England-China was the most lopsided match of the tournament I've managed to watch, and they were utterly clinical. If they can play like that then they will be hard for Spain to overcome. Having seen fewer Spain matches I don't have as good a sense of their strengths/vulnerabilities.
England-China was the most lopsided match of the tournament I've managed to watch, and they were utterly clinical. If they can play like that then they will be hard for Spain to overcome. Having seen fewer Spain matches I don't have as good a sense of their strengths/vulnerabilities.
They're better on defense than this rather disappointing China team, but it's still an area of weakness. Spain also has trouble dealing with a disciplined, high-teamwork defense. Against Japan, they had the large majority of possession and an insane number of completed passes...BUT, most of those passes were around the back. Japan gave them nothing, and by the end of the match, their number of chances/shots wasn't that much higher than Japan's.
England's defense isn't anywhere near the Nadeshiko's in terms of cohesion and resistance to losing shape, but it's made up of excellent individual defenders who are starting to come together. Spain will have more chances, but won't be able to run rampant.
Spain's defenders are not pacey. Japan exploited that, partly because their low block took Spain by surprise and partly because the book on Japan is "technically brilliant and agile, but small and slow" and they had no idea how fast Hinata Miyazawa is. When Spain pushed forward to attack that low block there was a lot of space and Hinata-senshu burst into it. England can successfully run at those defenders, I'm sure.
Speaking of which, I'm sure hoping her lead in the Golden Boot holds out!
England-China was the most lopsided match of the tournament I've managed to watch, and they were utterly clinical. If they can play like that then they will be hard for Spain to overcome. Having seen fewer Spain matches I don't have as good a sense of their strengths/vulnerabilities.
They're better on defense than this rather disappointing China team, but it's still an area of weakness. Spain also has trouble dealing with a disciplined, high-teamwork defense. Against Japan, they had the large majority of possession and an insane number of completed passes...BUT, most of those passes were around the back. Japan gave them nothing, and by the end of the match, their number of chances/shots wasn't that much higher than Japan's.
England's defense isn't anywhere near the Nadeshiko's in terms of cohesion and resistance to losing shape, but it's made up of excellent individual defenders who are starting to come together. Spain will have more chances, but won't be able to run rampant.
Spain's defenders are not pacey. Japan exploited that, partly because their low block took Spain by surprise and partly because the book on Japan is "technically brilliant and agile, but small and slow" and they had no idea how fast Hinata Miyazawa is. When Spain pushed forward to attack that low block there was a lot of space and Hinata-senshu burst into it. England can successfully run at those defenders, I'm sure.
Speaking of which, I'm sure hoping her lead in the Golden Boot holds out!