Home » Beth Mead is on fire, everyone should be terrified

Beth Mead is on fire, everyone should be terrified

Football, Sports, Women's Euro 2022 / By /
Fans holding up goal signs to celebrate the Lionesses scoring 8 goals against Norway at the Women's Euro 2022

‘We have to keep working on the basics. The fundamental basics of football, of passing to each other I thought was sloppy. We have to start winning games again, and we have to start playing better.’

These were not the words of Martin Sjogren after Norway’s humiliating 8-0 defeat to England under the lights at the AMEX Stadium, but rather, the words of Phil Neville, following a poor 2-1 defeat away in Norway, England’s previous encounter.

Only a few months earlier, he was on top of the world, as England romped to a 3-0 win at a World Cup against the very same opponents, in one of their finest ever tournament performances. Now his world was crumbling around him. England hadn’t won a game since, they were locked in a reversal of fortune with no means of stopping themselves, and they were about to enter a run of form so horrific, it would ultimately lead to the end of his Lioness managerial career.

How quickly fortunes can change.

When Graham Hansen picked off Millie Bright’s poor pass, bypassed Steph Houghton’s tame challenge, and rifled the ball past Ellie Roebuck to complete Norway’s comeback, England looked like a team miles off being able to compete with anyone on the international stage. They lacked the hunger, the fight, the talent, the ability, and the character to impose themselves upon the opposition and triumph over them.

Just 3 years later, and the roles have been reversed to such an astounding degree, it almost defies logic.

We should make things absolutely clear. This is Norway. This isn’t Latvia. This isn’t North Macedonia. This isn’t Luxembourg. This isn’t a team of part-time amateurs representing a country 20 years behind in its development of women’s football, lining up against England like lambs queueing up to enter an abattoir for slaughter. This is Norway. The bridesmaid’s at Germany’s era of dominant weddings with European and World Cup trophies. Frequent finalists and occasional winners. This is a team of pedigree, with history of success that far predates England’s recent rise. And whilst this current side may not hold a candle to the triumphs of their predecessors, they are not without talent. Guro Reiten was a key component of Chelsea’s WSL and FA Cup double winning side. Caroline Graham Hansen had just won the Primera Division with Barcelona by winning every single game. Ada Hegerberg, the first ever Ballon d’Or Féminin winner, had just helped Lyon reclaim the UWCL title. This tournament was supposed to be her moment of glory, returning from her self-imposed international exile, and after coming back from a terrible ACL injury, to lead Norway’s attack once more.

And yet, against England, they were mere statuesque phantoms of the side that had turned over Northern Ireland so comfortably only four days ago. To say England went through them like a knife through butter in a first half of utter devastation would be untrue; butter would have offered greater resistance. Certainly when compared to Thorisdóttir and Blakstad, who practically offered a welcome mat for England to tear through their ranks time and time again. Mead, Hemp, and Kirby were all able to notch assists down Norway’s left flank with consummate ease, and it was only to Norway’s good fortune, and England’s profligacy in front of goal, that it wasn’t more.

In recent years, managers have leant towards moving an attacker into the fullback area, in order to increase the amount of attacking players in the final third. It’s a move England have done by employing Rachel Day at left back, for example. However, the decision by Norway to utilise Blakstad in a similar manner backfired catastrophically. Consistently too high up the pitch, it gifted Mead (and Hemp, when they switched wings), all the room they required to receive balls in behind and send dangerous crosses into the box that Norway just could not deal with. Thorisdóttir had a nightmare of a first half, with Ellen White not giving her a moments rest with her pressing and movement.

Yes, the penalty against her was soft in the extreme (penalty appeals have been turned down for more), but it did not excuse the manner in which Norway imploded immediately afterwards, after having an opening 10 minutes where they at least looked as though they were able to compete at this level. Her misery was highlighted when Mead and White double-teamed her on the edge of the box. A terrible first touch under pressure allowed White to pounce and rob the ball off her. With the Norway shape unable to react to the turnover, she raced through unchallenged to slot past Pettersen to make it 3-0, leaving Pettersen to wonder what on earth her team was doing in front of her. That’s not so say Pettersen was absolved of blame in this performance however, her attempts to save Mead’s header represented that of a scarecrow with gloves filled with straw. And by the time Russo nodded in England’s 7th, it looked like she, and indeed, the rest of the team, had given up. In attack, there was nothing to write about, because nothing happened. Hansen and Hegerberg’s sole moment of notoriety was when their names were flashed on the big screen to indicate they had been substituted. Even manager Martin Sjogren looked lost, frozen on the touchline, seemingly unable to react to the mistakes that were blatant to everyone else in the stadium, unable to conjure a change in tactics, formation or even a substitution, unable to alter a narrative that had become a humiliation by the time England went in at half time 6-0 ahead.

 

As shocking as the Norwegians were, it should take nothing away from a performance so off the scale by England, it more than made up for the lack of one at Old Trafford. From the moment Georgia Stanway slammed home the penalty her side had been ‘gifted’, England clicked. The stage fright that had claimed them in that tense 1-0 opening win against Austria had gone. The shackles were off, the fear dispensed with. Old Trafford was a mere false start, this was England’s true start to Euro 2022.

After watching every other nation put in impressive after impressive performances, such as Germany’s 4-0 dismantling of Denmark, and France’s 5-1 hammering of Italy, the question to England was whether they could match, or even surpass that. They answered those questions and then some in a mesmeric, majestic, magical performance unlike anything the Lionesses (or indeed, the England Men) had offered in tournaments past, which left fans stuck to the ceiling in sheer delight and had ‘Three Lions’ reverberating around the stadium well before the half time whistle.

Fran Kirby, so often the talent unfulfilled for England, looked more at home than she ever had been, dictating attacks with her forward passing and tight interplay. Keira Walsh, the fulcrum of England’s midfield, exploited the gaping holes in the Norwegian defence with her exemplary distribution. When pressed, she was able to twist her way out of danger or find a safe out ball to retain possession. Ellen White looks to have found the form that some feared had deserted her in the build-up to the tournament after scoring a fine brace. With just one goal now separating her from Rooney’s goalscoring record, she needs to keep this form going, not just for the all-time record, but for England’s Euro aspirations. Hemp got herself off the mark as well, which should give her confidence going forward, crucial considering her importance in the side. And then there is Beth Mead…

Leah Williamson celebrating Beth Mead's goal with a kiss on the forehead.
Beth Mead and Leah Williamson. Photo taken from Lionesses Twitter.

The rise of Beth Mead has been nothing short of extraordinary. I’ve not seen a person unlock her potential so impressively since Neo resurrected himself in that hallway within The Matrix. To think that it was only a year ago that Hege Riise, after using her as an experimental right back in training, opted to exclude her from the Team GB Olympic Squad. It was a decision that drew much ire from fans and pundits alike. Yet whilst Team GB suffered in Tokyo in her absence, that professional slight by the Norwegian has provided the catalyst for a new Beth Mead to emerge, that looks completely unstoppable for club and country. Under the tutelage of Jonas Eidevall and Sarina Wiegman, her game has improved beyond compare, oozing confidence on the pitch with her speed, her skill, and her finishing. Jonas spoke after the game about instructing Beth in training to take on her player, not stop and pass the ball on, encouraging her to embrace the skills she has been blessed with. Lioness fans should be grateful they now have a manager that recognises, rather than shuns, her blatant talents, and that night there were there for all to see.

The irony of it being against Norway, of all teams, was not lost on those fortunate enough to observe her dismantle a side many had pinned as dark horses prior to the start of the Euros. She had the entire Norwegian defence in the palm of her hand for the entire 90 minutes and exploited her power over them by dancing through the static backline to make it 5-0. It was a commanding, dominant display that deserved the honour of a hat-trick, and it was achieved with less than 10 minutes to go. Walsh’s deflected strike was only parried by Pettersen, gifting the alert Mead the chance to gobble up the rebound and round off a Lioness performance for the ages. Ellen White expressed her relief in her post match interview that such a talent was in their corner and having witnessed the devastation she created from the safety of the stands, you could understand why. Beth Mead is on fire. Everyone should be terrified.

 

Written by Adam Salter

Thanks for reading.

Check out more Women’s Euro 2022 articles by clicking here.

Follow Sporting Her on social media:  Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Youtube

Check out some of our latest articles