We have to evolve – Lucy Bronze says England are not the ‘finished product’

Lucy Bronze admits England are not yet the “finished product” following Tuesday’s narrow 2-1 win over South Africa in Coventry.

After Friday’s defeat to Germany, England only just returned to winning ways against South Africa – ranked 50th in the FIFA world rankings – courtesy of first-half goals from Leah Williamson and Grace Clinton.

After two early goals, many expected England to romp to victory but the rest of the match was far from easy as Thembi Kgatlana pulled a goal back and had another disallowed for offside.

Chelsea defender Bronze suggested it is better to have problems now than when Euro 2025 kicks off in Switzerland next July.

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She said: “We have to evolve, we are not the same team that won the Euros.

“We can’t be because we won’t win the Euros being the same, everyone is evolving. Germany the other night was one of the best German performances I’ve seen in a long time and South Africa was a lot tougher than people expected.

“We are evolving, we have players playing for position and getting in the team. (Boss) Sarina (Wiegman) is trying new things. The next camp we have two friendlies and need to be the finished product in the summer, it’s better to have problems now than in the summer.

“We are in a different position than any other England team has ever been, we are the current champions, everyone wants to beat us, lots of eyes are on us.

“It’s a mental roller-coaster for everyone that puts on an England jersey, no one really understands that.

“It’s hard for players to stay on it, we are trying, sticking together and blocking out the criticism because we are trying the hardest.”

Manchester United captain Maya Le Tissier came into the side for Tuesday’s friendly and made an instant impact, setting up club-mate Clinton to get on the scoresheet.

She admitted the Lionesses “made hard work of it” against South Africa but have next summer’s preparations under control.

Le Tissier added: “They’re a fast team on transition but we’ll build on to July and have got lots of things to work on.

“We have different players playing with each other. We got given our opportunity here and I think it’s about building those connections and these games are never easy, it was a tough opponent and full credit to them as well.

“We’re good, don’t stress. We’re enjoying it, it’s nice to be around the group again. We’ve been away since the summer but we’ve got it all under control.”