da poker： The 2023 Women's World Cup runners-up return to action this week with games against Scotland and the Netherlands in Europe's new competition

da pinnacle： Thirty-three days after defeat in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, England will be back in action for the first time since that devastating disappointment when they take on Scotland on Friday evening in the UEFA Women’s Nations League. It’s a new competition and a chance for the Lionesses to put the summer behind them, as they look ahead to three trophy chances in the next two years.

The first of those comes in this tournament, in which they will face Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands in the group stages. The latter, head coach Sarina Wiegman’s home country, will be their opponents in the second game of this international window, in Utrecht on Tuesday.

England will hope to progress to the latter stages of the Nations League for not only a shot at winning the thing, but also to ensure that Great Britain has the chance to take a women’s football team to the Olympics in France next year. They will likely need to reach the final to achieve qualification. The Lionesses need to secure their place at the European Championships in 2025, too, and will do exactly that if they finish first or second in their group.

So, as the focus shifts to new objectives and silverware, GOAL picks out six issues that England will need to tackle as they take to the field again…

GettyWalsh's absence

A minor calf injury means England will start their Nations League campaign without Keira Walsh, the Barcelona star who is an ever-present at the base of midfield. Her absence is something that the Lionesses have rarely had to deal with before, but the Women’s World Cup was a great learning experience in this regard.

Without Walsh for their final group-stage game against China due to a knee injury, Wiegman brought in Katie Zelem for not only her World Cup debut but her first England start. The Manchester United captain had never started a game for her country before but she played well in that match and seemed to suit the new 3-5-2 set-up much better than Walsh did, even, when she returned for the rest of the tournament.

Zelem will be hoping to get a chance in there again and will be the front-runner to do so, especially because there are no other natural holding midfielders in the squad. That said, Wiegman may use this as an opportunity to trial one or two others in that role, though she’ll have to be a little careful with any experimentation given the need for results against two difficult opponents.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWhich system to use

Another interesting thing to watch will be whether or not England line up in that 3-5-2 system. Wiegman switched to it from her usual 4-3-3 after two games at the World Cup and never reverted back, the new set-up getting much more out of the attack while also masking a couple of weaknesses in the team as the Lionesses reached the final.

There is always the chance that Wiegman opts to go back to her previous formation and figure out how to get England playing at their best again within it. But they showed a lot of promise in the 3-5-2 despite playing just five games in it, with there plenty to build on.

What’s most exciting for England, really, is that they have this versatility now and the ability to be flexible in how they line up. That could be particularly useful during this upcoming international break, because for the first time since switching shape, they will take on an opponent that also plays three-at-the-back, in the Netherlands.

That match against Wiegman’s home country will be an even more intriguing test in that sense, then, especially if England are looking to develop the formation that led them to the World Cup final.

GettyDaly's role

Alessia Russo's form has been a hot topic of conversation for almost the entirety of the past year. After scoring just 10 league goals last season – outscored by England's other two centre-forward options in their World Cup squad, Rachel Daly and Bethany England – there were huge questions over whether or not she would retain her place at the focal point of the Lionesses' attack.

But Wiegman stuck with the 24-year-old and she came good with goals in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the front two in the new formation clearly helping to get more out of her game.

As we move into the new season, Russo has a new club, having signed for Arsenal when her Manchester United contract expired in the summer, and she’s made a strong start to life as a Gunner. After looking sharp in her first game back, a 3-0 win over Linkoping, Russo netted twice off the bench against Paris FC a few days later.

It couldn’t stop Arsenal from a hugely disappointing exit from the Women’s Champions League in the first qualifying round, with Russo missing in the decisive shootout, but the early signs are good for England’s starting centre-forward in terms of getting back to the goalscoring ways that will be needed to fend off competition from others.

The question is – where does that leave Daly? She played as a left wing-back in the 3-5-2 set-up at the World Cup, a role that got her in and around the box a lot more in an attacking sense but one that could still see her exploited by opponents given she is not a defender.

Is there another position that Daly can play in the system? Can her and Russo play together? What happens if Wiegman goes back to 4-3-3? Last season's WSL Golden Boot winner is one of England's best attacking weapons, but the coach still faces a conundrum when it comes to how to use her. The decision to rest Russo against Scotland could offer some clues as to what comes next for the Aston Villa star, however, or at least give her the chance to stake her claim for Russo's place in the team.

GettyIntroducing the next generation

After major tournaments are out of the way, so to speak, coaches often take the opportunity to call up younger players that just missed out on the last cycle, and that is the case with Wiegman and England for this camp, too.

Maya Le Tissier, arguably the best centre-back in the Women’s Super League last term; Jess Park, an exciting and versatile forward who has shone since her debut last November; and Lucy Parker, the uncapped defender brought in as an injury replacement for Lotte Wubben-Moy, are all young players that have been given a chance to impress in this window after missing out on the World Cup squad.

On top of those names, there are also the likes of Esme Morgan, Katie Robinson and Niamh Charles, all members of the group that travelled to Australia but players who will be hoping to get more opportunities moving forward.

Unlike some of the big nations, England don’t have a big generational change to go through after the World Cup. The oldest player in the squad is Laura Coombs, who is 32, and she is one of only seven players that went to the tournament that are over the age of 30, with two of those having celebrated that milestone birthday in the time since the defeat to Spain in the final.

How much Wiegman tinkers with her team over the next few months will be interesting, then, as she’ll no doubt be thinking about how she’d like it to look for the Euros in 2025 while also trying to guide England to a successful Nations League campaign.