How will Keira Walsh's absence impact England's World Cup hopes?

England will be without Keira Walsh for Tuesday’s Group D decider against China, despite it being confirmed the Barcelona midfielder has thankfully not suffered an ACL injury after being stretchered off against Denmark last week. 

Those three innocuous letters are now all too often dominating the women’s football landscape, with a whole host of players missing the tournament with the serious knee injury, including England’s own Leah Williamson and Beth Mead. 

Head coach Sarina Wiegman, along with every England fan watching on, feared the worst as the usual telltale signs emerged. Walsh’s studs stuck in the ground, her knee jarring, followed by the panicked, almost shocked, look on her face as she told her teammates to go away and signalled urgently to the bench. 

It’s no wonder either. England players themselves have said openly how much of a fear the ACL injury currently is, and it’s likely Walsh feared that exact thing. While we still don’t know the full extent of the injury, the worst news has been avoided, but Wiegman still now has to plan for life without another key player and it can only make the job to get the Lionesses ticking again all the more difficult. 

England have won their first two games, but only by narrow 1-0 scorelines. Despite the clean sheets, they’ve looked unconvincing at the back and toothless in attack, relying so far on a retaken penalty and some individual genius from Lauren James. 

Not that she often does, but Wiegman may have hoped to use Tuesday’s game to rest some weary legs, but China’s win over Haiti means while it needs a specific set of scenarios, England could still go out of the tournament should they not get the point they require. 

While England have suffered key losses, they have had bodies in those positions to replace them. Without Beth Mead, there are still four out and out wingers in the squad, while Ella Toone has taken Fran Kirby’s spot in the number 10 role.  

Williamson’s leadership and calm presence has also been missed, but Millie Bright, Alex Greenwood, Jess Carter, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Esme Morgan are capable of holding down the fort in her absence. What England does not though have is a replica for Walsh, neither in quality, nor in depth. 

The mere fact Georgia Stanway was asked to shuffle back into Walsh’s role during the Denmark game rather than one of the three midfielders on the bench tells its own tale about where England’s midfield depth is at, but specifically in the defensive midfield role, one Walsh has just so happened to become one of the best in the world at. 

It means Wiegman will have to reshuffle, and even though Walsh might not be out as long as we’d feared, whether she is capable of playing within the next three weeks remains to be seen, but given she remains on crutches; it feels unlikely. 

Stanway has played the defensive midfield role at Bayern Munich since joining last summer, and it might turn out to be that it’s Wiegman immediate solution to the issue, especially given it’s what she turned to in the heat of the moment last week. 

Aston Villa’s Jordan Nobbs, Manchester United’s Katie Zelem and Manchester City’s Laura Coombs, the latter of whom replaced Walsh against Denmark, are all very able midfielders in their own right, but none play Walsh’s specific role for their clubs. Lucy Staniforth, who didn’t make the final squad, may have been a more like for like replacement. 

Wiegman is not really one for bluffs. She does what she feels is right and avoids mind games, so it would be no shock if her instant reaction to go with Coombs and Stanway is the one that sticks. Ironically, many have pointed out Williamson would have been the most able to replace Walsh, but that in itself shows up further issues with midfield depth when it would have meant breaking up the England centre-back pairing mid-tournament. 

Coombs has always been a good box-to-box midfielder, able to get forward and score, but also disciplined enough on the defensive side of the game, and it might be why she gets the nod over the more attack-minded duo of Nobbs and Zelem. All three though have had limited game time under Wiegman, let alone in a major tournament against some of the best teams in the world. 

This World Cup is twisting and turning, and England have no idea at this stage who they will face in the next round, should they progress, or the round after that. After all, much of the talk since last year’s draw centred around a potential Euro 2022 rematch in the quarter-finals, which now seems unlikely after Germany’s loss to Colombia. 

One other issue for Wiegman is Stanway is already on a booking, and one more in the next three games would result in a suspension. A tenacious enough player as it is, there is likely an even further heightened risk of a second Stanway caution at some point if she is alone in the Walsh role in the team. 

To go into a key second round or quarter-final clash without either Walsh or Stanway could prove terminal for England, but that’s a headache for another day. For now, England have to adapt to life without a player who has been critical to their success under Wiegman, the fourth such loss in little under a year since the Euros.