England can learn plenty from USA draw, says Sarina Wiegman

Written by:

Holly Hunt

The Lionesses head coach believes there is a lot England can take from the result

MATCH CENTRE: ENGLAND V USA

Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman was pleased with what she saw on display from her England team who held the USA to a draw in front of a record-breaking crowd for a women’s international fixture at Wembley.

Wiegman’s side – the European champions – played out a 0-0 stalemate with Emma Hayes’ team – the newly crowned Olympic gold medallists – on home turf as England held their own against the top ranked side in the world.

"Very intense game,” she reflected, summing up England’s goalless draw against the USA on home turf. “Defensively they play very high tempo.

Sarina Wiegman issues instructions to Leah Williamson and Jess Carter during the game

“We had some moments. As a team, we defended really well and we could have pressed them. Also, more in the first half, we wanted to play out and then the final pass wasn't right and we lost it too quickly.”

With one eye on the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025, Wiegman explained in the build-up to the game that she planned to use the game to experiment and try out new things ahead of next year’s major tournament.

And the England boss reiterated that there is plenty her players can take from the result.

Sarina Wiegman and Emma Hayes share a hug prior to kick-off

"We are also learning things,” she said. “This shows where we are at and we need to keep improving. It is November now. This is good but we want to be better again. We have to be better again.

"We have four games. We are trying out things. When we are in possession, we want to do 4-3-3 and then out it was 4-4-2. I think as a team we did really well and they overload the sides sometimes. Tactically, the team was really connected.

“Lots of learnings from this game. A very intense game and we hope everyone who watched it liked the team.”