Yesterday saw England take on Korea Republic in their first game of 2023 and the game that saw them kick off their 2023 Arnold Clark Cup campaign. I think a lot of fans feel the same and see the Arnold Clark Cup win last year being the start of England's insurgence that saw them going on to end 2022 unbeaten and as European champions so fingers crossed we see a similar fate with the World Cup fast approaching. The first game definitely showed us that England are looking to pick up right where they left 2022 however, it took them a while to settle into this game before finally hitting the form we are now so used to seeing from them. England eventually came out of the game 4-0 winners with 4 different scorers on the night but Korea republic made them work for it especially in the first half of the game. 

There was definitely a sense from this game that Wiegman was experimenting a bit with the team to see what options she available and what was going to be best. We saw Williamson slipped into a midfield role and Carter getting some game time which made a nice change however, it just didn't seem to click for England this way. The opening 15 to 20 minuted just looked scrappy from England and they weren't playing the type of football we are used to seeing from them, they just seemed to be sitting back and really slow paced compared to what we are used to seeing.  It also felt at times like they were panicking when the ball fell to their feet as it was very hit & hope some points as though it was just a case of getting the ball down the pitch a bit quicker even with no thought behind it. They did have the chance at a few shots in the first half but they just couldn't hit the target, that was until Russo fired towards goal and saw the ball hit the inside of the post and bounce away from goal, it basically summed up England's night up to that point. The Korea defence was doing really well though to isolate Russo and made it hard for her to get into the game, I have to say even despite the final result the Korea defence impressed me for a fair bit of this game, they did well for a period of marking players out of the game and put up a fight especially in that first half. It took until the the 40th minute for England to finally get themselves on the score sheet after being awarded a penalty for a clear foul on James in the penalty area, Stanway stepped up to the penalty and with the power behind it there was no way she was missing and England went in at the break 1-0 up.

At the break Wiegman made her first change of the game with Manchester United captain Katie Zelem coming into play in place of Carter, the move saw Williamson back in her centre back role and you could see the difference in the team straight away as they started the second half of the game so much better. They started that much better that they doubled their lead under a minute into the second half, Chloe Kelly opening her international account for 2023 with a goal from distance which took a nice little deflection to take it past the Korean keeper, I think this goal could be the first of many for Kelly this year with her recent form. In the 50th minute Russo got herself on the score sheet with a brilliant little piece of play that saw her in the perfect position to flick home a brilliant cross in from Greenwood. England definitely picked up pace after the 3 goals and kept pressing for more whilst looking like England we are now so used to seeing, attacking and threatening, we saw Stanway show us why she is such a threat with another distance shot which unluckily ended up just a bit too high and rattling the crossbar. 

Even at 3-0 up England were now playing with more of a threat and the substitutes showed that as we saw Hemp, Charles and Daly come on to replace Kelly, Greenwood and Russo. All 3 players were replaced with players who just add more of an attacking threat to the team and we saw them keep pushing for more goals. It was certainly nice to see Daly in an attacking roll for the Lionesses at long last just showing what impact her move to Aston Villa is actually making for her in the long run, I definitely prefer attacking Daly as opposed to defensive Daly. We even saw Manchester City's Laura Coombs enter the field after an 8 year wait as she replaced Stanway, again Coombs recent fine form for Man City is finally paying off and getting her a well deserved call up. 

The final goal of the night came in the 78th minute with Lauren James opening her international goal account with a well struck goal to seal England's evening with a 4-0 win. James played really well throughout the game and definitely deserved to get herself on the score sheet. Not long after though we saw James making way for Robinson who was very close to also opening her own international account but unfortunately she just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net. 

England definitely redeemed themselves in the second half after what felt like a disappointing first half, the changes definitely helped with the game and I am looking forward to seeing just how the team progresses throughout the tournament and how Wiegman continues to experiment with the team as the summer approaches, it is definitely going to be interesting to see what happens with the team as it is definitely the right time to be trying out new things and seeing what works and what doesn't. I am just really hoping that we see Jordan Nobbs getting some game time this tournament as she definitely deserves it with how she has been playing lately, I really hope Wiegman gives her the chance to prove herself. 

England have definitely started the tournament as they mean to go on and I am looking forward to seeing how their next game on Sunday against Italy plays out, us England fans could be in for a treat. Now is it Sunday yet?