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Lauren Hemp insisted that the beginning of England in the Euro 2025 cannot be blamed for players returning from injury, after the 2-1 defeat against France in Zurich on Saturday.
The lions were the second best part of the game, and now they face an essential clash against the Netherlands on Wednesday to keep their defense of the title alive.
A second straight loss would eliminate European champions that reigned in the group stage.
Reflecting on performance, Hemp acknowledged that the team had no sharpness to the ball and paid the price for its inclination.
“We need to work on the quality of possession,” he said, admitting that England made a “error after the error” throughout the game.
It was an output of Sarina Wiegman, with France that took advantage of the defensive vaults of England to get all three points.
Hemp was one of several initial 11 players who recently returned from long -term injuries.
He lost a large part of the season after undergoing a knee surgery in November, only returned it in April.
His teammate, Alex Greenwood, was left out with an MCL injury from December to April, Georgia Stanway left January to May with a knee problem, and Lauren James came up with a rope injury last week during the 7-0 victory over Jamaica.
Lauren James starts with England! 📋
“Any best defender is nervous!” 👊
Lauren Hemp made many praise for his teammate. pic.twitter.com/87in2srhlf
– Match of the day (@bbcmotd) July 5, 2025
Despite this, hemp refused to attribute the bad start of England to the lack of minutes on the pitch.
“I mean, many of us have had a lot of time and obviously has been affecting us,” he said. “I lost most of the season, but we also had four or five games to lift us and I think it’s not an excuse.
“We are all in this team and we have so much experience on the pitch, although I have been seven months, I also played six years of my career.
“It is important to remember -and take advantage of it. Obviously we will be a little rusty, but everyone will be a little rusty, so we are all in the same boat, I would say.”
However, he is now fitting with the Netherlands, Hemp is confident that the team can increase at the occasion. The late goal of Keira Walsh offered a shin of hope and belief despite the loss in France.
“Many times we prosper under pressure,” said Hemp. “From how we acted in the last ten minutes of the game, we know what is happening in participation and, obviously, we want to reach the measure we can. We are reigning champions and this is important to remember -and gain confidence.
“I love to play and the football games where we have to win, they are the games in which you want to participate. So yes, it is important that we take the confidence of the parties yesterday.
“I think the most important thing to stay together. I think we joined as a team yesterday throughout the game and the final stages and this is what we have to take with us.”
The confrontation with the Netherlands will also see the hemp gathered with several well -known faces of the club’s days. Last season in Manchester City, he shared a dressing room with Dutch international Kerstin Casparij, Jill Roord and Vivianne Miedema.
“I mean, we know that many are good quality players,” he said. “I am fortunate to play with some of them in the WSL, and also against them, and so we know how their strengths and weaknesses and we will definitely work in the coming days.”
