SWNT v England Preview: In Pursuit of Progress
"These are the games that really count." - Caroline Weir, Rachel Corsie and Pedro Martinéz Losa preview Friday's UWNL opener against England as the pursuit of progress on and off the pitch continues.
Progress has felt like a recurring watch word of Scotland’s week-long preparations ahead of the inaugural Nation’s League; not just on the pitch, but off of it too.
Before we get to the football, and we absolutely will, it’s important to reflect on the off-field progress that seems to have finally been made following the Scotland squad’s withdrawal of their legal claim against the SFA.
The players identified a need for change and, in the aftermath of a World Cup where far too many nations still have causes to fight including the newly crowned champions Spain, there should be a tip of the tartan bunnet to the players and the SFA for, together, resolving to find a way of progress.
While the details of the resolution seem set to remain a mystery for fans, fans who watched public exchanges play out both formally and online, the tone from Scotland captain and lead claimant, Rachel Corsie on Monday mirrored the reconciliatory nature of the original resolution.“For me personally, the past 18 months has been a period where the environment has changed and grown enormously and the players love coming here.”
Of course that is not to say that the progress will, or should stop here and Corsie, who this week was also given the Aston Villa armband ahead of the new WSL season, al league where many of the Scotland squad now train and compete, knows that there is no time for slowing down in the pursuit of equality, “What I think is important is sustainable growth. The clubs and nations that are doing the best are the one’s with a strategy and a vision to the most elite level that they can think of. It is something that we are achieving but the game is going to continue to accelerate quickly and we have to make sure we are proactive.”
A new strategy for the Young Team starts to emerge
On the pitch this international window has been an opportunity for the Scottish FA to bare their strategic teeth with sides competing across three different age categories including a first official U23 squad since a Nordic Cup game against Sweden in 2008. The hastily reclassified friendly against Panama last November something of a soft launch for a squad that will head to Italy to face Australia at the Young Matilda’s Institute of Sport in Varese next Tuesday.
Scotland U17 Head Coach Pauline MacDonald has been given the task of leading a squad that will include a mix of promising teenagers (some young enough still to compete at U19 level, others recent graduates of that team) and a selection of SWNT squad regulars who may have struggled for minutes had they been called up to the senior set up for the Nations League. MacDonald will be assisted by Hearts coach Gavin Beith and former Hamilton Accies boss, Gary Doctor, both of whom have been involved in previous Scotland camps across the age ranges.
At SWNT U19 level former international Hayley Lauder and newly appointed Scotland U16 Head Coach, Nic Sturrock will support Michael McArdle, the SFA’s Girls and Women’s Performance Manager, for two games against Hungary at Ainslie Park. Both those games taking place in the build up to the senior side’s Nations League contests.
This may present you with a dizzying assembly of names to get your head around but does suggest the shoots a new strategy at play. Less focus on one coach, one job, and a leaning towards coach rotation to aid player development, spreading knowledge across all levels, giving the stars of the future a diverse cast of expertise to learn from. That’s the theory at least, and it is hopefully one that leads to Scotland appearing more regularly at international tournaments in the future.
It all leads back to SWNT and the quest to qualify for Euro 2025
While the results of the Young Team will pique the interest of some it will be the Scotland squad of today that will come into sharp focus on Friday night, “I think we speak a lot about the progress that we've made.” says Caroline Weir during Thursday’s media call, “We've had some good results against good nations, but these are the games that really count. Competitive matches against top nations is where we really see where we're at.”
Recent results have been good. Four wins on the bounce against Australia, Costa Rica, Northern Ireland and Finland have been conducted in an impressive manner while the introduction of teenage duo Emma Watson and Kirsty Maclean has generated a buzz around a squad sprinkled with attacking talent, although one deprived of Erin Cuthbert, who misses out through injury.
Off pitch matters may have been resolved in her homeland but in Spain, where Weir plays her club football for Real Madrid, turmoil remains.
Along with the highly publicised fight the national team have on their hands against a Spanish federation escalating the concept of ineptitude to new heights, the players of Liga F (Spain’s top tier) felt the need to resort to strike action in pursuit of an increased minimum salary for players, resulting in the opening weekend of the season being suspended. It was a movement that Weir was part of but something, that for now, she has tried to put on the back burner, “I support the players. Ideally it would have been good to get another game in before coming to Scotland, but there was a whole different situation going on. I've learned in Spain that things change quite a lot or not at all, they can also change quite slowly too. Over the last 12 months It has helped me become a bit more adaptable to certain things but as soon as I'm in a Scotland tracksuit its back to Scotland mode.”
“We've come a long way in the last couple of months and we have to use that to our advantage. We have to take those positives and use that as confidence going into these kind of games.”
That confidence will be tested during a daunting first foray into the Nations League with England, The Netherlands and Belgium lying in wait, the latter visiting Hampden this coming Tuesday.
Pedro Martinéz Losa celebrated two years since making his competitive debut as boss earlier this month. He had been annexed from the issues between his players and the association, left to foster new relationships of his own free of past burdens he was not party to. The vibes between coach and his squad anecdotally feel pretty good but major tournament qualification has so far eluded the former Arsenal and Bordeaux Head Coach, “The Euro qualification campaign starts tomorrow and the route for qualification directly only exists if we stay in League A. We have to try to get the maximum out of every single game.”
“We want Scotland to get back competing at major tournaments." reaffirmed Corsie, "We have players playing at top, top clubs and you get quality and competitiveness from that. It's not all about individuals. We need to make sure that collectively we make the best of this opportunity."
That first step is success in the Nations League:
Finish first or second in the group and we stay in League A. Scotland’s hopes of qualifying for the 2025 tournament in Switzerland significantly increased.
Finish third and a play-off against a League B runner-up awaits. Win that and Scotland’s place in League A is secured for another campaign. Lose and it’s relegation.
Finish fourth and relegation to League B will be the outcome, adding more pressure onto the traditional qualifying campaign set to start next February.
The dreamer in me says a Sophie Howard header here, a Claire Emslie burst there, and (with a fair wind) Scotland can aspire to capture one of the two spots that would guarantee our League A status enhancing chances of progress to a first major tournament finals since 2019. The realist acknowledges that Scotland face a tough task in their quest to remain in the top tier and contests against Belgium may become crucial in deciding the side’s future status.
Up first the Auld Enemy, can we defeat them?
Before Belgium at Hampden, Scotland start their quest with what many will perceive as their most challenging assignment at a sold out Stadium of Light against England.
When asked how Scotland can defeat England tomorrow Martinéz Losa was cautious, “We need to play with personality and no fear. We have recognised many aspects of the game that we already are good at and we will want to make sure we can show that tomorrow. This team has got a will to do it, but we will find out if we have the answers tomorrow night.”
Answers is something that Scotland have struggled to find against England in recent times and they have not tasted success against the Auld Enemy since a 2-0 Cyprus Cup victory in 2011, the goals scored by the internationally retired (but still playing) Kim Little and Jen Beattie.
In their absence it is now Weir amongst others tasked with keeping Scotland on the front foot, “This game will have its challenges without the ball, of course,” says Weir, who picked up her 100th Scotland cap against Finland in July, “but I also think in any game of football, there's definitely moments, moments for us that you can take advantage of. It's just being smart with when we decide to do that. And of course we want to go in there and be confident, on the front foot, be competitive and also back ourselves.”
In the three contests since that victory in Nicosia the sides have shared a 4-4 draw before back-to-back major championship final defeats for our heroes in dark blue. First a 6-0 loss at Euro 2017 and then a 2-1 reverse in Nice in Scotland’s France 2019 opener.
The English may have to do without the services of Alessia Russo, the Arsenal striker missing out through injury, but the beaten World Cup finalists and current European champions have a rolodex of talent to call upon.
Lauren James, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly are just some of the threats Scotland will have to quell and it was only Spain who denied Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman a third major tournament triumph having won Euro 2017 with her home nation and the 2022 edition with England. Her name has even been whispered, perhaps mischievously, in the direction of the Dutch and English men’s national team jobs.
Under Wiegman England have become a formidable force. A multi-faceted attacking threat, engineered by Kiera Walsh (who misses out on Friday) and backed up by a keeper, Mary Earps, recently voted the best in the world but there are chinks in the armour with a new defensive shape still in formation and Scotland boasting a wing threat as strong as any other nation in the group.
“They won the Euros with a clear formation and a clear line up featuring important players. In the last World Cup, they decided to change focus. They did that again in the final and then in the second half too.”, explains Martinéz Losa who was in the stadium for their final defeat, “there are things that we do really well. We have to match the strengths of the opponent, that's the battle.”
On-pitch battles and hopes of Nations League progress will become the focus again, at least for 105 minutes or so, after a summer where players on both sides (England captain Millie Bright has spoke of the “Bigger than Bonus” issues the Lionesses have had with their own FA) have felt required to raise their voices once again.
Reflecting on Scotland’s journey during her time Corsie shared hopes for that desired sustainable future, “The sport has such a huge reach across all of society. One of the best things is there is an accessibility about it but the more we can expose the game, the more we see it, the more content, the more people are exposed to it can help play a part.
The players over time will be able to focus on growing the game on the pitch, because the players are doing a lot of additional work, there’s a huge pride to that but it also has an impact. It’s moving in a positive direction but that can hopefully continue as more people join that challenge.”
The sight of a Scotland victory come 10pm on Friday night will no doubt go a long way to inspiring those fans to rise to the challenge laid down by their captain.
Can Scotland do it? Of course we can, you’ve got to believe, don’t you?
Leading the Line can only exist with your support.
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