Assist, assist, goal, goal, assist: Lauren James was directly involved in five of the six goals when England beat China 6-1 in their third group game. Her goal to make it 3-0 was an unstoppable right-footed shot from outside the box, and in the 4-1 she volleyed high with the inside of her left foot. Another hit – a wonderful shot into the long goal – was disallowed for offside. England had struggled to win 1-0 against Haiti and Denmark, but were keen to play against China; inspired by James in central attacking midfield.
The Londoner, who will turn 22 next month, made her international debut last September. In England’s round of 16 game against Nigeria this Monday (9.30 a.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the women’s soccer World Cup and on ARD), James is expected to be used again in the playmaker position after initially only sitting on the bench in the first group game . National coach Sarina Wiegman deviated from her usual tactics against China in order to liven up the hitherto difficult offensive game in a new 3-5-2 formation. It was a risk, but the plan worked because James was at his best in that game.
Her technique is particularly impressive. On the one hand when shooting on target, as was seen at the World Cup against Denmark and especially against China. James is right footed but she can do it left footed too. She prefers to choose the inside of the foot instead of pulling off with the full instep.
Precision instead of power
precision instead of power; she didn’t even look particularly strained when she scored. Like dribbling when it looks like the ball is stuck to their feet. So she, outwardly relaxed, lets opponents get out, although she is not the fastest player on the pitch. Because of her seemingly effortless, highly effective gameplay, her teammates call her “cheat code”: a term from the video game world, where you gain unfair advantages by using secret ciphers.
A big advantage for James is that she grew up in a football family. Her big brother Reece is active at Chelsea like herself. It is the first time in English football history that a pair of siblings have played for the women’s and men’s national teams at the same time. This, in turn, is also thanks to her father Nigel, who, as a football coach licensed by Uefa, runs his own coaching company.
“I am grateful to my father for all the time, effort and love he put into my football by coaching me to reach the highest level,” said James. Today her brother always praises her for being technically better than some players in the men’s Premier League.
James was spotted by Arsenal FC when he was 13. There she was the first girl to train with the boys’ academy teams. And because she was much further in her development than most others her age, the club sent her to training with the first women’s team at the age of 15. Which some of the older players didn’t like. She made her debut in the Women’s Super League (WSL) in 2017 but only made a handful of appearances as she joined Manchester United in the newly formed second division the following summer.
The team was promoted to the WSL in their very first season in the north of England. Shortly after her 18th birthday, James signed her first professional contract with Manchester United. She moved back to her native London in 2021 when Chelsea signed her for the then WSL record transfer fee of a good 231,000 euros.
Marc Heinrich, Wyong Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 35 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Marcus Erberich, Manchester Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8
James prefers to avoid the limelight, but after her brilliant performance against China, she couldn’t avoid a television interview. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of,” she said with a big smile. “It doesn’t matter if I’m playing on the wing or in the middle, I’m just happy that I can play and contribute to goals.” In her role behind the double lead, she delivered what was probably the best performance of her young career on the big World Cup stage. If she felt the pressure at all, it didn’t show. “I felt free,” she said.
