At the top of a hill overlooking the pretty city of Zurich sits an exceptionally fancy five-star hotel that resembles a Disney castle.
It entertains some of Switzerland’s highest rollers but for the next few weeks it is home to the current champions of Europe, The Lionesses.
England have taken over a wing of the Dolder Grand, which is where Sarina Wiegman has been cooking up schemes to make sure her team win back-to-back European Championships.
Preparations for their opener have been shrouded in secrecy, with cameras and outsiders kept away for most of the last three weeks.
Every team on the continent knows most of England’s preferred starting line-up. What Wiegman’s been working on is making sure her side are tactically, creatively and physically the best in the competition.
England have started their two previous major tournaments in an uninspiring manner with ponderous 1-0 wins over Austria at the last Euros and Haiti at the 2023 World Cup.
France, one of the tournament contenders, stand in their way this time. A slow start will be punished by one of the best in Europe.
Wiegman is relishing taking on another team in the world’s top 10 so early in the tournament, offering fighting words when we spoke at the team’s base earlier this week.
“We know their strengths but we also think they have some weakness and we’ll try to exploit that,” she said.
That’s the confidence winning in major tournaments brings.
England don’t fear their highly-rated opponents, who are stacked with attacking talent.
You only need to watch the Nations League defeat to Spain last month or the way Germany scored so easily at Wembley last year to figure out one of the areas England will have been working on.
Their defence is loaded with experience but finding the right balance across the back four, especially in the absence of Millie Bright, is the highest priority given France’s attacking threats.
The other major factor is figuring out how best to utilise the talents of Lauren James.
Lauren James will be key, former England international Claire Rafferty tells Sky Sports
Her brief cameo against Jamaica showed she hasn’t missed a beat despite missing three months with a hamstring injury.
Even if she is fully fit, what is her best position in Wiegman’s system? Is it out wide instead of Beth Mead or Chloe Kelly? If she plays in the centre of the field then does that affect the balance Ella Toone brings alongside Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh?
James is likely to be a substitute given her recent lack of game-time but Wiegman will be delighted they have such a creative player to call on in what could be an even game.
Defeat for either England or France will mean qualifying for the knockout stages gets that much tougher with Netherlands and Wales hoping to take advantage.
Wiegman says she’s in Switzerland for “one thing” and that’s to win the Euros. We’ll have a better idea of whether that’s possible after Saturday night’s showdown in Zurich.
This news was originally published on this post .
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