England defeated France 1-0 thanks to an early Katie Robinson goal in a well fought u23 international friendly at Clairefontaine training centre near Paris.

England WU23s head coach Emma Coates selected the following starting lineup in a 4-3-3 system: Emily Ramsey; Ella Morris, Naomi Layzell, Kiera Skeels, Poppy Pattinson; Ruby Mace, Missy Bo Kearns, Jessica Park; Katie Robsinson, Aggie Beever-Jones, Ebony Salmon.

She only used two substitutes during the game; Laura Blinkilde-Brown and Jessica Naz.

It was a very competitive game in a cold weather with both teams going through their gameplan, France with build-up play from the back and England working hard and pressing to disrupt the French attacking scheme.

Here is how the players individually performed:

Emily Ramsey: Made many saves when France threatened and nearly got an assist. She caught a French shot on her line, sprinted to the edge of the penalty area and kicked it forwards towards Salmon’s run who was through one-on-one but did not manage to finish.

Naomi Layzell and Kiera Skeels: The two centre-backs had a solid afternoon and were key in keeping sheet.

Ella Morris: Good defending on her right side and she also offered options attacking wise and put a few crosses in.

Poppy Pattinson: The left-back did her job, but should do better with the ball, especially on set pieces and crosses.

Ruby Mace: In the holding midfield position she was very busy.

Missy Bo Kearns: Very industrious and worked hard on the defensive side to make the press work properly.

Jess Park: The attacking midfielder tried to link play and was also important in defensive organisation.

Katie Robinson: Besides scoring the important goal, she was very active on her right wing, creating chances and making runs

Aggie Beever-Jones: A very good game, very lively up front offering options, holding the ball well.

Ebony Salmon: Could have scored when sent through one on one against Marques. Worked very hard defensively to press and was involved in many attacking combinations.

As always, these u23 games are there to bridge the gap between the u19/u20 teams and the senior team. The senior team’s level being so good, having reached the World Cup final and being also the Euro holders, means there is a lot of work to be done for those u23 players to be able to compete for a place at senior level.

The players did a very good job on Thursday, and they deserved to come back with a win.

Emma Coates ‘very happy’ with the win

I asked the manager Emma Coates if she was happy with the 1-0 win and the overall performance:

“Very happy when you see the players implement the style of play and you get the result on the back of it and against a very tough opposition.”

England certainly managed to limit France’s chances and built up play, that’s one of the main reason behind the clean sheet as well as Emily Ramsey’s excellent performance in goal as she made a couple of crucial save when called upon.

“Very happy, we had done a lot of homework on France to try to nullify their strengths and I thought we did that very well.”

I also noted that England had planned to press France very high to exploit the turnover and they indeed scored from one of those when Beever-Jones pressed the centre-back Sampura intercepted the ball and passed it to Robinson who sidefooted the ball in from close range.

“The intent of the press, the aggressiveness, it is uncomfortable to play against. You end making some mistakes and that worked for us today.”

During the game, I was sitting in front of the assistant manager, the former Birmingham and Notts player Remi Allen, who was alongside the video analyst. It was very interesting and an education to hear the former midfielder taking notes and discussing the clips that would be shown to the players at half-time or at the post-game debrief.

It was very clear what kind of feedback would be given to the players depending on the situation and the decision-making that was correct or incorrect, as well the positioning on the pitch that was not always accurate in term of keeping shape in the defensive block.

The England u23s will be at home next against Spain at Burton’s Pirelli Stadium on Monday 4th of December with a kick-off at 7pm GMT.