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'Unplayable' Stanway a free-scoring warrior for Lionesses - Published Whatever the game, whatever the result, Georgia Stanway always seems to score for England. Manager Sarina Wiegman called the midfielder a "warrior" after her performance against Greece helped seal an impressive 5-0 victory to complete an 8-1 aggregate triumph. Stanway scored in both matches as the Lionesses progressed to round two of the Women's World Cup qualifying play-offs with ease. She opened the scoring in Crete as they won 3-1 and when Wiegman called for more ruthlessness in Leicester, Stanway delivered again. The 27-year-old is quickly becoming one of England's most important players. So what makes her so effective in front of goal? 'She has that tenacity in her' Stanway's strikes in the last five days capped off a season in which she finished as England's top scorer and netted 11 times in her last 11 matches. She also ranks inside the top three for most goals scored by European players in international football since Euro 2025. While Wiegman was frustrated by her side's lack of ruthlessness in Greece, Stanway always looked dangerous and made sure she got on the scoresheet. It felt inevitable she would join in the fun in Leicester when Alessia Russo and Lauren James grabbed a double each. Stanway came close to matching them when the Arsenal midfielder coolly took control of a long ball inside the box with one deft touch and, with the second, fired it powerfully into the bottom corner. It would have been the perfect strike to mark an impressive few days but it was ruled out for offside, much to Wiegman's dismay. "She is always so eager to go towards goal. She has that tenacity in her," said the England boss when asked about Stanway's goalscoring form. "She is always aggressive out of possession but also in possession. She scored a great header and controlled that really good ball from Alex Greenwood. "That was really good athleticism and composure. Unfortunately that was disallowed but it was really good! "Football is about scoring goals, but also playing in the pockets, keeping the ball and connecting with other players - and I was happy with her [doing those]." Former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis told BBC Radio 5 Live that Stanway was "unplayable at times" against Greece on Tuesday night. She won all her tackles, had a 90% passing accuracy rate, took four shots, scored once and had another disallowed. It was also a slightly different role for Stanway for most of the match as she played more as a right winger after changes in the midfield. "She has something different to others," Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live. "She is goal-orientated, has a great shot and the disallowed goal showed her great mobility and athleticism. "When you really need a fight, or a duel, or a counter-attack breaking up, she is there. She is a warrior who you can play a possession game with too." Tactical tweaks offer Wiegman fresh options Stanway was even more effective in large part to a new-look midfield which included 20-year-old debutant Lexi Potter. The Chelsea midfielder provided cover for the experienced Stanway and Keira Walsh to push higher up, while Lauren James played in the number 10 role. It proved to be an inspired change from Wiegman as Stanway caused problems throughout for the visitors and was able to adapt to the tweaks impressively. "Stanway has shown how flexible she is, how exceptional she is both at the bottom end of the pitch, breaking up play, as well as at the top end," added Brown-Finnis. "She was playing as a second striker, playing out on the right, dropping deep as a number 10. She's been absolutely brilliant." England still have a job to do to qualify for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil with a two-legged play-off tie against Ukraine to navigate at the end of the year. They have already beaten their opponents 9-1 on aggregate in two games of the league phase of the qualifiers. After Wiegman's formation experiment worked so well this week, could it be an option for the future that brings out the best in Stanway, as well as others? "I liked the balance of the midfield. There is a lot of competition going on in that area," admitted Wiegman. "There were a few reasons. First of all, I wanted to see Lexi Potter deeper on the pitch and what that might bring. "There was also the option to put Georgia Stanway higher up the pitch. We wanted to score more goals and we know that she can do that. "She can play in the pocket and also deeper on the pitch so we wanted to see all of that."
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