“If this kid doesn’t make it, we’ve failed”: Former England legend praises Lioness star ahead of Nigeria World Cup match

After two fairly underwhelming fixtures, in which England managed to hold onto a tightly fought 1-0 lead, the Lionesses went back to their domineering ways and ended the Women’s World Cup group stage with a 6-1 demolition of China.

While a draw would have been enough to send them through to the next stage, the Lionesses decided to remind any critics why they are Champions of Europe and what we can expect from them as they prepare to take on Nigeria in their upcoming last 16 match.

Ahead of their knockout fixture against a side who beat home nation Australia in their group match, NationalWorld spoke exclusively to England’s most capped-player, Fara Williams - who was watching England vs China at McDonald’s FIFA World Cup screening event in Spinningfields Manchester - on what we can look forward in the coming weeks and what England’s progression in the tournament can do to help continue the growth of the game back home.

“Tactical changes were phenomenal”

England’s match against China came just a few days after Kiera Walsh was forced off the pitch through injury, and hearts of Lioness fans broke, all fearing the Barcelona midfielder had become the latest to suffer the dreaded ACL injury.

While it has since been confirmed she has not succumbed to the same fate as her Euros winning teammates Beth Mead and Leah Williamson, Walsh was absent for the final group stage match and we witnessed a new formation from our beloved Lionesses.

Speaking about the new style of play, the former Lioness star Williams said: “the tactical changes in formation were phenomenal.

“What Sarina did, which was genius, was say ‘we’re going to go with a back three/five and only put one pivot in there because we prefer to play with two tens,

“Defensively we looked a lot more solid in those transition moments - we struggled with in the opening two games - it didn’t look like we were going to concede (against China).

Williams also noted that “we committed so many more bodies to our attack that we weren’t able to do in those first two games.”

So what must we do next against Nigeria? Williams comments that the physicality and tactics of the Nigerian side will much more closely resemble what the Lionesses faced against Haiti compared to Denmark.

“If we can execute a simpler game plan than we did today, because Nigeria do sit in like China and they play on the counter-attack with the pace and power.

“Defensively we have to be a bit more mindful that they are more aggressive in their transitions and more direct. They are a lot quicker and stronger - and we struggled against Haiti with that similar personnel”

“She’s been under a lot of pressure”

The new formation certainly did allow for players to find the goal in a way they had been struggling to do against Haiti and Denmark.

Alessia Russo was the first to open up the scoring and she was joined shortly after by Lauren James, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly.

Russo has been missing from the scorecard for a while and when asked how important it was for the new Arsenal recruit to get back to her goalscoring ways, the former Gunners’ midfielder said: “She won’t admit this but she’s been under a lot of pressure, with Rachel Daly getting the (WSL) golden boot.

“Scoring early takes a little bit of the pressure away and she did it superbly - the way she executed the goal, it came from nothing and she then grew into the game.”

However, any Twitter followers of Williams will know that there was one other player in particular the former England star was “gassed” to watch.

Chelsea star Lauren James scored two beautiful goals and provided three assists, meaning she was involved in all five goals which were scored while she was on the pitch.

However, James’ prowess on the field came as no surprise to Williams who remembers playing with a 14-year-old James during a senior training session at Arsenal: “I remember saying to one of the (England youth) coaches ‘if this kid does not make it to senior level, that means our Lioness coaches have failed her.’

“She was that good a talent back then that I would have been disappointed not to see her on the world stage. Her composure, with and without the ball, on and off the pitch, it sets her apart from the others. She is one of only a few players who can execute like that kid can.”

“Keeping the growth sustainable”

Williams, who has 177 caps for England and 40 goals, was also asked what she hopes we might see back home following the Lionesses’ campaign in Australia and New Zealand.

The growth of women’s football in England following the success of the Euros was unprecedented but Williams remarks that it is about keeping that expansion manageable and most importantly, accessible for everyone.

“For me, it’s about keeping the growth of the game sustainable. The growth has gone at a rapid rate since the Euros, maybe even ahead of our time.”

So when asked what she would like to see, Williams actually suggests we “maybe take a step back, regather our thoughts in terms of the progress and development from grassroots all the way through.

“We’ve seen so many injuries, we need some more investment so that those young girls can be exposed to more training sessions each week.

“I know what needs to be done because I’ve coached a lot at that level and if we are to cut down these injuries, like ACL, then (we need to be) training more frequently at a younger age, like the boys do. It’s no coincidence that the boys don’t get injured when they break into the first team.

“For these young girls, aspiring to be the next Lucy Bronze, Lauren James or Alessia Russo, they haven’t been exposed enough to training at the levels that’s required the further up the pyramid you go. That’s an area I’d like to see more investment in.”

And of course, the question had to be asked: can England become world champions as well as European? “With a manager like Sarina, I think we can go all the way.”

England’s next match will be played on Monday 7 August with kick-off set for 8.30am BST with BBC holding the broadcasting rights.

Fara Williams was speaking at a screening in Manchester of England’s final group game in the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ where fans exclusively had the chance to try the McCrispy® Deluxe before it hit restaurants.. McDonald’s screened all of England’s group games, as well as handing out free menu items and exclusive world cup merchandise at each event. McDonald’s is the official restaurant sponsor the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.