Arsenal’s Women head coach, Jonas Eidevall, has questioned England manager Sarina Wiegman’s decision to not sub off Lauren James prior to her getting sent off for stamping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie during both teams’ FIFA Women’s World Cup Round of 16 encounter on Monday.
England had defeated Nigeria 4-2 via a penalty shootout in the last 16 after a goalless draw.
During the encounter, James was sent off for violent conduct in the 87th minute.
But Eidevall felt James had already been showing signs of frustration in the contest against Nigeria after struggling to get involved in the match and believes Wiegman made a mistake by not replacing her sooner.
Asked if James had been left on the pitch too long, Eidevall told BBC Sport: “It is decision fatigue. The two games before this probably took their toll on her energy; we could see in the game that she was starting to make some bad decisions on and off the ball.
“I think the lack of subs in the second half surprised me here from England because I think the momentum was not going their way. England are quite lucky to actually be here now for extra time, and they could have been more proactive with the subs. Now they need to find a strategy with 10 players.”
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