Phil Neville says he ‘expected’ England to thrash France, as Lionesses kick off SheBelieves Cup campaign
Strikes from Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and Jodie Taylor had the Lionesses flying before Fran Kirby’s goal just after the restart placed a truly emphatic nature on the scoreline
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Your support makes all the difference.Phil Neville knew it was coming.
As the third goal of an electric start to his England reign flew past the French goalkeeper, the 41 year-old turned to his bench and unleashed some high-fives.
The delight was obvious. Yet Neville wasn’t surprised.
“To be honest, I expected it, “ he said. “I expected us to play well and so did the players.
“I spoke to Lucy Bronze on the training ground the other day and because she plays in France with these players, I wanted her to say a few words, to give her thoughts and she stood up in the dressing room and said ‘if we play well, to our potential, we will thrash this lot.”
And so it proved.
Strikes from Toni Duggan, Jill Scott and Jodie Taylor had the Lionesses flying with just 38 minutes on the clock before Fran Kirby’s goal just after the restart placed a truly emphatic nature on the scoreline which wasn’t soured by Gaetane Thiney’s deflected 77th minute consolation.
Some couldn’t believe France, who won the SheBelieves Cup last year, were being torn apart with such rare abandon. They are a team in transition yet Neville’s Lionesses are on a mission.
The World Cup next summer is the aim and , on this impressive , attacking evidence, it could be coming home.
Dan Ashworth, the FA’s Technical Director was on hand here to witness Neville’s big moment first hand. He would have been impressed.
The idea behind Neville’s appointment was to put an end to the dogmatic style harnessed under Mark Sampson and produce the kind of exciting , vibrant football needed if the likes of reigning world champions the USA and Germany are to be put to the sword.
“It’s only a start, that’s all it is,” said the former Manchester United midfielder.
“But it couldn’t have gone much better.”
After all the acrimony surrounding Neville’s appointment, this result was the perfect riposte.
Despite howling winds and rain here, England kept their nerve and passed the French off the park. This was just the second English win over a France team in 44 years. It was done with a good dash of panache too.
“I think the biggest thing is, since I’ve got the job, I’ve spoken about us playing a certain style of football. You can practice on the training ground, you can talk about things for as long as you like, but it’s up to the players to deliver and they did that, “ added Neville who flew with the squad to New Jersey this morning ahead of Sunday’s game against Germany.
“For 38 minutes they delivered a style of football I was really enjoying to watch. As a manager, you rarely are at a moment where you are enjoying the game because you are always thinking about what ifs scenarios and things about certain players.
“But there was a period of about 10 or 12 minutes when I was just sat back enjoying the way we played, enjoying seeing us put all the things we have worked on into practice.
“They took everything in I wanted them to and they did really well.
“I’m saying for 38 minutes but I definitely want more because there was a seven-minute spell at the end of the first half when we were all over the place. I wasn’t pleased with them at all. They were 3-0 up against the French and that is a position they had never been in before.
“We were probably celebrating thinking we had made it. In the next seven minutes we lost our shape completely, could have conceded a goal and we lost all our discipline.
“We addressed that at half time and they came out and scored another goal at the start of the second half and it was always going to be difficult at 4-0 to maintain the rhythm of the game. They got a goal at the end, which the players weren’t happy with, but it was a convincing win.
“Now there have been times when England players have thought the French are on a different level to them, but there is an inner belief now and this result gives us even more belief. They have shown they can beat one of the best teams convincingly."
The Germans were disappointing in the second match with the USA deserving a win thanks to Megan Rapinoe's 17th minute strike in a game which simply failed to ignite and warm a crowd of 14,591 who were chilled to the bone.
Nevertheless, neither are being discounted.
“There are bigger tests to come, " stressed Neville.
"In the grand scheme of things, the bigger games are to come against number one and number two in the world. I set the team a challenge at the start to win all three games so we still have work to do. "
“We have to play like that against Germany and play that style of football against the best team in the world. France are not the best team in the world but I think we have taken a major step forward.”
The only negative was a suspected knee injury for Anita Asante , the Chelsea defender, who was forced off injured after just 13 minutes of her first game since 2015.
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