‘They’re going to be feisty’ – England’s Stanway looks ahead to Germany clash | OneFootball

England midfielder Georgia Stanway says that the upcoming international friendly against Germany will be a feisty encounter.

The Lionesses face the Germans at Wembley on Friday night. The game is one of two friendlies to be played by England during the current international window. Sarina Wiegman’s side will also face South Africa at The Coventry Building Society Arena in Coventry on Tuesday evening.

When discussing Germany in an England media event, Stanway said that she is expecting a fiesty encounter.

“They are a big threat,” Stanway said. “I think individually, they’re very different. With the Germans, you know what you’re going to get. This is the start of a new campaign and we want to create history again.

“They’re going to be feisty, they’re going to be robust, they’re going to want to put in tackles, they’re going to want to get into your head, but I feel like, on the other side of that, they’re technically great.”

Stanway commented further on what England can expect from Germany and made reference to her Bayern Munich teammates.

She said “I can only speak of the players who are in my team but when you look at the likes of Giulia [Gwinn] down the right, Klara [Bühl] down the left, you could have Linda [Dallmann] sitting in the middle, Lea [Schüller] in the nine; everybody poses an unbelievable threat. I know I’ll be sat in the analysis room and Sarina will be questioning me about each player. They’re Germany, you know what you’re going to get, but it’s exciting to see what they’re going to be like with the new manager.

“We need to use these friendlies before going into the new year to see how we want to play. It’s an opportunity to get our heads down in training.”

Commenting on her own form, Stanway said that she feels like she’s playing well but the battle for England shirts is ultra-competitive.

She said “You’re always trying to prove yourself, every training session you’re always pushing, you never know what will happen. There’s always people wanting to wrestle that shirt off you, but it’s just about taking care of yourself. I know my season started a little earlier than the WSL and I’m happy with how I’ve started the season. All I can do is look at myself in this situation and put myself in the best possible position.”

It has been an interesting period for England since winning the UEFA Women’s EURO and reaching a first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup final. The Lionesses stuttered in the inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League but performed better in UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 qualifying. Stanway gave her summary of England’s recent successes and failures.

She said “I feel like it’s always going to happen when you have a comedown from things. We won the EUROs and made a World Cup final, but at some point, it will plateau. I think the biggest blow was not qualifying for the Olympics; the Nations League was a little rocky but they were top nations.

“You can see how we want to play, our DNA and the football we want to play going into the EUROs. I don’t think anything drastic needs changing. Tweaks are always necessary to get that one up over the opposition. We use what we have; that’s something that’s also super-important, realising the quality we have sat right in-front of us.”

Finally, Stanway shared her thoughts on the importance of England’s autumn friendlies as the team prepare for next year’s EUROs in Switzerland.

She said “I feel like now is the time where we need to hit the ground running and talk about the things we need to fix and what happens in games. Not that we haven’t been doing that, but now’s the time to knuckle down on it. This is the start of our EUROs and that’s what makes it an exciting process.

“We have a lot of competition within our squad and a lot of squads are changing as well. To be honest, I’m just excited. We know it will be a different type of EUROs, it’s not on home soil. We have a target on our backs, but at the end of the day, we want to achieve what we have already achieved because we know the feeling of that was unbelievable.”

England’s international friendly against Germany at Wembley kicks-off at 7.30pm on Friday evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.