View: Beth England is Tottenham Players’ Player of the Year and the numbers back up her World Cup prospects
Tottenham Women smashed the British transfer record to bring Beth England to the club back in January and boy has it been a move that has worked for all parties.
A sum of £250,000 was required for Spurs to bring England across London from Women Super League rivals Chelsea.
England’s primary motivation for moving was to gain more game time in a Women’s World Cup year, where the Lionesses are aiming to build on their sensational success at the European Championship last year.
A part of that successful squad, England has more than staked her claim to be on the plane with her form earning her recognition in the shape of Spurs’ Players’ Player of the Year award.
Her 12 WSL goals for the season is bettered by only two players – Rachel Daly (22 for Aston Villa) and Khadija Shaw (20 for Manchester City).
But England beats both her rivals when it comes to goals per 90 minutes, managing 1.07 per 90 compared to 1.01 for Daly and 0.97 for Shaw.
England also scores better in the percentage of shots taken being on target (53.8 per cent) than Daly (42 per cent) and Shaw (35). (fbref)
What is even more impressive is that England’s return came from an expected goals tally of 5.3.
Tottenham’s interim coach Vicky Jepson recently suggested England’s form, which helped preserve Spurs’ spot in the WSL, should be enough to earn a place in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for the upcoming tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
With Euro 2022 top scorer Beth Mead unlikely to be fit due to an ACL injury, Fran Kirby having undergone knee surgery in February and Ellen White having now retired, Wiegman certainly needs to ponder her forward options.
And in England, there are few forwards who are in better form and she is more than ready to showcase her talent as a leading star on the world stage after impressing for Tottenham Women.
In other Tottenham news, Paul Robinson says Karry Kane does not sound like a player who wants to leave Tottenham.