Lauren James decision faces Sarina Wiegman after 'new England' declaration

As England go into the first match of their Euros title defence against France, most of the starting XI should be easy enough to predict. The question comes high up the pitch, where manager Sarina Wiegman needs to decide whether Lauren James is ready to be thrown back in from the get-go.

Against Jamaica on Sunday, James played her first minutes for club or country since picking up an injury in early April. She only had half an hour, but staked her claim with a devilish ball into the box for Alessia Russo to score the fifth of England's seven goals.

" LJ, she's in a good place," Wiegman told reporters on Friday as she opened up on the 'new England'gunning for glory without some veterans of the 2022 triumph on home soil. "Of course, she came on the pitch against Jamaica last week and she's ready to get more minutes tomorrow.

"Well I'm not going to give you the line-up, but she played 30 minutes last week, so she can play more than that. So I think that will say enough."

The sense, then, is that James *can* play from the start from a fitness perspective. The question is whether she *should*, given where England are at as a team.

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Those who followed England closely at the 2023 World Cup saw the best and the worst of James. She impressed with her attacking ourput in the early part of the tournament, only for a needless red card against Nigeria to almost cost the Lionesses dearly.

James was just 21 back then - one of the babies of the squad - and has since found new ways to excel for club and country. The 2023-24 season was the best of her career in terms of WSL goals, while more international strikes have also followed, with the highlight coming from distance against Scotland back in December 2023.

James' versatility means she's capable of playing on either flank or even as a number 10, but the sense from France boss Laurent Bonadei is that the opposition expect her to take Lauren Hemp's spot on the left if she starts. Hemp, too, only recently returned from an injury setback but has taken little time to find her groove again.

The Manchester City star looked like she'd never been away when she starred in the Nations League win against Portugal in May, and - despite still only being 24 years old - has begun to embrace her status as one of the more senior figures in Wiegman's squad.

"Sometimes she’s in a group meeting and Sarina is asking her questions as one of the leaders, and she’s kind of a bit like, ‘Oh yeah, I am that now’," team-mate Lucy Bronze said of Hemp during the week. "There’s a lot of players who have been to a couple of tournaments, and they’re now becoming leaders of the team, regardless of their age of how many caps they’ve got."

Wiegman also spoke of the winger's growth, saying: "She is a very introverted person but she does have an opinion and we ask her a little bit more to give her opinion. She has grown so much in football but also as a person and that's what we see too."

The other option for England is to play James as a 10, and that would be asimilarly big call. Ella Toone occupied the role against Jamaica, scoring two first-half goals, and she might well feel hard done by if Wiegman takes her out of the firing line after that fine audition.

England's approach could be dictated by external factors, though, and it may be that Wiegman feels James is better equipped to exploit France's defensive issues. Centre-back and captain Griedge Mbock is set to miss out through injury, with Bonadei reluctant to take a risk on the PSG star, with the inexperienced Alice Sombath in line to take her place.

England scored 13 goals across their last two home matches in the lead-up to the tournament, with James playing just 30 of those 180 minutes. We may well find that Wiegman is ready to bide her time rather than rushing James back into action, knowing this team has goals in it from a variety of sources, but it's certainly a good problem for a manager to have.

England (4-2-3-1): Hampton; Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood, Carter; Stanway, Walsh; Mead, Toone, Hemp; Russo

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