For some players, it's all about fighting and unity. For others, it's more about resilience and being hard to beat. Whatever the reason, "proper England" - which could be rephrased as "an England worthy of the name" - is used in every possible way by the Lionesses, like a mantra capable of uniting a team that gave itself a real scare at the start of the Euros.
With their backs against the wall following their 2-1 defeat by France in their opening match, England spoke for the first time in the competition of this famous "proper England" before facing Wales.
"We've talked about our desire to be a 'proper England'," Georgia Stanway told the press conference.
"We want to get back to what we know how to do. We want to get back to a traditional style of football - hard tackling, getting back to our roots and remembering why we're here, remembering that we're playing for the little girl who wanted to be here."
It is a question of identity more than tactics for a squad that is far from being the one that won EURO 2022 - only 13 of the 23 players in the current squad are European champions.
A question of identity
"We're a new England and a new team. We have a lot of young players who have very different experiences of playing for England than I do.
"We're a very talented team, with a lot of technical and tactical ability and everything that goes with it, but we never want to forget that we're England, that we're the real England and that, if things go wrong, we can win a match by any means possible," explained the experienced Lucy Bronze at the press conference.
But while the Lionesses "use that phrase a lot", as England coach Sarina Wiegman admitted at the press conference, the term 'proper England' was first used by the women's team on February 26th, following a 1-0 victory over Spain.
Thanks to Jessica Park's second-half goal after Alessia Russo had been fouled by Irene Paredes, England exacted revenge on the side that had beaten them in the final of the 2023 World Cup. It was an inelegant victory, full of resilience and defensive battle, but one that satisfied Millie Bright, undoubtedly the best ambassador for this 'proper England'.
"We talked about being real Englishwomen tonight. To have that sense of fight and desire to defend each other, to work hard for each other and to be hard to beat," Bright remarked after that win.
The Chelsea central defender decided not to take part in EURO 2025 because of mental and physical fatigue, but her message has influenced this new generation of English players.
In an England without three of its key players - Bright, but also Mary Earps and Fran Kirby - 'proper England' is also a way of uniting the troops after a chaotic build-up to the Euros, when the English media claimed that Wiegman had lost part of her dressing room. But it is also a way of taking some of the pressure off them as reigning European champions.
A revisited version of the 'English' game
The coach, for her part, takes the expression to heart: "'Proper England' is what we are and what we want to show," Wiegman said.
"There are moments in a match when you have to show that resilience, but at the same time, when you have possession of the ball, it's important for me that the passes we make are determined, and today you really saw the intention in every pass we made, and for me that's also 'proper England'."
While the 'proper England' gameplan - hard on the marker, with plenty of duels, fouls and shots allowed - was initially a masculinist marker, the English women refer to a 'fighting spirit' rather than a punishable amount of commitment.
"For us, 'proper England' means that we will work hard and fight until we can't run any more," said Russo. "We stick together, even if we often have possession of the ball."
An inspiring come-from-behind victory over Sweden
It was a mantra that bore fruit against Sweden in the quarter-finals, when England found themselves 2-0 down after 25 minutes against the Swedes and managed, for the first time in their history, to overturn such a disadvantage within 103 seconds, thanks to goals from Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang (79th and 81st minutes), after passes from Chloe Kelly, who had come on a minute earlier.
In the end, they went through on penalties. "We have to find several ways of winning: extra time or penalties... And even if we miss penalties, we have to have the mentality to dig deep into our resources and rely on players like Chloe Kelly and Hannah Hampton to pick up the slack.
"Tonight's win is everything we mean when we talk about 'Proper England' - it wasn't pretty, but we got through!" smiled Bronze in the mixed zone.
Tactically, England are still far from displaying a rugged style of play, and are the team with the fewest successful tackles in the group phase, behind only Belgium. They even came close to being caught out at their own game against a Swedish team renowned for its solidity and physicality.
But while defence may not be the Lionesses' strong point right now, as they have already conceded twice as many goals as when they were crowned champions in 2022, they can at least count on a collective spirit if they hope to upset an Italy side that relies on the same resources.