England have shown fight - but now their football needs to do the talking

England know their tournament-defining style of organised chaos won’t be enough to beat Spain.

England's final training session at their home-away-from-home in Zurich was held in the pouring rain. A typically British vibe for a team that's leant heavily on its national characteristics.

But the Lionesses need to put aside the reliance on their mental strength and emotional reserves and put in a performance worthy of European champions.

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The Lionesses became the first team in Euros history to make it through to the final after conceding first in both the quarter and semi-finals. But as we saw in the World Cup final two years ago, fall behind against Spain and you may never come back.

England have met the World Cup winners twice already this year, winning 1-0 at Wembley in February before losing 2-1 in Barcelona just over a month ago.

Over those two games England allowed 39 shots on their own goal and had an average of 39.4 per cent possession.

The time on the ball may not change but England know they need to improve at both ends of the field if they're to defeat their rivals.

"Maybe we've not been as confident as we could," England midfielder Keira Walsh admits. "We've got unbelievable players on the ball, we need to take more pride in that."

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The win in London was another example of England's blitz spirit. They were bombarded at times and needed a heroic performance from Millie Bright, who put her body on the line, to get the win.

Every match the Chelsea captain has missed has made her look like a better player. England have struggled when facing the best attackers at this tournament.

Spain's front three, including tournament top-scorer Esther Gonzalez, are arguably better than the rest.

If Lauren James is passed fit then you can rightly assume England's starting line-up will be the same as the one that played Italy.

Sarina Wiegman's conundrum is how to proverbially fire those eleven players out of a cannon at the start of the game.

Intensity and intent needs to be shown from the first whistle as England need their football and not their ability to fight back to raise their fear factor.

"I know the footballers they are and I know what they can do" Spain and Arsenal star Mariona Caldentey insists.

Spain are gearing up for the best version of England, even if we haven't seen it during the tournament so far.

Wiegman and her staff are doing all they can to unleash a dangerous and ruthless Lionesses side from the first minute.

The players are playing down the revenge factor but they won't want to leave Switzerland as runners-up, just as they did in Sydney in 2023.

Statisticians Opta give England a 48.5% chance of bringing the trophy back home despite being a team being defined by late drama, game-changing substitutes and a never-say-die spirit.

Now the self-proclaimed "New England" faces the ultimate test. If they can prove they're more than agents of extra-time chaos, they could become back-to-back champions and a team that'll go down in European football history.