the amount of rotation in trying to get that team right and give players a bit of exposure," William explains.

"But we've only lost one game under Sarina and that was against Australia. Losing isn't familiar with us, so that is something we can be positive about because we don't lose many games. Even if we don't look good on the eye, we create a lot of chances but need to be better in the final third.

"In the Portugal game, I would agree that England weren't great in the first 45 minutes, the ball speed was really poor. The second half was a little bit better. But it was the first game after a break with the girls letting their hair down on holiday. So they just dusted off cobwebs."

Regardless, England are facing considerably different challenges this summer compared to last when they swept to Euro 2022 victory on home soil. The class of 2023 could hardly be further from home, which presents issues connecting with friends and family, as well as new expectations.

READ THE LATEST LIONESSES NEWS AT THE 2023 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

"Expectations surrounding them going into the Euros wasn't as big," Williams says. "Now the expectation going into the World Cup off the back of winning the Euros will be bigger, so the pressure is that. I don't think there was any pressure for England to win the Euros. There is more media expectation on them winning the World Cup, or at least being one of the favourites.

"Being so far away from home…those home surroundings helped them in the Euros," she adds, having experienced precisely that after playing on home soil at Euro 2005 and later going to World Cups in China and Canada in 2007 and 2015 respectively.

“It's difficult because you need that time to connect with people outside of your bubble. Mentally, it's important that you're able to switch off away from football. I'm sure they will have down time to go out and eat in restaurants or whatever social things within reason. But it's a lot different in unfamiliar surroundings, whereas they were at home [last summer].

"It's a lot more difficult to find time to talk to friends and family back home. We've also seen the engagement between players and fans – they really enjoy that part of their role, so finding that time is important to not feel so disconnected. There will be a few challenges, but the weather won’t be one, we got a bit lucky there. Being away from home and not being to hear your fans as loudly as we did in the Euros could be another challenge. Then, obviously the injuries – we're going into a tournament without three key players in the squad, which could be another factor."

England face Haiti in their opening game on 22 July, which should be a favourable encounter against a first-team qualifier. Even though the 'unknown is difficult', Williams doesn't expect there to be issues because of how far the Lionesses as a whole entity have come on the international stage.

"Where we're at now as a nation, we should be dominating the game," she explains. "Respect the fact [Haiti] are in the tournament, but at the same time the levels and showing no respect in terms of wanting to put as many goals past them as we can.

"That's not disrespecting them, but it's showing the growth of the Lionesses and how long it has taken us to get there – we were that team many years ago when the Germans and Americans used to absolutely wipe the floor with us. Now, we're in a position where we are able to do that to others."

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