SheBelieves Cup 2020: Japan vs England – tactical analysis

With both sides having lost their opening matches of the tournament, it was crucial for both to get on the board as soon as possible in the SheBelieves Cup. That made for a really intriguing match, to see who would be the one to blink first. This tactical analysis will show how there were very good reasons for the half-time score reading 0-0, and how England needed to change their tactics in the second half, to ensure that they came out on top at full time. The analysis will also show why Japan were unable to score in either half and why they were the ones to concede in the second half.

Lineups

Japan                                                                                                   England

S. Ikeda                                                                                                       E. Roebuck

R. Shimizu                                                                                                  R. Daly

M. Doko                                                                                                       S. Houghton

S. Miyake                                                                                                    M. Bright

A. Miyagawa                                                                                              D. Stokes

Y. Momiki                                                                                                   K. Walsh

H. Sugita                                                                                                     C. Kelly

N. Miura                                                                                                     J. Nobbs

E. Nakajima                                                                                               G. Stanway

M. Iwabuchi                                                                                               L. Hemp

M. Tanaka                                                                                                   B. England

England made six changes from their opening round defeat to the United States, with goalkeeper Carly Telford being replaced by Ellie Roebuck, whilst in defence, Rachel Daly and Demi Stokes swapped with Leah Williamson and Alex Greenwood in the full-back positions. In midfield, Nikita Parris and Jill Scott both moved to the bench, with Jordan Nobbs coming in to make a three-player midfield, whilst strikers Chloe Kelly and Beth England started alongside Lauren Hemp. It was Nikita Parris and Ellen White who made way for them.

Japan also made six changes to the side that lost 3-1 to Spain. Sakiko Ikeda replaced Ayaka Yamashita in goal, whilst Saki Kumagai, Moeka Minami, Jun Endo, Mayu Ikejiri, and Yuika Sugasawa all dropped to the bench. In came Mayo Doko, Shiori Miyake, Asato Miyagawa, Yuka Momiki and Mina Tanaka to take their places.

Englands defensive structure

England’s defensive structure was organised and set up really well, with three clear ranks in place. They were also positioned narrowly, with their tactics clearly being to force Japan to play outside them, and try and open them up that way, which is much more difficult to do.

You can also see in this image how, in the attack, Beth England was further forward, meaning that Englands set up had a prong at the end of it. This meant that England were able to cover more ground, taking more away from Japan. It also was another way of England forcing Japan to play the ball into wider areas, and move it up the pitch through those channels because that served the same purpose as England setting up narrowly. The whole plan was to stop Japan using the middle of the pitch to advance up.

England’s main problem has been defending in recent matches, and these tactics were perhaps a way of addressing this. It has been interesting to see head coach Phil Neville playing around with his defence, obviously looking at who works best with who. Again, this is clearly him attempting to fix England’s biggest problem at the moment.

The resu