After a few weeks away from league action the Halifax Friendly FC Belles returned with a bang with a comfortable win against league strugglers Rothwell Juniors Women White, the lack of league action didn't seem to faze the Belles and their fine form in their first game continued with a big of a goal-fest on their behalf. Sunday saw their highest scoring league game this season with them putting 5 past Rothwell with a nice mix of goalscorers getting in on the action. 

The game was a chance for the coaches to experiment a little with their formation opting for a 3-1-3-1 formation, something new but something that the team adapted to with ease and those players in a change of role adapted really well and settled in nicely to their new responsibilities and in some cases had their best game of the season so far, I know I definitely felt like I had my best game in my new role and feel like I could settle into it nicely as I actually preferred it to being on the wing and it showed some strengths in my game that I never knew I had. The new formation gave the defence the help they needed and often lacked in previous games but everyone put a shift in, held their shape and all that hard work in training is really paying off and we are seeing just what we are capable of after a few technical session that have taught us how to move the ball around better and how to hold our shape to make it harder for the opposition to breakthrough on goal. Granted Rothwell had a few chances but nothing too threatening and nowhere near as many as they would have had in previous weeks.

We saw just what we could do in the new formation by the fact we were moving the ball round much better rather than previously as when we were on the ball we knew where the options were for us to pass to and we were using the space on the pitch really well, something we are trying to get used to and have worked on in training a few times, but it all just seemed to come together in Sunday's game as there were less of just hitting the ball and panicking and more sitting with the ball and calmly considering our next move which really helped us break down their midfield and defence and at times really frustrated them. 

Granted we did start the game a little slower than we would all have liked but again we were settling in to the new positions and getting a feel for the smaller pitch again after playing on bigger ones our past few games. Once we did settle down though it all just fell into place and every time we had the ball we looked a threat and took a chance on goal. We are definitely seeing our confidence in front of goal grow too which again was highlighted in Sunday's game, shots were taken from a variety of distances and were taken properly rather than hit and hope like they used to be, this ended with 5 brilliantly struck goals and it could very easily have been a higher scoreline if it wasn't for a few post hits and very close calls which unfortunately fell the wrong side of the goal.

It is safe to say that Sunday's game was one of the best I have seen from us this season so far with everything starting to come together that we have been working on over the past few weeks in training and you can't fault any players performance on the day with everyone having a solid game and showing the improvement they have made since the start of the season, to say this is our first season together with some of the results we have been getting it is going to be interesting to see what the remainder of this season and next season is going to hold for us... as all these things start to fall into place we are just getting stronger and stronger so we could see games getting better and better week in week out.

With the end of the season fast approaching it really is all to play for, the Belles are currently sat in 4th in the league just 4 points off 3rd place with 3 games in hand on them. With how games have gone recently though a strong run of results and we could very easily finish in 3rd place, if not higher which would be a huge achievement for our first season. I guess only time will tell for that though and all I can say is I am excited to see what the remainder of the season holds. 

Now is it game day again yet?

Going into the game Wiegman made plenty of changes to her starting line up and we saw Earps & Williamson being among the players getting a rest so it makes you wonder if game time management was a big factor going into the tournament or if it was a case of using these games to try out options within the line up to see who works best in each position and what area needs the most improvement. The best new of the day for me though was seeing Daly starting up front, finally England are using her in the position where they will get the most benefit from her as we know she can score goals. 

England definitely started the game much better than their opener as they seemed to be attacking a lot more and moving the ball around much better, England definitely perform better with fast paced football so this was great to see and they just looked a lot more threatening throughout the opening minutes rather than just sitting back. Italy did show us they weren't just going to sit back though as they forced Roebuck into an early save off the back of a counter attack, something that caused pressure for England throughout the game. 

The game was a bit scrappy for both teams at times with England putting the pressure on Italy you could expect the mistakes and scrappy play from them however, for England the scrappiness just seemed to come from players not used to playing together and trying to find their rhythm as a team. What was good to see though is Italy putting up a fight which led to the game actually being quite end to end at times with both teams pushing for the goals with the belief that they can get them. 

It took until the 32nd minute for England to finally get on the scoreboard and it was no other than Daly who opened the scoring showing us just why she should be considered for an attacking position rather than just defensive, the goal came in from Robinson and Daly's positioning was perfect to send a header into the back of the Italian net. Italy managed to get a rare goal past England in the 62nd minute though when Cantore just managed to get the ball over the England goal line, if goal line technology was in the competition would we have seen this goal stand? Who knows as the ball possibly went out before the cross and then did the whole ball cross the goal line? It was a rare goal conceded for England though and made the game that bit more interesting with the game level. The game didn't stay level for too long those as in the 71st minute Daly got herself on the scoreboard once more with another header goal. The ball into the box was brilliant and found the perfectly positioned Daly who nodded the ball passed the Italian 'keeper once again, the ball was really well worked in the build up to the goal and Daly's positioning once again stood out as she knew exactly where she needed to be.

The first half of this game was definitely a lot better than Thursday's with England starting with much more pace and threat. It was nice to see the rotation of players too as it really give those fringe players the chance to shine and make a case on why they should be on the plane to Australia in the summer, I really don't know how Wiegman is going to pick 23 players too take as the English talent just keeps getting better and better. It was also nice to see Nobbs getting some minutes in an England shirt as she is doing fantastic since her move to Villa and is definitely deserving of the chance to show Wiegman why she should be going to the World Cup in the summer, I just hope this is the start of her very own revenge tour and she stays injury free as she can bring so much to the England team.

England are currently sitting at the top of the table for the Arnold Clark Cup on goal difference and on Wednesday they take on second place Belgium in what is bound to be a good game. Will Belgium cause an upset and win the tournament in this game or will England go all out and comfortably retain the Arnold Clark Cup trophy? I guess we will have to wait and see but all I know is I am looking forward to Wednesday's game a lot as I love watching Belgium play.

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?