What Happened: Talking tactics with The Underrated Scout and England's defensive disarray

Flo Lloyd-Hughes takes a look at what went down over the weekend and highlights the latest pieces to read on The Cutback

Klara Bühl celebrates scoring Germany’s third goal against England.

Welcome to another edition of The Cutback’s weekly newsletter What Happened. This newsletter will always be free to read and it will be sent to your inbox every Monday.

I’m excited to share the launch of a brand new Team Profiles series on The Cutback. We’ve teamed up with The Underrated Scout to deliver in-depth tactical profiles on every WSL team.

The first piece on Aston Villa is out now, I’ve put a little extract below, but give the full profile a read and let us know what you think. We’ll be releasing the other 11 profiles across the next few months. Massive thank you to The Underrated Scout team for all their hard work on it.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to The Cutback then do that now, what are you waiting for?

In today’s issue: England’s defensive woes and an Aston Villa tactical preview.

A very bad night for England

It’s the international break so England were the main story of the weekend but it was bad news for Sarina Wiegman’s team. An embarrassing 4-3 defeat to Germany at Wembley signalled a shaky kick off to England’s pre-Euro 2025 preparations.

I had detailed the areas England needed to worry about in Friday’s Weekend Warm-Up and also predicated all but one of Wiegman’s entire starting XI, with Grace Clinton’s omission for Ella Toone being the only one I didn’t expect. The fact I could guess nearly the entire team shows just how predictable Wiegman’s England have become. We’ve all figured out the players we know Wiegman is going to start but they’re often not the ones we think should start.

There were several issues with England’s performance but the defensive disaster - kicking off with Leah Williamson’s misplaced pass within the first three minutes - was definitely the most worrying. It was made even more frustrating by the fact that it was avoidable if Wiegman had opted to start players that are currently in-form over those that have been her starters in the past.

Jessy Parker Humphreys dug deeper into the defensive issues and a need for change in their piece on the game.

The defence wasn’t the only problem, as England’s midfield was also run ragged. Everyone will be expecting changes in the next friendly against South Africa on Tuesday night. But will we see them?

Here’s a snippet from The Underrated Scout’s Aston Villa team profile. Read the full piece here.

Base formation

Aston Villa’s preferred formation this season is a 4-2-3-1, transitioning from last year’s 4-3-3. In their approach, the wingers—typically Kirsty Hanson and Chasity Grant—tuck in narrowly to occupy central spaces, often playing on their inverted foot, leaving the full-backs, Dan Turner and Noelle Maritz, responsible for providing width by overlapping constantly.

The striker is tasked with either stretching the opposition’s defensive line or dropping deeper to link up play, with the latter being the more common approach; it’s not unusual to see Rachel Daly dropping into midfield to receive the ball. When this occurs, the attacking midfielder, whether Gabi Nunes or Kenza Dali, pushes forward into the vacated space, otherwise they position themselves between the lines to enable quick combination play. The double pivot lacks a traditional ‘holding player’, whether it’s a ball-winner or deep-lying playmaker, so the duo of Missy Bo Kearns and Jordan Nobbs alternate between stepping forward and holding to screen the defence, with Nobbs slightly more inclined to drive the ball upfield.

Defensive structure

When playing with a back four, Aston Villa typically defend in a 4-4-2 shape. The attacking midfielder pushes up alongside the striker, positioning themselves to block vertical passing lanes into the opposition’s central midfielders, aiming to cut off supply and force play out wide. The double pivot controls the central area without forcing strict man-marking engagement, while the wingers close down the opposition full-backs once they receive the ball. Notably, the winger on the far side tucks in centrally, marking the nearest midfielder, further ensuring that central passing options are shut down, directing the opposition towards the flanks.

Aston Villa has demonstrated moments of tactical sharpness and offensive potential, thanks to quick wing play, rapid passing sequences and good technical ability, making them a dangerous team on the attack. However, their inconsistency, particularly in negative transitions, midfield balance and defending wide spaces, raises questions about whether they have the depth and stability to compete with top-half teams consistently. To push further up the WSL standings and even contend again for a top-five finish, Villa will need to refine their defensive structure. How effectively they address these areas will likely define their season.

Read the full piece.

That’s it from me today. See you same time next week.