England Crushes Netherlands: “Authentic English Performance” in Euro 2025

England Thrash the Netherlands: “A Genuine English Performance”

Zürich – The Lionesses, led by coach Sarina Wiegman and her players, celebrated a performance they called “a true England” after their resounding 4-0 victory against the Netherlands in Zurich on Wednesday. England, after the initial defeat against France, reacted spectacularly to keep their hopes of advancing to the knockout phase of Euro 2025 alive with a dominant victory. A brace from Lauren James, along with goals from Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone, sealed the victory. The team responded perfectly to the disappointment suffered against France.

There are always skeptics. We don’t listen to them. We have that belief in the team. We know we have talent, but it’s about showing it on the field. It was a true English display.

Ella Toone

Toone added: “I think we put them under pressure from the start and didn’t let up until the end. It’s definitely a performance we can be proud of and hopefully we can take that into the game against Wales.” Bronze echoed her words, with Alessia Russo commenting: “I think ‘authentic English’ for us means that we will work hard, we will work until we can’t run anymore. We will stick together. And we know that we are also very dominant with the ball. So I think, going back to that, that is our standard, and that is our DNA as a team, and we definitely saw that today, from the first minute to the end. Everyone worked very hard.” “We were really dominant on first and second plays, picking up the balls in the correct areas and being precise with the opportunities we had. We probably could have scored even more too. It was definitely something we wanted, to get back to our roots, and we know we are capable of performances like that.” Wiegman explained that the phrase “authentic England” is something the players have introduced to summarize the group’s mentality. “Yes, the players use that phrase a lot now. I think we started using it when we played against Portugal and drew, and then we played against Spain, and at that moment, it was really about unity and fighting.” “There are moments in the game when you have to do that, but at the same time, when you have possession, for me it’s important that the passes we make have a purpose, and today the purpose was really seen in every pass we made, and for me, that is also ‘authentic England’.”

England’s coach, Sarina Wiegman, made key tactical adjustments, including relocating James to the right wing, incorporating Toone into the midfield, and changes in defense with Jess Carter and Alex Greenwood. “The priority was that we wanted to jump and exploit the space,” said Wiegman. “Netherlands went ahead, so we wanted to surpass them. That worked very well. When you are in their half of the field, you can start playing. We had some good crosses and we also talked about that.” England was aware that a defeat against the Netherlands would likely mean the end of their participation in the tournament. Wiegman admitted that she had difficult moments after the defeat against France, but she was confident that the team would reverse the situation. “It was difficult for me too, of course,” said Wiegman. “I always knew before this tournament that it was a very difficult group. It can happen, but then you have to win the other matches. So yes, I was excited, but at the same time I also felt a little tense. I think that’s completely normal and you really want to stay in the tournament, so you want to win.” “We also know that the Netherlands is a good team. I just had to focus on my work, review well and think about how we could bring people together.”