- 6 weeks ago
England are European Champions... again! Another goal from Chloe Kelly (this time the winning penalty) meant the Lionesses retained their crown from 2022.But after being criticised, written off, and even going 1-0 behind, how did Sarina Wiegman's side manage to stage another incredible comeback to beat World Champions Spain? Adam Clery looks at one vital change the manager made, that completely turned the game around.
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00:00Right, hello there everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, and in case you somehow missed it,
00:05football has not just come home, but thanks to another cultural epoch from Chloe Kelly,
00:12it's bloody well stayed home.
00:14And sadly though, I didn't, I've been on a hen do in Glasgow all weekend, absolutely smashing the karaoke.
00:26So you combine that with the final, and that is why I both look and sound like this.
00:32Anyway though, not to worry, let's have a look at how this England team just beat the best team in
00:37the world in the European Championship final.
00:43Okay, so before I do some magic tactic stuff, just a few things to lay out.
00:48England played 120 minutes in three consecutive knockout games in this tournament,
00:54that is over six hours of football, and they were in front winning for less than five minutes.
01:02They were outplayed against Sweden, they really struggled against Italy,
01:06they were hanging on for dear life for large part against Spain,
01:10and yet that is just how tournament football works.
01:15And you can win one by being the best team in it,
01:18so like dominating all your games, playing really well, scoring loads of goals, stuff like that.
01:23But you can also win one by just being the best team at it,
01:27so like never giving up, finding a way to win when there doesn't appear to be one.
01:32And England are not the former, not even close,
01:36but they're probably the best team in the world of being the latter.
01:39But how did they do it?
01:41Well, conveniently for me, the key tactical battles going into this game
01:46were the key tactical battles within this game.
01:49This is doom ahead in.
01:50Now this was the 11 that Serena Vigman picked for this match,
01:53and even though they knew Spain were going to dominate the ball,
01:56there are still two key ways you can get at this England team when they're defending deep.
02:01The first one is that Lucy Bronze wanders quite far out of the right back area,
02:05so there is this space in behind her.
02:07And the other is that whichever way around you've got Greenwood and Carter,
02:11you can separate them by drawing them out of position
02:13and get into this sort of half space here.
02:16And of course, doing either or both of these things gives Spain a way
02:20to get the full backs on either an underlap or an overlap, which they really like to do.
02:26But the thing is, despite this Spain team being better than the Spain team
02:30that already beat England in the World Cup final,
02:32they do have new and exciting ways that you can get at them.
02:36Specifically, that they play a really, really high line and press you aggressively,
02:40despite having very little pace at centre-back.
02:44Paredes, in particular, is 34 years old now.
02:47She's not really very quick, so when Spain jump high up the pitch,
02:50if you can get the ball over the top and then behind,
02:53you can beat her quite easily in a foot race.
02:55Teams have had joy doing that across this tournament.
02:57Which is why this starting 11 had quite an interesting tweak in it.
03:01Serena Vigman had taken Lauren Hemp,
03:03who usually starts on the left and put her on the right,
03:05and taken Lauren James, who normally starts on the right,
03:07and put her on the left.
03:09Why would you do that?
03:10Well, because Lauren James is right-footed and Lauren Hemp is left-footed.
03:14So if you can get them in over the top,
03:17they're naturally going to find it a lot easier to go towards goal on their strong foot
03:21than they are to go down the line on their weak foot.
03:24So you've effectively got two very good weapons at attacking over the top.
03:28And that all got England a chance, like, really early on.
03:30Like, England go backwards.
03:32Spain take that as their cue to jump up aggressively and press them.
03:35But England release Russo over the top.
03:38And if you look at her body language, as that's happening,
03:41you can see it's something that they've worked on.
03:43She's expecting them to do it.
03:45She gets in.
03:45She gets a shot away at goal.
03:47Lauren James attacks the rebound on her strong foot.
03:50So you think, oh, it's going to do it.
03:53But she just, she misses the ball entirely, which is obviously not ideal.
03:59But it did later transpire she was injured.
04:01So you let her off.
04:02And given that most people have written England off in this game,
04:04I thought it was an absolutely brilliant start.
04:06They got their system absolutely spot on.
04:07They were getting in behind, getting chances.
04:09But after that, no, Spain completely asserted themselves on this team and on this game.
04:16They pressed England player for player really aggressively,
04:20stopping them doing anything in their own half, except for Jess Carter.
04:26Perceiving her to be England's weak link on the ball,
04:28they pressed everybody else but left her relatively free,
04:32which meant that when she did get it,
04:33all of the options around her were largely closed off.
04:36And then you combine the fact she's not great at going long
04:39with the fact that Lauren James was the player on her side,
04:41was clearly injured.
04:43England just had nothing.
04:45They had no way of getting out their own half.
04:46They couldn't find Kira Walsh.
04:48They couldn't find the fullbacks.
04:49They just kept giving it back to Spain.
04:51And thus, when the Spain goal does duly arrive,
04:54it comes after England, set up the play out from the back,
04:57realise that's not going to work,
04:59and decide to just go along instead.
05:01And then the very next time they get that ball back,
05:04it's because it's in their net.
05:06As we mentioned before,
05:07Spain create this massive gap between Greenwood and Carter,
05:10and they slip in Bon Matty.
05:12And while they do deal with this pretty well,
05:14England, and that's Georgia Stanway that tracks Bon Matty,
05:17in the ensuing chaos,
05:18because they can't get out of that situation very easily,
05:21they lose the advancing fullback,
05:24Spain's other great weapon,
05:25and it's Onyar Batye who puts the cross in for the goal.
05:28So, yeah.
05:30And for, like, 40 minutes of that first half,
05:32this worked absolutely perfectly for Spain.
05:35England couldn't get Kira Walsh involved.
05:37They couldn't really do anything in possession.
05:39They couldn't get up the other end of the pitch.
05:40They were just hanging on,
05:41and this was all only going one way.
05:45Until, my dear, dear friends,
05:48Lauren James was unable to continue.
05:50Wigman brings on Chloe Kelly,
05:52and the entire, entire game changes.
05:57Kelly's very first touch of the ball,
05:59she does something England had not done once
06:02up to this point,
06:03and she takes the fullback on,
06:05down the line instead of inside,
06:07and she beats her.
06:10And just this one action here,
06:11right after coming off the bench,
06:13made Spain completely reassess
06:15how aggressive they were being
06:17in pushing up on England.
06:19And you can see this depicted so beautifully,
06:22and yes, I do think octographs are beautiful.
06:24I'm an unmarried man in his mid to late 30s, right?
06:28In Jess Carter's passing map.
06:31These are all of the passes,
06:32successful and unsuccessful,
06:34before Chloe Kelly comes on the pitch.
06:36Now, her job, along with Lea Williamson's,
06:39is to find Keira Walsh,
06:41who occupies these central areas of the pitch, right?
06:44And you can see,
06:45because of the way Spain are being really aggressive
06:47and cutting off the options,
06:49she is completely unable to do that.
06:51She finds her with one pass in the first half,
06:54and it's outside that central area,
06:56and she's forced several times
06:58to go long into nobody,
07:01and just gives Spain the ball back.
07:02But then, Chloe Kelly's mere existence
07:05pushes Spain five, ten yards further back,
07:07gives her a bit more time,
07:08gives her a bit more space,
07:09and frees up Walsh as well.
07:12You can just see how dramatically that changes.
07:15She's actually getting a lot more time on the ball
07:17without being pressured here.
07:18She's able to circulate it much better,
07:20but also, she's now able to find Walsh
07:23a lot more regularly.
07:25And England can get going.
07:27They can get playing.
07:27Now, that's part one, right?
07:29Part two is Kira Walsh's passes
07:32before the Chloe Kelly sub,
07:34and they look like this.
07:36Now, Kira Walsh's job is to receive the ball
07:39in these central areas,
07:40get turned,
07:41and then find a teammate with incisive passes
07:44through Spain's defensive lines.
07:46That's what she's really good at.
07:47It's what she's in the team to do.
07:49And you can see,
07:50before that substitution,
07:51it just is not happening for her.
07:53She's having to leave that area completely
07:55just to get on the ball,
07:56and even then,
07:57it's going sideways,
07:58it's going backwards,
07:59and on a very rare occasion,
08:00she does get it and turns forward.
08:02She's giving the ball away
08:03because the pass isn't really on.
08:05She's getting rushed into doing it
08:07because of how aggressive Spain were.
08:09But then,
08:09as with the Jess Carter situation,
08:12Chloe Kelly simply exists,
08:13and this changes to this.
08:18And now,
08:18because her teammates can find her on the ball,
08:21she can get it in this area
08:22where she's brilliant.
08:23She can get turned
08:24because she's got that little bit more time,
08:26and she can go into a teammate.
08:28She can find them in the box.
08:29She can find them out wide.
08:30She can find them in the final third.
08:33It completely opened up Kira Walsh.
08:35And when you open up Kira Walsh,
08:36England can play football.
08:38And all of this
08:39is how England get that equaliser.
08:42This time,
08:43it's not Carter,
08:44it's Hannah Hampton,
08:44but the total lack of pressure on the ball
08:47leaves Walsh with all this space.
08:50Like,
08:50compare that still there
08:51to what Sweden did to them
08:53in the earlier stages
08:54when they were being really aggressive
08:55and cutting her off.
08:56Like,
08:56that is so much more time.
08:58That is so much more space.
09:00That's all Kira Walsh wants.
09:02And of course,
09:03you give her that time,
09:03you give her that space,
09:04she will turn,
09:05and she plays it through the Spanish line.
09:07She takes three or four players
09:08out of the game with one pass.
09:10She gets it into Georgia Stanway,
09:11who's also found a bit of space.
09:13She drives at them,
09:15forces them back even further,
09:16and then
09:18she finds
09:19Chloe Kelly.
09:20Now,
09:20what you should do
09:21in this situation
09:22is wait for Alex Greenwood
09:24to get down the outside,
09:26try and work a better position,
09:27see if he can get an overload
09:28or a player advantage,
09:29something like that.
09:30But that's,
09:31that's not how
09:32Chloe Kelly's brain works.
09:33She is just constantly in
09:36f*** it mode.
09:37And the thing is now,
09:38Anya Bache is so worried
09:40about getting done
09:41down the outside,
09:42as she was when she first came on the pitch,
09:43she actually makes the mistake
09:45of showing her inside,
09:47even though that's a strong foot.
09:49She leaves her room
09:50for a cross
09:51and Chloe Kelly is England's
09:53best crosser of the ball.
09:55If you make a mistake like that,
09:57she will punish you.
09:59And she does.
10:00And it's an absolutely class header
10:02from Alessia Russo,
10:03but the ball in,
10:04and specifically how England
10:05are finally able to play
10:07through Spain
10:08from back to front
10:09is all,
10:10all down
10:11to the mere existence,
10:13the concept,
10:14the thought
10:14of Chloe Kelly.
10:16That simply would not have happened
10:17without her on the pitch.
10:19And then,
10:20with England having arrested
10:21the momentum back,
10:22but Spain still being so good
10:23and so dangerous,
10:24technically,
10:26nothing happens
10:27for an hour.
10:29Yeah,
10:29basically,
10:29you just had 60 minutes of football
10:31with two sides
10:32just now
10:34cancelling each other out.
10:35You had a clear dynamic
10:35when Spain were much better,
10:37but England managed to
10:38sort of balance that out,
10:40and it just,
10:41yeah,
10:42nothing.
10:42Like,
10:43no word of a lie,
10:44England have this attempt
10:45to goal
10:45about five minutes
10:46after this goal,
10:47and that is their last
10:48attempt to goal
10:49for the entire,
10:51the entire game,
10:52which is,
10:53which is obviously
10:54really bad,
10:55right?
10:55But on the other hand,
10:56it doesn't matter
10:57because they're really
10:59good at penalties.
11:00Well,
11:01I mean,
11:01I'm saying they're really
11:02good at penalties.
11:03They took 12 in shootouts
11:04across the course
11:05of this tournament
11:05and only scored six,
11:07which is not really good.
11:08That's actually
11:09a terrible penalty conversion,
11:10but that doesn't matter
11:12because you've got
11:14Hannah Hampton,
11:14and you combine her
11:15with the fact
11:16they've really smartly
11:17embraced all these
11:18additional psychological
11:19things you can do
11:20to give yourself
11:21tiny,
11:22incremental little
11:23advantages in shootouts.
11:25England did absolutely
11:26all of them,
11:27and that gives you
11:28enough to beat Sweden,
11:29it gives you enough
11:30to beat Spain,
11:31it gives you enough
11:32to beat Brazil
11:33in the finalisima,
11:34gives you enough
11:34to beat Nigeria
11:35in the World Cup.
11:36It's not a coincidence
11:37they keep winning these.
11:39And I'm not going to
11:40start doing a whole
11:4010-minute deep dive
11:41on what all these
11:42psychological little tricks are,
11:43but if you want to go back
11:44and watch your penalty shootout,
11:46there are a few things
11:47you can look out for.
11:48One is the goalkeeper
11:49going and getting the ball
11:50and giving it to their teammate
11:52as they're stepping up
11:53to take it,
11:53as well as other players
11:55walking them both in
11:56and out of the huddle
11:57so that they spend
11:58the least amount of time
12:01isolated.
12:02It feels like they're
12:02doing a team thing
12:03rather than the pressure
12:04of an individual thing.
12:05And there's also
12:06the time between
12:07the whistle being blown
12:08and the ball being kicked,
12:09because it's something
12:10the men's team
12:10have perfected really well
12:11in the last couple of years.
12:13Give yourself
12:145, 10,
12:15however many seconds
12:16you want,
12:16take a nice big breath,
12:18get your heart rate down,
12:19compose yourself,
12:20do not rush,
12:21and then take it.
12:22And if you do go back
12:23and you watch it,
12:23you'll notice England
12:24is taking a lot longer
12:25between the whistle
12:26and the kick,
12:27whereas Spain
12:28seem to be
12:29rushing themselves.
12:30It's not an exact science,
12:31but you're talking about
12:32marginal gains here,
12:33right?
12:34If that was the difference
12:34between one going in
12:36and one staying out,
12:37that's enough to win it for you.
12:39And win it,
12:40they did.
12:41That's pretty much
12:42all there is to it.
12:44Like, again,
12:44England were not
12:45the best team
12:46at this tournament,
12:47not even close,
12:48but they certainly were
12:49the best team
12:51at doing tournaments.
12:53They get how
12:54these formats work,
12:55they do enough,
12:56they do the right things
12:57at the right times,
12:58and now
12:59they're back-to-back
13:01European champions
13:02with being World Cup
13:03finalists
13:03in the middle.
13:05It's not an accident,
13:06and I know
13:07Serena Vigman
13:08has her critics,
13:08but I think she just
13:09played a complete blinder
13:10in this tournament.
13:12Like, she was ruthless
13:12enough for all the
13:13loyalty accusations
13:14to get rid of Earps
13:16and Bright at the start
13:17of the tournament
13:17because they weren't
13:18going to be in her
13:18first 11,
13:19but she showed still
13:20loyalty with players
13:22like James and Mead,
13:23but then
13:24was still changing
13:25games off the bench
13:27in every single round.
13:29Like,
13:30do that once,
13:31you might be lucky.
13:32Do that twice,
13:33I'm not so sure anymore.
13:34Do that three times,
13:36it is by design.
13:37She is very,
13:39very good at this.
13:40So yes,
13:40there you go,
13:41that is how the
13:42England women's team,
13:42how Serena Vigman,
13:43and specifically
13:44how the very concept
13:45and existence
13:46of Chloe Kelly
13:47managed to beat
13:48the best team
13:49in world football
13:49in the European
13:51Championship final.
13:52What a nice sentence
13:53that is.
13:54Now,
13:54if you have enjoyed
13:54this video,
13:55I'm very pleased to say
13:56we'll be covering
13:56the WSL in some
13:58capacity.
13:59Can't promise it'll be
14:00loads,
14:00but I can definitely
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14:09for the Premier
14:10League season
14:10starting,
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14:29on that one.
14:30Anyway,
14:31yes,
14:31England's European
14:32champions yet again.
14:33That's really nice
14:34for everyone,
14:35isn't it?
14:35Goodbye.
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