Talking Tactics: How Lionesses can find their killer instinct

England scraped past Haiti in their World Cup opener with Georgia Stanway's retaken penalty earning a 1-0 win.

The reigning European champions' overall performance was largely lacklustre, so manager Sarina Wiegman will be keen to spark her team back into life. 

With Denmark next to come, we take a look at how Wiegman can reignite England's goalscoring form.

Open-play goal drought

England scored 80 goals in 10 World Cup qualifying games, comfortably more than any other European team. 

But they have not found the net from open play since the 23rd minute of the Finalissima against Brazil in April. 

The three games since have seen them fire blanks in successive friendlies against Australia and Portugal before the clash with Haiti, where their only goal came from the spot.

Ruthlessness

Wiegman believes a lack of cutting edge is costing her team, who took 21 shots and hit the target 11 times against Haiti. 

She said: "I would say [we were missing] ruthlessness [against Haiti]. It's easy to say, so what does that mean, ruthlessness? 

"I think sometimes the connections with the cross, the timing of the cross, where the cross actually ends in the penalty box, then the connection in front of the goal, little things like that. At the end, you hope it goes in."

Tempo and rhythm

The England manager believes her team can help themselves by playing more quickly. 

She said: "We were slow to start, but on the other hand we could've scored early in the game. 

"What we said at half-time was we wanted to speed up the game, to play with a higher speed of the ball. 

"There were opportunities to play through the first press on the side and to play into [Alessia] Russo."

Alternative options

England are blessed with a talented squad and in games where the Lionesses need to score more urgently — they were ahead before the half-hour mark against Haiti — Wiegman has plenty of high-quality alternatives she can introduce against tired legs. 

Alessia Russo's contributions off the bench proved important at Euro 2022 and WSL Golden Boot winner Rachel Daly (22 goals in 2022-23) could perform a similar function — particularly as she offers a more direct threat. 

Lauren James' dribbling is another useful weapon to have in reserve and Wiegman may even choose to call on one or both from the start at some stage.

Growing into the tournament

Stanway was keen to remind any doubters that England still have room to grow into this World Cup. 

She said: "I think it takes a little bit to find your feet. Coming into a major tournament, the pressure is high and the build-up is so long. 

"You need those few minutes to get yourself into the game and settle, but once we did you could see the qualities that we have." 

England's first game at Euro 2022 was a nervy 1-0 win over Austria before they exploded into life, beating Norway 8-0 in their second outing and claiming a 5-0 victory over Northern Ireland. 

With Wiegman at the helm, the Lionesses will feel confident of rediscovering their roar.