Published 27 October 2023 4 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Millie Bright: 'We need to be more ruthless'
Millie Bright and Niamh Charles speak, as England got back to winning ways against Belgium in the UEFA Women's Nations League
MATCH CENTRE: ENGLAND - BELGIUM
England captain Millie Bright believes the Lionesses need to work on turning their dominance into goals, following their 1-0 win over Belgium.
An early goal from Lauren Hemp got England up and running after a bright start to the game in Leicester, in front of a sold-out crowd on Friday night.
But despite their possession and attempts at goal, England couldn’t find a second goal to make the game as comfortable as it could’ve been.
“I don’t think the scoreline reflected the game, but we just have to be more ruthless,” said Bright.
“I think we had so many chances, so for it to be only 1-0, that’s something to work on. 1-0 leaves the game open.
“We go out every game to win and to perform, first and foremost. Getting the clean sheet, defensively, front to back, we were much more like the England we know.
An early goal from Lauren Hemp got England up and running after a bright start to the game in Leicester, in front of a sold-out crowd on Friday night.
But despite their possession and attempts at goal, England couldn’t find a second goal to make the game as comfortable as it could’ve been.
“I don’t think the scoreline reflected the game, but we just have to be more ruthless,” said Bright.
“I think we had so many chances, so for it to be only 1-0, that’s something to work on. 1-0 leaves the game open.
“We go out every game to win and to perform, first and foremost. Getting the clean sheet, defensively, front to back, we were much more like the England we know.
“We were aggressive. We knew Belgium are dangerous, so we had to be defensively strong.
“I’m really happy with tonight on the back of some performances that we haven’t been proud of, and the next step is to get the ball in the back of the net more.”
Part of the back four on duty in Leicester was Niamh Charles, who had a chance to impress at left-back having been in and around Sarina Wiegman’s squad for the last year.
And the Chelsea player admits she enjoyed getting a full 90 minutes under her belt, following on from an impressive start to the domestic season in the Barclays WSL.
“I really enjoyed it,” she revealed.
“You always want to play in front of a home crowd so I really enjoyed it and I feel quite at home there, I enjoyed playing and glad we got the win.
“Those three points are what we came for and that was the biggest thing to come out of tonight.”
As for her role in the team, the former Liverpool player admits she had specific instructions from Wiegman on what was expected, with the onus on England to make the most of their possession while also remaining strong defensively.
“Sarina wanted consistency going forward but defensively first and foremost, so just building those partnerships and trying to dominate,” she explained.
“In a game like this, it’s nice to get forward while doing my defensive work as well but I enjoyed getting forward with the wingers and finding those pockets of space where I can.
“We have such competition with our team, we are pushing each other so when I play I want to do my best but I am also supporting the girls when they play as well.”
“I’m really happy with tonight on the back of some performances that we haven’t been proud of, and the next step is to get the ball in the back of the net more.”
Part of the back four on duty in Leicester was Niamh Charles, who had a chance to impress at left-back having been in and around Sarina Wiegman’s squad for the last year.
And the Chelsea player admits she enjoyed getting a full 90 minutes under her belt, following on from an impressive start to the domestic season in the Barclays WSL.
“I really enjoyed it,” she revealed.
“You always want to play in front of a home crowd so I really enjoyed it and I feel quite at home there, I enjoyed playing and glad we got the win.
“Those three points are what we came for and that was the biggest thing to come out of tonight.”
As for her role in the team, the former Liverpool player admits she had specific instructions from Wiegman on what was expected, with the onus on England to make the most of their possession while also remaining strong defensively.
“Sarina wanted consistency going forward but defensively first and foremost, so just building those partnerships and trying to dominate,” she explained.
“In a game like this, it’s nice to get forward while doing my defensive work as well but I enjoyed getting forward with the wingers and finding those pockets of space where I can.
“We have such competition with our team, we are pushing each other so when I play I want to do my best but I am also supporting the girls when they play as well.”