Russo’s return to form is vital but Lionesses still lack bite against low blocks | Suzanne Wrack

England have the edge over Greece after the first leg of their World Cup playoff but remain a team in transition

It took a labyrinthine move from Sarina Wiegman’s team to find a way through deep-lying Greece. On the outskirts of Heraklion, the ancient city of Knossos, which is associated with the legend of the Minotaur and the labyrinth constructed by Daedalus to contain it, Laura Blindkilde Brown’s quick pass to Alessia Russo was artfully flicked first time to her Arsenal teammate Georgia Stanway and the midfielder slotted in past the goalkeeper Fafailia Petaloti.

There were muted celebrations after the goal, reflective of the frustration they felt at having taken 39 minutes to get their first goal against the team ranked 54 places below them.

That was a familiar frustration because, despite two Euros wins and a World Cup final, England have struggled to completely shake free of the accusation that they have problems against low blocks. In spite of the scoreline and their dominance in possession, the Lionesses didn’t look comfortable or particularly happy for stretches of the match.

It was the speed of thinking and inventiveness of the passing that made the difference for the opener; that is the flair England need to find in those testing moments.

“It’s tough when you come up against a low block,” said Alessia Russo afterwards. “We get it a lot at club [level] and here at England … It’s about being patient and then when you do have that moment, it’s about the quality of the pass and speeding the game up just to create half a yard for someone to get a shot off.”

It was a goal that would have usually allowed them more space but in Heraklion it didn’t. The home team remained compact, a narrow-margin loss a more favourable defeat to take to Leicester for the return leg on Tuesday night than the wider margin they would potentially have faced with a swashbuckling attempt to get back into the game. It was only as legs began to tire against the European champions that the home team left themselves more exposed.

The critical second goal, which provided a huge amount of relief, arrived in the 63rd minute. That it came from Lucy Bronze’s stand-in Maya Le Tissier was important, with Kallisti Brouksair having twice broken free of the Manchester United centre-back to whip in a cross in the first half in the rarest of forays into the final third for Greece. Le Tissier operated as a wing-back in the Pankritio stadium, still favoured by Wiegman as the best option to come in for Bronze despite playing centrally week in, week out for her club and, bar those two chances for the opposition in the first half, the goal capped a solid performance. Le Tissier said she was unfazed by switching positions for club and country and by Bronze’s weighty shadow.

“I’ve played the position enough now to know what’s expected of me,” she said. “Every time I get on the pitch, I just want to try my best, do everything I can and do whatever Sarina wants of me. I’m not the same player as Bronzy, I try to play my own game and I love getting on the ball and creating chances even higher up as well. I looked up to her when I was younger, but people just have to realise that you’re not the same. There’s so many different players; players that play in the same position but are completely different and I don’t try to be like Bronzy, I just try to be myself and play as well as I can.”

Russo’s goal, England’s third, was also significant. It was the forward’s third goal in as many games for club and country after five games off the scoresheet.

With Aggie Beever-Jones out of form and out of the squad, having not scored since March for Chelsea, and unconvincing experiments with Lauren James and Lauren Hemp in the No 9 role, Russo finding her goalscoring from, and staying fit, is critical to England’s World Cup ambitions.

“I’m my own biggest critic, so there’s maybe a bit of overthinking going into it,” said Russo. “I knew that stripping it back and getting back to enjoying my football and not stressing too much was important.”

It’s perhaps naive to attempt to draw too many conclusions about England’s World Cup potential from these autumn qualifiers, with Wiegman and her staff clearly still experimenting and tweaking in search of the best XI and best finishers (substitutes) that would make up her squad for Brazil. The team is also in a transition phase, at the beginning of a new cycle under Wiegman after a period laden with success.

However, the opportunities for experimentation between now and the World Cup are few and far between and the concession of a goal in Greece, one that was met with wild and slightly disbelieving celebrations from the hosts, leaves both a serious a job still to be done and provides a sliver of hope to an opposition that should have none.