The bare facts of England’s camp in southern Spain are very positive. They won both their friendlies by an aggregate of 12-3, unearthed a potential international stalwart in Grace Clinton and were able to experiment in low-pressure matches.
The trip was similarly fruitful away from the games. The players have spent this week evolving their team’s style, bonding in their beachside hotel and introducing new combinations.
After the difficult end to 2023, where they failed to qualify for the Nations League semi-finals or the Olympics on behalf of Great Britain, England have been able to reset and refresh.
“I think I might be the most happy with that part,” Sarina Wiegman, the England head coach, said of the camp. “Of course it was a huge disappointment in December, although I thought we had a really good camp in December and I thought our game flowed again, so that was already really good and I think that’s what you saw now too.”
England’s wins — 7-2 against Austria and 5-1 against Italy — were emphatic, even if they were far from the toughest tests.
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Having England Under-23 in the camp was another plus. Emma Coates’s players were up close with the squad they want to break into and four players (Naomi Layzell, Aggie Beever-Jones, Jess Naz and Laura Blindkilde Brown) even moved up to train with the seniors.
“It’s been nice to be around them and see them,” Lucy Bronze, the 32-year-old defender, said. “A few came up and trained with us as well. I would have died for that opportunity at that age.”
The under-23s did not have to look hard for inspiration because Clinton, 20, was the trip’s breakout star. She made her England debut against Austria and scored from central midfield, before putting in another authoritative showing in a more advanced role against Italy.
Clinton, who is on loan from Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur, combined excellently with Georgia Stanway in both games. These two and Keira Walsh may be England’s midfield trio of the immediate future, with Fran Kirby and Ella Toone facing a challenge to regain starting spots.
Elsewhere, Beth Mead continued her comeback from an anterior cruciate ligament injury with two goals against Austria, Alessia Russo had bright moments as the No 9, and the likes of Maya Le Tissier and Niamh Charles illustrated England’s options beyond the most familiar names.
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“On Friday we played with such a young team but today there were a lot of young players on the pitch too,” Wiegman said after the Italy game. “It gives us headaches to make choices for the next camp.”
Admittedly, the progress came at a cost. The combined attendance for the two matches at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador in Algeciras was fewer than 2,000, and the sight of near-empty stands on television was a bad look. The friendlies were only announced on January 31, so even the most dedicated England supporters would have struggled to attend.
The swathes of empty seats represented stunted momentum. England’s most recent home friendly was played in front of 26,267 in Milton Keynes, while their final home game of 2023 attracted 71,632 to Wembley.
“We absolutely love playing at home in England,” Bronze said. “There’s nowhere else we’d rather play in the whole entire world than at Wembley or any other stadium around England. That is the only downside [of this camp].”
Many of the camp’s benefits could have been reaped in England. Did England need to sacrifice playing at home, or at least in front of a decent crowd, to discover Clinton’s potential? Could the seniors and under-23s have teamed up at St George’s Park? Is the English weather so atrocious that the 20C and occasional rain of Marbella was necessary? Did the players, who already seemed to have good chemistry, really need a team-bonding getaway?
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Perhaps they did. The England hierarchy would have been aware of the drawbacks of the camp, would have assessed them diligently, and took a calculated risk. They believe the long-term rewards will justify giving fans a raw deal in the short-term.
The next few months will indicate whether they were right. The Euro 2025 qualifying draw is next Tuesday, with the group stage taking place between April and July. England will be drawn with one of the Nations League semi-finalists (Spain, France, Germany and Holland) and potentially another awkward opponent such as Sweden, who came third at last year’s World Cup. Only the top two of their four-team group will qualify automatically.
If England deliver in these qualifiers, then their stint in Spain will be viewed as a smart move to launch their European Championship title defence. If they slip up, it will make the questionable treatment of supporters seem a little less worthwhile.
