Super-subs Beever-Jones and Park could be key pieces in England’s puzzle | England women’s football team

There was a clear identity and formula to England’s all-conquering run to a first European title in 2022. The starting XI remained the same throughout and the impact, when the Lionesses needed it most, came from the bench, primarily through Alessia Russo and Ella Toone.

The duo became known as the super-subs, their profiles becoming as big as those lining up at the start of each game, their arrival around the hour mark eagerly awaited.

Unleashed from the bench with fresh legs, Russo, who joined Arsenal the following summer, scored four, behind only the golden boot winner, Beth Mead, and Germany’s Alex Popp, who scored six apiece. Toone provided the late equaliser in the quarter-final extra-time defeat of Spain and put England ahead in the final against Germany.

Against Belgium on Fridayat Ashton Gate, in England’s 5-0 Nations League win, there were echoes of the Euro 2022 campaign in the energy of the crowd, on the pitch and that provided by two young substitutes, Aggie Beever-Jones and Jess Park.

After tasting that first major tournament triumph, England entered a new phase of development: the retirement of Ellen White, Jill Scott and, more recently, Rachel Daly, coupled with injuries to key players, has forced experimentation and change.

A new-look squad reached the World Cup final a year later. Alex Greenwood replaced the injured captain, Leah Williamson, and Jess Carter began instead of Daly in the opening fixture, but the major change to the starting XI was the arrival of Toone and Russo in the absence of the injured Fran Kirby and the retired White. The formula was not the same in Australia and England had to evolve as injuries mid-tournament meant personnel changes and formation shifts.

Heading into the defence of their European title in Switzerland this summer, a puzzle that has at times looked incomplete, missing pieces and a little disjointed, is starting to take shape. Against the World Cup winners, Spain, in February England were superb and against Belgium they showed they can meet the challenge posed by lower-ranked opposition that sit back.

It was a comfortable result for England, with five different scorers, but it was the goals from Beever-Jones and Park that put the game to bed, the former’s coming moments after Belgium’s brief counterattacking spell.

“It definitely wasn’t easy, but I felt comfortable coming into the game with the players around me,” said Beever-Jones. “We’ve got a lot of Chelsea girls in the starting XI, which makes me feel like I’m at home, but I really trust the girls and I think they trust me to give my all on the pitch.”

Her Chelsea teammate Lucy Bronze said: “From the start of the season to now, she’s a completely different player, with her confidence and how she handles herself on and off the pitch.”

Sarina Wiegman was somewhat dismissive when asked whether Beever-Jones and Park could pick up the super-sub mantle, the England coach unwilling to even hint that their place in the squad could be certain. “This is a new team with different dynamics and different options,” she said.

“They are still competing for more than that [substitute role]. It’s April now, so we will see on 5 July who is in the squad and competing with who for starting places.”

However, the steady integration of a pair who fit the positional mould of Russo and Toone, albeit with different profiles as players, has started to show how effective it could be. Replicating the Euro 2022 squad model is not an option, too many teams have grown and developed since then and England have to as well. But having that youthful, unpredictable energy off the bench, from players getting increasing minutes at top clubs week in week out, is critical and exciting.