England Women manager Phil Neville has spoken about the team’s experience so far at the Women’s World Cup in France.
The Lionesses beat Scotland 2 – 1 in their first group stage match on Sunday. They looked comfortable throughout the game, apart from when they let Scotland back into it. It’s something Phil Neville is keen to avoid in their next game against Argentina on Friday night.
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“What I learned during the first game is that my team really enjoyed the game. They played the way that I wanted them to for the majority of the game.”
When questioned about being heard saying “The same old cockups”, Phil Neville said he was encouraging his team to focus.
“It was about concentration, concentration for that 11 minute period. At 2 – 0, we just had a goal disallowed. We probably thought it was going to be quite simple because we played so well. So for that 11 minute period we gave Scotland a bit of help in the game. I always think it’s good in the first game not to shout your mouth off about how brilliantly you played. Leave the players on their toes and that’s what was said after the game.”
Looking ahead to the Argentina game, Neville was unsure of how they will play. However, he’s planned for some defensive resistance against his team.
“We were surprised by the way that they set up (in their last game)” he said.
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“Because in 6 months of watching them play that was the first time we saw them play that low and that deep. They were quite an expansive team so that surprised us a little bit. But what didn’t surprise us was their attitude and commitment to play for their country in every game.
“We’re gonna have to play and attack really well. We’re gonna have to be inventive, use our imagination in the final third to try and break down a resolute defense. It could take 90 minutes. We’ve spoken about the need for patience, we’ve spoken about the need to make the pitch as big as possible. If we’re gonna have control of the ball and they’re gonna defend deep we’re gonna have to make them run and chase the ball and tire them out.”
