How England can build a winning camp at the 2023 Women’s World Cup

Yankey, with 129 England caps to her name, has experience of World Cup camps on the other side of the world and – speaking in association with Freebets Football – told GOAL of what the class of 2023 can expect: “I saw their training sessions and they have got about 300 people watching, so I don’t think there will be a problem with support! The language is obviously not a problem, there is no barrier there. We went out to the China World Cup and it was all very, very different, but a fantastic experience.

“What the players will have to manage is the travelling, after games and the distance that they will have to travel, but the structure - they have got so many backroom staff, so many people with the knowledge of how to recover and the best equipment. I think they are in a really good place. If you look at the squad, they have got such a mixture of younger players and experienced players, so I think there will be a freshness to the squad. The things that in the past would have been a worry, I don’t think they are any more.”

While talent will get the eventual winners of any competition over the line, character is also required in abundance. Yankey admits that England will need big personalities to deliver on and off the pitch in order for a first World Cup crown to be captured in 2023. She added: “I have always said that the biggest thing about tournament football is that the team that will ultimately go on and win the tournament is the team that gets it right on the days that you aren’t playing, the rest days or training. The team that can have the best spirit, because match days take care of themselves.

“The XI that are playing are happy, you have to make sure that the subs are happy and the players that are not involved – the player that doesn’t kick a ball. Beth England in the Euros didn’t kick a ball, but after every game she was running on that pitch celebrating with everybody and you would never have known. It is players like that you need around your squad because if one person gets a down day or an off day and it leads to another and another, then you have a problem in your squad.

“You really need to make sure that everybody understands their role, their responsibility within the squad and their value. These are really important things and they are nothing about kicking a ball! If you get that right, then when they go onto the pitch that’s the easy part because that’s what you have been practising your whole life to do. You have to make sure that you give everything that you’ve got and then the manager makes subs and you take your chances when you get them.

“The hard thing is making sure that the team stays together, the team stays happy, jolly. Yes, you take Ellen White out and look at her goals, but also her personality. People like Jill Scott, some of the best players to be around. I know Jill is out at the tournament doing the Lionesses Live – which is clever, taking a player like that because they are in and around the squad, the players know you and like you and it’s something different to break up the atmosphere of being in that bubble and forgetting that there is real life happening outside of your World Cup walls. They will have to manage that and get that right, but they know that. Sarina Wiegman knows that and I’m sure that is something that has been worked on in previous squads and is why the Netherlands and England have won tournaments.”

England will be without their Euros and Finalissima-winning captain, Leah Williamson, for the World Cup finals – with the Arsenal star nursing knee ligament damage. Yankey is, however, confident that the Lionesses have enough leaders in their group to cope with the armband being passed on. She said when asked if others can step up: “Yeah, I think so. In the Euros, yes, Leah wore the armband, but I definitely think that Millie Bright, Lucy Bronze, they would have taken leading roles within that team. Alex Greenwood, these are players that have so much fight within them and are so liked by the squad, they are listened to by the squad. It would surprise me if they weren’t big leaders and characters in there.”

England had the opportunity to draft a former skipper back into their plans – one that could also have filled in for Williamson at centre-half – but decided against handing a recall to Lionesses legend Steph Houghton. Pressed on whether that decision came as a surprise, Yankey – who once played alongside the long-serving Manchester City star – said: “Yeah, to be honest. When you get injuries in terms of Leah and then you look at some of the defenders and the inexperience of some of those that have been picked and the experience that Steph has, it was a bit of a surprise to me. But I’m not the manager, I don’t know what she sees and how she wants to build and mould the team.

“Those things are important. I’m sure there were valid reasons in terms of why Steph wasn’t picked. But if Steph was in that squad, I would have no doubts that she would have done a fantastic job and would have been able to play 90 minutes game after game. I know her mentality, her professionalism, she keeps herself fit and sharp. She finished the season really well for Manchester City, so it’s a shame with her qualities of leading and being a force in the team to push players on, but I’ve missed out before in previous tournaments and it’s the manager’s choice – you can’t do anything about that.”

One player that formed part of England’s defensive unit at the Euros last summer was Rachel Daly, but the Aston Villa star is now shining as a centre-forward. It has been some transformation for the 2022 WSL Golden Boot winner – as she now fills the No.9 shirt for her country – but not one that has surprised Yankey. She said of Daly going from back to front: “She can do a fantastic job at full-back, but I always felt that she is a forward. It’s great to have players like that within your squad because it gives you flexibility.

“She is a player – she’s said it before – that is happy to play wherever, so obviously a good team player. Some of the goals she scored at Aston Villa were outstanding – one touch finishes, instinctive. That’s what you need when you play in a World Cup. Opportunities may be rare so you need someone that is off the cuff, sees the goal and is so instinctive. Also the confidence that I’m sure she will have going into this from how she finished the season, wanting to be that No.9, wanting to prove a point. It’s always a positive when you have got players like that, because they are a bit more fired up.”

Daly is one of those being charged with the task of providing attacking spark for England, alongside Arsenal’s latest signing Alessia Russo. They are looking to fill some big boots, with the prolific records boasted by the likes of Kelly Smith and Ellen White now a thing of the past, Yankey, a former forward herself, said of the challenge facing the Lionesses’ group of strikers: “I would put Beth England in there as well because I think she’s a fantastic goalscorer. The way that the team plays actually suits her. If you have Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly, two wingers that like to cross, I think Beth England is fantastic in the air. The goals that she scored were for a Tottenham side that definitely wasn’t firing on all cylinders, so she would be a player that I would definitely throw into the mix.

“You look at the goals that Ellen White gave the team, but actually the work rate that she gave the team as well. Out of the three, I would say that Beth England is probably the most Ellen White-ish player in terms of what she would give the team. But, this World Cup – different to the Euros – maybe we will be looking at Sarina Wiegman looking at the opponent and setting up a team for the opponent, rather than just sticking with one.”