England focus on details and hone winning machine

Tonight's friendly against No 67-ranked Ghana allows head coach Wiegman chance to look at bigger picture

- Suzanne Wrack

Lucy Bronze said England did not let their focus drop against China

What is there to learn from England’s 8-0 thrashing of China as they prepare to face Ghana, ranked 67th in the world, 51 places below their opponents last Saturday, in Southampton tonight?

When it comes to fixtures such as this, which should be routine for a team who have benefited from a financially, emotionally and strategically invested federation, the learnings are more subtle - but they are there. As Lucy Bronze said after the win against China, you could see it in the goals they scored. “They were unbelievable passes or finishes or runs,” the veteran right-back said. “They were defined by millimetres. Hempo’s goal, Georgia’s pass, no one could even touch that.

“Maybe China weren’t at their best, but for us to score we had to be completely doing the right things in those right moments. The younger players realised that coming on as well. You can watch the game and think: ‘Oh, it looks quite easy,’ because it’s 5-0, but you step on and realise you have to be at your best, make those passes and always perform at the highest level.