Arnold Clark Cup: 'England win another trophy but tougher tests lie ahead'


23-02-2023 10:13 AM

Ammon News - Victory at the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup gave England a taste for success - but this year's edition felt more like a box ticked with greater ambitions in mind.

They had already proven themselves winners with their Euro 2022 triumph and went into this year's Arnold Clark Cup as heavy favourites against lower-ranked opposition.

Ultimately, the tournament was intended to prepare the Lionesses for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which kicks off in July, and it went pretty smoothly.

Apart from a brief scare in their second match against Italy - which they eventually won 2-1 - England's superiority was on show throughout and they confirmed their status as Europe's best.

Experimentation and heavy rotation were used by Sarina Wiegman throughout the three matches but with the world keeping a watchful eye on England, winning was a timely reminder of their threat.

"Of course when you go into a tournament you want to win it. But what I said before this week was we wanted to try out lots of things and that's exactly what we did," said Wiegman.

"It was really good. Yes, I'm happy with the week, happy with the win and also how we have worked together."

England achieved their objective of defending their crown and extended their unbeaten run to 29 matches in the process.

They have won every tournament they have entered under Wiegman, lifting three trophies in 12 months, and go into the World Cup full of momentum as they seek to win it for the first time in their history.

Despite the perfect outcome, questions remain over whether England were tested enough during the tournament.

"It is good to win but there is another level that I think England need to go to... ahead of the World Cup," former Lionesses captain Steph Houghton told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Last year, all four teams in the Arnold Clark Cup were ranked inside the world's top 10. This month, England, ranked fourth in the world, did not face anyone higher than 15th.

Belgium, who reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2022, have not qualified for the World Cup but were England's nearest competitors going into the final round.

"In some moments we have been tested," said Wiegman. "Last year when we played deep, defensive blocks we struggled a little bit. Now, we did a little better.

"We expect of course in the World Cup to be challenged more against top-level opposition. These teams [at the Arnold Clark Cup] are improving very much but so are we."

Former England striker Ian Wright described the Lionesses' victory as "very professional" and believes they showed enough to cause problems at the World Cup against the best teams.

"Yes, we are better than the teams in this tournament, but at the same time I think we're going to be better than quite a few teams in the World Cup," he told ITV.

"We've gone into these games with a good attitude. We've played a good pace and we've been very ruthless."




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