The final battle: How can England and Germany exploit each other weaknesses to lift the Women’s EURO 2022 trophy – tactical preview

England will be facing Germany for the Women’s Euro 2022 final at the glorious Wembley Stadium in an unprecedented event in women’s football. It is true that both teams met each other in a UEFA Euro final before, and that was in Finland where Germany beat the Lionesses 2-6 in 2009. That was the only time both teams faced each other in a Euro final. In fact, Germany have got an advantage over England in terms of the historical record and footballing traditions when it comes to Euros participation and successes.

The team owns the European record since they won eight Euro titles so far, while they were successful in getting six consecutive championships from 1995 to 2013. These are huge numbers that highlight Germany’s great achievements in women’s football especially when it comes to their national team. They will do their best in order to maintain and enhance their records as they will strive to make up for their “disappointing” Euro 2017 performance in which they finished fifth and get back to their winning ways.

On the other side, England are looking to win their first ever Euro trophy especially when everything looks like it is going their way and when they are playing at their home nation. This will give an extra boost to the players who have already proved how much this tournament means to them as they didn’t get confused or stressed with the huge number of supporters present in each England game.

On the contrary, they showed great concentration and belief in their abilities and that mentality allowed them to reach the final and exclude numerous excellent opponents such as Spain and Sweden. It is true that the Lionesses have never lifted this Euro trophy before, but they reached the final twice and failed to win. They do believe that this third time can represent the adequate opportunity to actually do it and consolidate all of their previous convincing performances in this tournament. But to achieve that, they will have to overcome a strong German side.

In this tactical analysis article, we will look at what is expected from both teams in this match and how will they both line up as well as what they need to do from a tactical perspective in order to win the game. This can only be known by studying their tactics through this analysis and identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

A battle of 4-2-3-1/4-3-3

Under Sarina Wiegman, England looked in great shape when playing according to the 4-2-3-1 formation which gave a lot of balance to the whole team whether it be in defence, attack or midfield. Playing with both Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh gave a lot of stability to the side and not only protected the defensive line but also gave some freedom to Fran Kirby in the final third and to both wingers.

At the same time, both Stanway and Walsh became active players when in possession and are considered by Wiegman as the main initiators of attacks. Walsh is often responsible for the tempo of the game and for switching the ball smoothly and accurately from side to side while Stanway has got more offensive duties as she often advances and provides passes to the right winger, crosses by herself or shoots when she finds a suitable opportunity, such as the one she had against Spain at the 96^th minute.

Moreover, Wiegman has got a lot of options for the second half and that squad depth has been one of England’s most useful strengths during this tournament. Subbing players like Manchester United forward Ella Toone, Alessia Russo, Manchester City winger Chloe Kelly and Alex Greenwood on has always made the difference and gave a boost to the whole team especially when in complicated situations such as in the quarter-final against Spain. England will aim at avoiding such a scenario though as it would make things much riskier against a solid team like Germany.

The expected England formation will therefore be like the following: Mary Earps as a goalkeeper, Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Leah Williamson, and Rachel Daly in defence. A double pivot composed of Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh, Bethany Mead and Lauren Hemp as wingers, Chelsea attacker Fran Kirby as an advanced playmaker and Ellen White as a striker.

Wiegman can also make a slight change in her formation by switching to the 4-3-3 formation and making Kirby retreat to being a central midfielder alongside Stanway and Walsh especially if Germany finds a lot of space in that area.

And as you can see in the following formations picture, Wiegman usually switches wingers during the game and it is very probable that it will happen again against Germany in order to try to confuse their defence and try new things during the game itself as both Mead and Hemp learned how to be dangerous from both wings.

On the other side, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg will most likely be relying on the 4-2-3-1 formation as well despite the fact that she used the 4-3-3 formation too in this tournament. In fact, Voss-Tecklenburg can switch between the 4-3-3 and the 4-2-3-1 during the game depending on what she wants from her players in midfield. This concerns mainly Lina Magull who will be positioned either as a central midfielder or as an advanced playmaker just behind the striker.

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