Lionesses hit by familiar feeling of frustration as weaknesses exposed | OneFootball

For at least 15 minutes on Friday night, almost everyone watching England’s Nations League game in Portimão could sense that a goal for Portugal was coming. Everyone except, it seemed, Sarina Wiegman. Jess Carter had replaced Lucy Bronze as a ­precaution at half-time but the head coach felt no need to make another substitution until the 84th minute. By then the damage was done, and the Lionesses were hit by an all-too-familiar feeling of ­frustration after a game they knew they should have won.

In isolation, a draw away against a Portugal team ranked 22nd in the world would be a touch ­disappointing but not cause for great alarm. The problem, though, is that it is not an outlier, and three themes have ­continued to crop up in the past 18 months: England’s inconsistency, their profligacy in front of goal and the concerning ease with which ­opponents are creating chances against a defence that had once looked almost impenetrable.

The exasperating thing for England fans is that June’s impressive ­victory in France and the emphatic ­trouncings of Austria and Italy last February demonstrated what this team are capable of, when it goes right. With four defeats since the 2023 World Cup final and hot-and-cold performances in the autumn, it is not going right often enough, and the latest player to profit from how easy it is to play through England’s lines was Kika Nazareth, who superbly ­equalised for Francisco Neto’s team after he had switched to a 4-4-2 and his side had taken control of the ­midfield to deservedly earn a point.

ITV’s pundits, like the rest of us, were full of ­admiration for England’s strong first-half showing but were left frustrated by the second 45 minutes, with the former England winger Karen Carney saying: “Second half, I’m ­scratching my head thinking it’s a different team. No energy. The composure, the ­concentration and the basics went, and we got punished. You have to be more ruthless in the first half and that was our achilles heel tonight.”

Wiegman acknowledged the ­tactical challenge that Neto had ­created, when asked by BBC Radio 5 Live how her side had gone from ­having so much control in the first half to wobbling in the second, with the Dutchwoman replying: “It had to do with their subs and their change of shape, and our answer took a while.”

Having reached the finals of her past four major international ­tournaments as a head coach, Wiegman still has the buffer of her near-peerless track record in the big tournaments to ensure that results such as Friday’s do not yet prompt panic or calls for change, but she should also not be immune from ­criticism. After all, the Lionesses had the relative ­luxury of four home friendlies at the end of 2024 and, with that ­quartet of games came the ­valuable chance to work to improve the team’s ­understanding before these competitive matches arrived. But the second half in Portugal suggested that chance might not have been fully utilised.

And while the concept of the Nations League might not yet have supporters gripped quite like a Euros or a World Cup, Friday’s draw does matter. Not only because it could ­hinder England’s hopes of winning this competition, but because of the long-term impact on world ­ranking points, and the seeding pots for ­European qualification for the 2027 World Cup will be determined solely by where teams finish in their 2025 Nations League groups.

The centre-back Millie Bright gave an honest assessment when asked about England’s loss of intensity. “I don’t think there’s one answer,” she said. “As a group we are trying to get to that place of consistency, but that takes time. There is work to be done but we’re aware of what we need to do. With each game we just have to make sure we keep closing the gap and get closer and closer to the levels we want to be at.”

That work will need to happen in earnest, with Spain the visitors at Wembley on Wednesday for a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final and a fixture the Lionesses can ill afford to lose if they have any serious Nations League aspirations.

Header image: [Photograph: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images]