Lucy Bronze: England are unpredictable with or without Keira Walsh
- Lucy Bronze believes England are now unpredictable
- England booked their place in the knockouts after changes to the XI and formation
- The defender says this is only the beginning for Lauren James
By Emily Keogh
Lucy Bronze believes that even if Keira Walsh was fit enough to return to the XI before the end of their World Cup campaign, England may opt to keep using their new winning formation as it has provided the unpredictability that they were searching for.
From Euro 2022 final against Germany compared to their most recent World Cup win over China, five integral members of the side; Beth Mead, Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson, Ellen White and now, Keira Walsh did not feature - four through injury, White due to retirement.
Following Walsh's injury in the tournament - thankfully not like the ACLs that forced Mead and Williamson to miss out, England boss Sarina Wiegman was forced to change things up in order to top Group D and advance to the knockout rounds.
Yet veteran defender Bronze has suggested the side have shown bravery in the face of adversity, believing that despite the changes to the squad since the triumphant summer, England have found their winning formula at just the right time.
"People expected us to do the same as we did at the Euros, but I spoke to Sarina before the tournament, and we were both saying this would be harder," Bronze said.
"It was never going to be the same, people wanted it to be the same, but it was never going to be the same. We’ve had to be adaptable and show that we can be," the defender added, speaking after the Lionesses' 6-1 win over China.
"In the Euros, we were able to keep the same team because everyone was fit and firing. We were very fortunate to have that. Other teams had misfortune with injuries last year, but we have shown now that we can change things around when we have injuries and still be dangerous."
Without the integral role that Walsh plays, Wiegman opted for a different 3-4-1-2 system against China and it unlocked a whole new energy that the Lionesses had previously lacked.
It remains unlikely that Walsh will make it back in time to finish the rest of the World Cup campaign with England after her knee injury, albeit not the dreaded ACL, yet Bronze believes that the new formation is their key to success, with or without her Barcelona teammate.
"Keira is irreplaceable; there isn’t anyone who can do what she does in the world. It’s not just tearing up the formation; you could see in the first two games that we needed the spruce things up a bit," the 31-year-old said of the player she also used to play alongside at Manchester City.
"It was the same against Portugal, a lot of teams have studied England, they have wanted to beat England being the European champions. We have shuffled things about a little bit, and it keeps other teams on their toes. They don’t know what to expect, it makes us unpredictable."
READ THE LATEST LIONESSES WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2023 NEWS HERE
feed
The added bonus of the unpredictability that England so desperately needed is made all the more formidable if Walsh was able to recover in time to feature before the end of the tournament.
"If Keira does come back and play, who is to say how we will play? We might keep this formation with her in it. We need to be unpredictable; we need to refresh things; you need that in the knockout rounds," Bronze said.
"Seven games is like a mini-season in many respects. We have shown we are capable of changing things which I don’t think many people outside of the group expected us to be able to do."
During their three group games, no one else shone like Lauren James did, announcing herself on the world stage with three spectacular goals in two games, winning player of the match in both.
Proving herself as one of the most integral players to this newly re-arranged England side against China, the 21-year-old's performances were reminiscent of Bronze's own rise to fame that happened during her first World Cup in 2015.
Raving about the Chelsea forward, Bronze said: "She reminds me so much of myself when i was younger. She is shy but she believes in herself a lot.
"She is still young and still getting to grips with playing at the highest level, but you have seen her at Chelsea, and she has delivered some fantastic performances. We don’t just rely on LJ, we’ve got other players who can step up, but she is fantastic," she continued.
"I know how much quality she has. She has definitely announced herself on the world stage, but this is just the beginning."