Ian Wright warns England their ‘luck is going to run out’ after reaching the Euro 2025 final, saying the Lionesses must ‘start games better’.
England were just seconds away from being knocked out of the European Championships on Tuesday night after Italy took a first-half lead in their semi-final clash in Geneva.
Once again, teenager Michelle Agyemang was required to score a late equaliser, this time in the sixth minute of injury time which sent the match to extra-time.
Fellow super sub Chloe Kelly then scored the winner in the 119th minute, squeezing in the rebound after her penalty was saved by Laura Giuliani.
While a far better performance then their shootout win over Sweden in the quarter-finals, Sarina Wiegman’s side were once again sluggish out of the gate and, for the third time in five games, found themselves trailing at the break.
The Lionesses spirit and grit is unquestionable but while Wright praised this, he warns it is not sustainable enough to see them triumph at the end of the tournament.
‘We need to start games better than we’re starting games. 2-0 down in the game against Sweden,’ the Arsenal and England legend said on his return to ITV punditry.
‘We play tournament football. You never go into a game with England and feel really comfortable.
‘For some reason, we make it very difficult and then we drag ourselves through because we’ve got such determination. We’ve got such character.
‘You can’t continue to rely on that. At some stage that luck is going to run out and we’re going to need to find a way to start games better, and get a foothold in the game.’
England will play either Germany or Spain in Sunday’s final, setting up a rematch of the Euro 2022 final – which they won – or the 2023 World Cup final – which they lost.
Either way, Wright believes the Lionesses face a very tough test and admits he is not fully convinced by Wiegman’s tactical set-up, both for how they start and finish games.
‘I’m not really sure about plan A or plan B,’ the former striker added.
‘Germany are very physical, very direct, which won’t suit us. Spain play a much more technical game and keep the ball, that might suit us a little bit more.
‘We take too long to start games. I don’t know what it is but we take too long to get into our stride so we need to get into that.’
Wiegman for her part agrees with Wright, saying: ‘Coming behind against Italy, you know you have a problem and we had some serious challenges in the game.
‘First-half we did not play well, not enough energy in the game. Second-half we were better, but in the final third they made a lot of blocks, won a lot of duels were very aggressive.
‘We always have the opportunity to bring fresh players in who bring a lot of quality. We ended with lots of players up front because it was wall, we had to make a hole in the wall.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
