Phil Neville was adamant that the SheBelieves Cup is a tournament to win and not a tournament for experimentation.
The manager of the Lionesses was happy to talk about England's rivalry with the United States and he seemed determined to prove that his players can go toe-to-toe with the Americans.
Winning
"I don't think it is a tournament where I am going to treat it as an experiment," Neville told the press. "We want to win, the players want to win and if we experiment against the USA we'll get beat."
Neville acknowledged that his team did have some promising base statistics but conceded that they must improve.
"We know we have the foundations of what we think is a successful team and squad," he said.
"We just need to make sure we keep striving to be better and not stand still. When you stand still, people overtake you.
"We have made brave decisions and will continue to plough forward."
Focus
Again, the England manager was bullish when asked about the tournament being an "audition" for the Tokyo Olympics. He reiterated the importance of focus.
"We can't go to the SheBelieves and start talking about the development for the Olympics when there are 10-15, or 20 players that can go to the Olympics who are not even there."
It is clear that Neville wants his players to stay grounded and to treat the here-and-now as the most important. This will come as no surprise to those who have been following the Lionesses in action as the former Manchester United and Everton star has been feeling the heat. A sloppy run of form, which has seen just two wins in seven matches, has taken the gloss of a solid World Cup in the summer. He’ll be hoping that this upcoming tournament can build that positive momentum once again.