Complacent England pay the price as Germany embarrass Lionesses at Wembley

Perhaps the only positive for England is there can be no avoiding the reality now. For the Lionesses, there was no repeat of their glorious victory over Germany at Wembley. Instead, a rematch of the Euro 2022 final served up a warning ahead of England’s European Championship defence next summer. The Lionesses were complacent and error-strewn as a refreshed, reshaped Germany team repeatedly tore through them. Had it not been for Germany’s own calamitous defending, the scoreline could have been even more of an embarrassment.

England conceding four at home should be enough as it is. That this was a friendly does not hide the fact it was a bad night for Sarina Wiegman, her worst as England manager, but there is an argument that a wake-up call like this was needed ahead of Euro 2025. If the manager has been accused of being too loyal to too many of her players who won the Euros and reached the World Cup final, there is an even greater case to finally change her first-choice team. Wiegman insisted she would not “make changes for the sake of it” – but there are too many starting for England who are living off their reputations, at least on current form.

It should not be said that this team lacks character. From three goals down inside half an hour, England rallied and pulled two back through a double from Georgia Stanway. The period where Germany raced into their lead was alarming enough, however, raising questions over England’s defensive structure and Wiegman’s selection, which was under the microscope anyway. Leah Williamson and Beth Mead, in particular, are out of form at a struggling Arsenal and it showed. It was the captain’s early mistake, resulting in Germany’s first penalty, that set the tone for an England performance littered with errors from start to end.

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Afterwards, Wiegman defended her selection against the argument that she got the big calls wrong. “It’s easy to say that after the game,” Wiegman said. “I’m happy with the starting line-up. I’m happy with the team. What we want also is to see other players, which we did, and we know there’s huge competition going on. That’s good for the team. It was a very high-level game. There were so many challenges for us, but also for them. That’s what we want at this stage. It gives us so much information and it shows exactly what we need to do better.”

Wiegman also backed Williamson and said it was always the plan to remove the England captain on the hour, after what had been a particularly poor showing in the heart of the defence. Selected ahead of Alex Greenwood, who is impressing in a Manchester City team that has defeated Barcelona this season, Williamson’s disastrous back-pass led to Germany’s opener inside four minutes, as Bright fouled Linda Dallmann in the box and Giulia Gwinn converted the penalty. It was the worst possible start to a big night: the England captain had referenced the “noise” around her performances this season after returning from her long-term injury layoff. This only created more.

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Between them, England’s back four were all culpable at points of the first-half collapse, though Wiegman explained there were just as many issues with the players in front as Germany played through the malfunctioning press. For the second, Jess Carter was dragged out of position and Gwinn could not believe the room she was given to smash past Hampton. England were porous, repeatedly losing the ball in midfield. Germany could counterattack with ease. The third came as Germany broke and switched to Klara Buhl, who cut inside Lucy Bronze and beat Hampton at her near post. Bronze’s defending was statuesque.

Germany have taken a very different path to England since the Euros final. They crashed out of last year’s World Cup in the group stages and have since waved farewell to several veterans of the national team, including legendary striker Alexandra Popp. But there is promise now under new head coach Christian Wuck, who saw his front three come alive on his first game in charge. Buhl, Jule Brand and Dallmann displayed all the energy and movement that England lacked for long spells. Even after the Lionesses fought their back before half time, Germany simply reasserted their authority. They were far quicker and sharper throughout.

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Though Germany’s own problems in defence at least contributed to a mad-cap half. Alessia Russo, perhaps the only England player to turn up from kick-off, had already seen a goal ruled out and hit the post before Lauren Hemp’s cross struck Gwinn’s arm in the box. A penalty was harsh but Stanway’s finish was followed by another just two minutes later. Germany, who threatened to mirror England’s collapse, presented England with the chance to level when defender Sara Doorsoun’s woeful pass across goal found Ella Toone. One of England’s goalscorers in the Euro 2022 final could not produce another at Wembley. Toone shot wide.

Wiegman had made one significant change, in starting Hampton ahead of England fan favourite and two-time Fifa Best goalkeeper Earps. Though this was a strange night for her as well. Hampton kept England in the game with a string of fine saves once Germany reestablished their superiority, including a superb stop to tip Dallmann’s long-range strike onto the crossbar just before half time, and another to deny Brand after a sensational run through England’s defence.

But Hampton also conceded four times and made the costly spill from a wide free-kick that led to Germany’s second penalty. In her final action of the night, Russo was judged to have kicked Sophia Kleinherne’s foot in the melee that followed Hampton’s error. Sara Dabritz made it four, Hampton beaten from the spot for a second time. As if to sum up the chaotic nature of the game, England scored from a virtually identical situation when Ann-Katrin Berger spilled a free-kick and Bronze tapped it at the far post. It was, after all, a game of errors, on a rather ugly night for England.