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Leah Williamson admits England have ‘underachieved’ in recent major tournaments but believes the Arnold Clark Cup can be used as a springboard to win big games ahead of the summer Euros
- England will take on Canada, Spain and Germany in the Arnold Clark Cup
- Arsenal’s Leah Williamson will captain the Lionesses for the entire tournament
- Williamson admits England have struggled in their recent major tournaments
- The defender believes the Arnold Clark Cup can help them win the Euros
Leah Williamson has admitted England have ‘under-achieved’ in previous tournaments but believes their Arnold Clark Cup campaign will be the perfect preparation for this summer’s Euros.
The Lionesses will face sides ranked in the world’s top 10 for the first time under Sarina Wiegman with games against Canada, Spain and Germany in the space of six days.
England have won all of their games under the Dutch coach so far and are yet to concede a goal. But their record against the better teams has been poor since their exit from the 2019 World Cup.
Leah Williamson has admitted England have ‘under-achieved’ in previous tournaments
England struggled at the SheBelievesCup and Williamson’s Team GB did the same in Tokyo
Team GB, which included several England players, were beaten by Australia in the quarter-final at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 SheBelievesCup saw them defeated by Spain and the United States. Since then, there have been friendly defeats against France and Canada.
But Williamson, who has been named captain for the tournament, believes the squad are in a better place to compete against the top teams.
‘The dynamic of the team has changed a little bit. We’ve realised as a team that we’ve ultimately underachieved in the last few tournaments and I think everybody wants to turn that around,’ Williamson said.
Williamson will captain England against Canada, Spain and Germany in the Arnold Clark Cup
‘There’s more of a collective push to reach the next standard. That is bringing out the best in everybody.
‘I think it’s some of the most competitive training I’ve been involved in for a long time here. The fight for positions, the fight to reach your potential, it’s all tying in nicely.
‘We’re going into the tournament to win it, you don’t enter one not to. It’s the first one so we’ll see what happens but we definitely want to make it ours, for sure. It’s perfect preparation for the summer. It’s a little taster for everyone.’
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