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Greek takeaways: What did we learn from Lionesses' win? - Published England came away from Greece with a valuable first-leg lead in their Women's World Cup qualifying play-off - but what did we learn? Sarina Wiegman's side are looking to secure their place in Brazil next year but have to navigate the play-offs after finishing runners-up in their qualification group. The back-to-back European champions won 3-1 in Crete on Friday night and will need to finish the job against Greece on Tuesday in Leicester (19:30 BST). The winner of the tie faces Ukraine or Slovakia in round two to decide who will head to Brazil. Le Tissier takes her opportunity Lucy Bronze withdrew from the squad with a minor injury earlier this week, handing a rare opportunity to Manchester United captain Maya le Tissier. The defender is a key player for her club but struggles to break into the England team with Bronze understandably a tough figure to displace. Wiegman sees Le Tissier as a right-back as opposed to a centre-back - which is her position at United - and that meant she was handed a start against Greece. Making her 15th cap, Le Tissier was a standout performer and was rewarded with her first international goal in the 63rd minute, providing optimism for a future without 34-year-old Bronze. "As soon as we were in possession, she was higher on the pitch and she already came close to a couple of moments with crosses," said Wiegman. "I'm very happy for her and for the whole team because that was an important goal." Sloppiness creeps in again It was just England's third win in their past eight competitive away games. A 3-1 victory is a pleasing result, but given the gulf in class, Wiegman admitted frustrations at not keeping a clean sheet. There were familiar lapses in concentration defensively that gave Greece opportunities to pounce. Ioanna Papatheodorou struck the crossbar in the first half, before teeing up Kallisti Brouksair for their goal later on. Those chances came from England errors and the lack of clean sheet means the door remains open for Greece in the second leg. "That's up to us. We have to show up on Tuesday, play a good game and then we should be better than Greece," said Wiegman. "Of course we want to take some more distance [in the scoreline], that's absolutely true, but at the same time we won and that's the most important thing. "Sometimes we played really well and sometimes we were a bit sloppy. We were a bit frustrated as we wanted to do that better. "We want to show more than winning, we want to play really well too." A glimpse of the future With victory secure, Wiegman was able to hand a debut to 18-year-old Erica Meg Parkinson, as well as Liverpool captain Grace Fisk. Fisk, 28, had waited more than six years for her debut, having received her first England call-up in 2020 but Parkinson has broken through at pace this season. The teenager was unexpectedly named in Wiegman's squad in March, having only made the jump up to England's Under-23s a few months earlier. She secured a move to the United States this summer, joining North Carolina Courage from Portuguese side Valadares Gaia, and came on in the 85th minute. This week defender Esme Morgan said: "She's a really intelligent player. She has incredibly good movement and timing, picking up pockets for players to find her. "She's really comfortable receiving [the ball] in tight spaces, she's strong holding off players, very aggressive in her tackling and wins back a lot of balls. "I've been really impressed with Erica since she came into camp and also from playing against her in the National Women's Soccer League." - Why England teenager Parkinson has a mindset coach - Published21 July Who is England's number 10? Parkinson's debut added to the debate of who Wiegman's preferred number 10 is. She is one of many options available, including Chelsea forward Lauren James, who was given a creative, free role against Greece. James showed flashes of quality and nonchalantly lobbed goalkeeper Fafailia Petaloti from 30 yards in the first half, but her effort was ruled out for offside. Other options include Manchester City's Grace Clinton and Manchester United's Ella Toone, who were both recalled to the squad to cover injuries with Aston Villa's Lucia Kendall among those to drop out. Laura Blindkilde Brown started in that position with James in Crete, while Beth Mead and Jess Park have also played there before. The position was a difficult one for Wiegman to nail down at Euro 2025 and more than a year later, the question of who is England's best number 10 remains. "I see there is a lot of competition in that position, where we have a lot of options with different players, who have different qualities," said Wiegman. "You can call it a question mark but I call it many options. Today we had two 10s and sometimes three. [James] was one of them." Job done in strange circumstances Local media had questioned why the game wasn't being played in Greece's capital city Athens. And there was an eerie atmosphere with fewer than 4,000 fans in the 26,000-capacity stadium in Heraklion, Crete. The Lionesses are also not used to being in play-offs, a route they are having to take after finishing runners-up to world champions Spain in their qualifying group. But Georgia Stanway, this year's top scorer for England, once again turned up when they needed her to and she opened the scoring after a neat, incisive passing move, in a frustrating first half. That was the spark England needed as they lacked ruthlessness and failed to capitalise on their dominance - an aspect of their game that needs improving. "I think we made it a bit harder. Greece were well prepared and disciplined. We struggled when they tried to press us," added Wiegman. "We could have scored more than the three goals. There are lots of things to take. I have seen some fluid moments but I want more. "The final ball, final cross and the positions can be better. Of course, we are working on that. We have an opportunity to improve that on Tuesday."
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