Sarina Wiegman wants a more clinical England in second leg of World Cup play-off
Sarina Wiegman wants England to be more clinical in the second leg of their World Cup play-off with Greece at the King Power Stadium.
Georgia Stanway, Maya Le Tissier and Alessia Russo were on the scoresheet in Crete on Friday as the Lionesses came away with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg.
England had 26 shots in that game and should perhaps have taken a bigger lead into the return fixture.
Wiegman’s side are now looking to finish the job in Leicester and set up a meeting with either Ukraine or Slovakia.
She said: “We were very clear in what we wanted to do. We tried to execute that but there were many moments also we didn’t do that well.
“There were moments we did well, we scored three good goals and had many more opportunities to score more goals and we definitely want to take out those counter-attacks because they were dangerous.
“Those were the learnings we took from Friday and want to do better tomorrow.
“You want to play well, win well, get a good win and then when we become more comfortable we can make changes to see more players.”
Midfielder Keira Walsh played a key part in the first leg and got an assist to her name as she helped tee-up Le Tissier in the second half.
England were largely dominant, conceding one shot on target as well as enjoying 74 per cent of possession.
But Walsh says she expected more and was frustrated despite winning the game.
“As an experienced player, I probably expected more from the game myself,” she said. “We should have put more chances away – so I think it was a little bit frustrating.
“It’s responsibility from all of us that we need to do better and need to put the game to bed a little bit earlier to be honest.
“The worrying thing would be if we are not arriving in the final third, that would be a bigger problem.
“It’s the final pass, cross or shot that was missing that I see the girls doing in training. It’s about putting that in the game tomorrow and I hope we will.”
Wiegman’s contract with the FA runs until the end of the World Cup and fresh terms have yet to be agreed.
The 56-year-old refused to be drawn into contract talk in the middle of World Cup qualifying, but Walsh says the squad would love her to stay.
“We don’t really talk about it too much. Sarina is the boss and I would never ask her those questions,” Walsh said.
“Everyone in England would love her to stay. I’ve played a lot of games for her and really appreciate her as a manager, but obviously it is her decision.
“It’s something we don’t really think about. We are on camp and have a job to do and we need to qualify for a World Cup, which is what everyone is thinking about.
“I’ve not given it much thought but would love her to stay.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub