Rachel Daly or Alessia Russo for England? I know who I would start at the World Cup

Ahead of England’s World Cup opener against Haiti, Lionesses legend Kelly Smith looks at the biggest selection decision facing Sarina Wiegman this summer

Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo will compete for the No 9 role the World Cup (Getty Images)

Tournament football is about solving problems, quickly and effectively. While Sarina Wiegman, assistant Arjan Veurink, and the rest of the coaching team will be devising plans to see off England’s World Cup opponents, a lot comes down to how teams react on the pitch to what is in front of them.

That is especially true when facing teams who want to sit deep against a team of England’s undoubted strength, where unlocking packed back lines with 10 or 11 behind the ball will be crucial.

Against cautious opponents – which is what England will face in the group stage when they play Haiti, Denmark and China – taking chances is the key. Scoring not only puts you up, but it also alters the stage of the game, it will invite the opposition forwards to try to get one back, and there is the psychological impact. There is nothing more disheartening than defending superbly for 20 or 30 minutes and then conceding from the first real opportunity.

And that is why Sarina’s biggest decision is who starts in the number 9 position. Rachel Daly started against Portugal, before Alessia Russo replaced her at half time. With Ellen White retired, the decision of who gets the starting jersey is between these two.

I think Sarina should go with Daly.

Form matters. In the last World Cup, two of the top four scorers came into the tournament in blistering form. Sam Kerr, who netted five in France 2019, had scored 13 in her previous 11 league games. Ellen White, whose league campaign was more disrupted and shorter, still scored two thirds of her six league goals in the last four games before the tournament started, where she also scored six.

And while the other two top scorers, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, arguably weren’t in form, five of Morgan’s six goals came in one game against a very poor Thailand, while Rapinoe had at least scored three in seven internationals that year.

Daly is in form.

While she and Russo were both goalless against Portugal, Daly has scored nine in five WSL games since the friendly loss to Australia in April; Russo has two from the same number of games. Daly will come into the tournament confident that she can convert when it counts.

Rachel Daly won the WSL’s golden boot last season with 22 goals for Aston Villa (The FA via Getty Images)

There are tactical reasons why this decision makes sense too. In the absence of Beth Mead and Fran Kirby, England are missing some pace, direct running, and thrusts from deep. The temptation might be to go with Russo’s excellent ability in holding-up the ball and creating chances for the inverting wide attackers, but this could lead to England having too many players in front of the defence, clogging space.

England will have a lot of the ball, especially against teams that sit off (it was 67.5 per cent against a defensive Portugal), but without players making runs in behind or down the channels to stretch defences or force the centre backs to turn and chase occasionally, this possession can become predictable and unthreatening.

Daly offers that threat, running in behind or with potent movement in the box, the kind of predatory, reactive striker who never allows defenders a moment’s peace. Playing against that kind of attacker is exhausting, and Rach has a bit of an edge to her as well which defenders will not appreciate. That also comes out in her pressing, her ability to win the ball back high or force turnovers, which can create real chances for England throughout the tournament.

None of this questions Russo’s ability and what she brings. We saw her throughout this WSL season as the focal point for the Manchester United attack as well as the magnificent Euro campaign where she excelled off the bench, especially once the game became a little more disjointed, when her ability to link play, create through her movement, one touch combinations or use her aerial strength, can really come into play.

Alessia Russo thrived as England’s impact sub at the Euros (The FA via Getty Images)

As an England fan you’d take a lot of comfort seeing Russo there knowing that if we haven’t made a breakthrough yet that we’ve got someone that knows exactly how to score in big moments. We saw that not only in Euros, but even more recently in April with her winner for Manchester United against Arsenal.

And that is one of the positives for England going into this tournament. As I said, tournament football is about problem solving and having two very different, but very high-quality strikers means that Sarina has a variety of possible solutions to whatever questions the team is asked. Selecting the right times to use these players will come down to Sarina.

We are accustomed to thinking of players by their positions, but if we view Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo as excelling at different roles, rather than competing for the same position, it is easier to understand how England have such strength in depth and, more importantly, so many possible answers to whatever teams throw at them this summer.