World Cup NOW: Can England continue success amid latest key injury?

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England vs. Denmark Recap | World Cup NOW England vs. Denmark Highlights

England defeated Denmark on Friday with a 1-0 victory and is in the driver’s seat for advancing from Group D into the knock-out stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

England put up their lone goal moments into the match with a flawless strike from Lauren James, but also saw star midfielder Keira Walsh exit the match with an injury.

Following the win, the “World Cup NOW” crew — Jimmy Conrad, Freya Coombe, Kate Gill and Leslie Osborne — discuss England’s performance and the potentially devastating injury to Walsh.

England vs. Denmark Recap | World Cup NOW

Conrad: “Let’s talk about Keira Walsh because she was someone we talked about heavily in the pregame show. She comes off with what looks like a significant knee injury, mouthed to some of her teammates that she tore her knee. She didn’t want anyone around her when it happens and you can sense her frustration. We are seeing it right now. She ends up getting stretchered off, I think she knows she is going to be out for a significant amount of time. Right when this started to happen, I think Denmark started to find their way into the game. They bring on a player in Bronze who has five caps for the English national team and is 32. Eight years ago she got called back in and she was going to get overrun, that’s a big ask of anybody at that point whether it’s her or anybody else to jump in. But how significant is this loss because it had a lot of injuries and is this injury too big to overcome to actually win this tournament?”

Coombe: “It’s a big ask, I think they need to look at whether they are going to stick with having a single pivot or one six in there or whether they are going to change a little bit and go with a one ten and just having a double pivot to just give a little more protection.”

Conrad: “Explain the double pivot.”

England vs. Denmark Highlights

Coombe: “England playing with Keira Walsh is one 6, so they’re asking – having one defensive midfielder then Keira Walsh, maybe put two in so you don’t have to do as much left to right and you’ve got two options to build out. It firms that up defensively and gives them more numbers and protects the center of the pack.”

Osborne: “This is a devasting loss for England. You could see it on her face. For any of us who have torn their ACL, she knew right away. You hear that pop and you’re like ‘I did it. ‘Don’t baby me, don’t talk to me, don’t tell me it’s going to be okay. It’s not going to be okay.’ Not only does this team not know how to play as well with her, she’s played every competitive game for England since September 2021. She is a massive leader on the field. Everything goes through her, she connects everything, and I think It’s interesting to see who stepped up in the moment and whose going to help step up going forward — is it going to be a Lucy Bronze, a Rachel Daly, a Millie Bright. Because they were lacking. I think the person that can put their foot on the ball and start to dictate the tempo and start to have some cohesion. I thought they looked fragmented the moment she left the field. And to be able to respond in time, to your best player (I think), go down like that and know that she’s done, she’s out – that is very hard to respond to and I think your leaders really need to step up, calm your team down and continue that level and that’s very hard to do.”

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