Ellis praises England for tactical versatility at Women's World Cup

 CANBERRA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) 

Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis has credited England's tactical versatility for their group stage win over China.

 Ellis, who led the U.S. team to glory at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups before stepping down, said on Friday she had noticed a significant increase in the diversity of ways teams are setting up at the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

When asked about England's switch from a 4-3-3 formation to a 3-5-2 for their 6-1 win over China in the final group stage match, Ellis, leader of the FIFA Technical Study Group for the World Cup, told Xinhua it was a "masterful move" that reflected a wider trend of coaches better capitalizing on their teams' strengths.

 "I actually think we're seeing more diversity in team setups whether they are defending out of a three front, a 4-4-2 or whether they're attacking out of a 3-5-2," she said.

 "I think that coaches are recognizing in their game preparation what they may exploit. On the day, you want to try and exploit your strength but also take advantage of the opponent. So I think it was a masterful move."

 Her observation echoed that of English coach Sarina Wiegman, who said after the match that the Chinese team did not expect her team to line up in a different formation and "couldn't find a solution" in the must-win game.

 Ellis praised the quality of coaching at the World Cup through the group stage, which concluded on Thursday night.

 "I certainly think we'll see more and more of that. And I think with the way that the women's game has evolved, these players are getting exposed to many different ways and systems and setups because they play in their club as well, where, again, they're used to flexibility within the clubs," she said.

"You know, the game is fluid. It's never a fixed shape. I think it's that the coaches that are more flexible in their tactical setup in making in-game adjustments will be more successful."

She also listed some examples for failing to make tactical changes early in games, adding that "gone are the days where you can just stick with what you've been doing."

The two-time champions Germany crashed out of the tournament after being held by South Korea to a 1-1 draw in Group H on Thursday.

Ellis said South Korea performed very well in their organized blocks and it was tough to break down. For Germany, it didn't seem like there was an adjustment early enough in the game.

Ellis presented the study group's observations from the first 48 games of the tournament, revealing that teams are playing significantly more compact in defense than in 2019, causing completed line break passes through opponents to fall 28 percent.

The number of open play crosses per game has also fallen - from 28.5 in 2019 to 24.2 - but the proportion of goals scored from crosses has increased from 51 to 58 percent.

21 percent of group stage matches ended in draws, up from eight percent in 2019.

The 2023 Women's World Cup, running from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand, sees the top two teams from each of the eight groups progress to the round of 16.

The knockout stage will kick off on Saturday.