Chelsea FC Women’s top goal creator Erin Cuthbert spent much of her Women’s World Cup opener waiting for the pass that never came. Scotland did not make the best use of Cuthbert’s ability to attack England’s isolated centre-backs.
Scotland created many moments against England that would look very familiar to Chelsea fans, and not always in a good way. For the first half of their Women’s World Cup opener, Scotland made no allotment for England’s major advantage in individual and team quality.
Scotland started the game with their usual high defensive line and energetic high press. This knocked England back for the first 10 minutes of the game, perhaps giving Scotland a false sense of control. After that opening period, England quickly figured out how to take advantage of the spaces Scotland vacated, creating overloads and setting up 1v1’s at will. Up 1-0 on a 14′ pen, the game looked like it could be 3-0 after 20 minutes and, oh I don’t know, 6-0 by the final whistle.
But England’s dominance did Scotland a favour. By pinning them back and controlling possession, England forced Scotland into the compact disciplined shape they seemed unwilling to implement on their own. Coming out in the second half, Scotland maintained their squad and shape but tightened up through the midfield, allowing them to come into the game by the hour mark and make for a tight finish.
Once England took the lead and overall control in the 14′, the game started to resemble a different fixture between Chelsea and Manchester City. Not only did the pass and possession stats mirror that widely misunderstood 2017 game under Antonio Conte, but Erin Cuthbert’s lonely role atop Scotland’s 4-5-1 resembled Eden Hazard’s in Conte’s 5-4-1.
Cuthbert led Scotland’s press for the early stages of the first half. For the remainder of the game, Cuthbert became the single point of pressure and harassment on England’s centrebacks whenever the Lionesses cycled the ball back through their deep defenders.
This brought Cuthbert several times into close quarters charging down her Chelsea FCW teammate, Millie Bright. England had more than enough available players and space that, even with Cuthbert scrambling around midfield, she was never able to close down the ball.
Scotland did not make the best use of Cuthbert in that solitary position. Cuthbert was always one pass from being in 1v1 or, at worst, 1v2 against England’s back line, a battle she would almost certainly win.
The one time Cuthbert was able to run onto a ball and battle Millie Bright shoulder-to-shoulder, Bright ended up on the ground and Cuthbert was looking for a teammate coming into the zone to continue the play. Unfortunately, Bright landed awkwardly and came off a few minutes later.
Scotland seemed rigidly dogmatic about playing the ball out from the back, even when under a smothering England counter-press. Seven or eight England players would be pressing the ball or moving into position to convert a pass off the turnover. Cuthbert was waiting for someone to boot the ball towards her, but that pass never came. Only once in 90 minutes did a Scotland player send a ball over the middle third to catch Cuthbert in stride.
Cuthbert’s role in Scotland’s gameplan was just as confusing in possession. Once Scotland broke through England’s counter-press, Cuthbert dropped deep towards the ball carrier. As the play move towards the top of England’s box, Cuthbert stayed in the deeper role while one Scotland winger would come in and one midfield would push up towards England’s defensive line. This was more of a true false-nine than when Eden Hazard plays that role at Chelsea, but Scotland did not have the presence on the wings to compensate for the space centrally.
Cuthbert, who had been the tip of the spear on the counter-attack Scotland never unleashed, was in the reserve train once Scotland had the ball in the final third.
Erin Cuthbert scored eight goals and five assists last season for Chelsea FCW, matching Bethany England’s 12 goals and one assist for the team lead of 13 goals created. She should be right in the mix of whatever offence Scotland hopes to create in this tournament.
However, that offence will not happen if Scotland has any sort of ideological hang-ups about hoofing a long-ball from a defender under pressure towards a highly-talented, pacey, aggressive forward.
If anything, that should be their plan. Scotland are in their first Women’s World Cup. They opened against England, one of the favourites. An unsophisticated Route One pass could have sent Cuthbert in for a smash-and-grab goal, the kind one side of her club have used to win more than a few trophies.
Even so, Scotland will take a lot of pride from keeping the margin so close. After the game, Cuthbert said:
"The strides we’ve taken from the last time we played England and lost 6-0 [at the 2017 Euros] to now are absolutely massive. We have to take that going forward and by no means is this group over. – BBC"
Bouncing back from a 6-0 loss with a more respectable loss? Told you there would be a lot of familiar aspects for Chelsea fans.