Veinte Futbol

General: They have started most league games as a 352 (7), but have also tried a 3421 twice and have also used a 433 twice. In terms of substitutions they have tended to use at least 3 subs per game which suggests Matt Beard doesn't wait around to try and change games. They have had quite a few injuries this season with Sophie Roman Haug and Marie Höbinger being the main players out before the Christmas break, but both are likely to be back against Leicester as Höbinger came off the bench against Brighton. They try to play their own way against all opponents by playing out from the back and to put the forwards in behind to middling effect this season.  Some of their best play will come from triangles they form out wide such as their first goal against Aston Villa.  Marie Höbinger playing the ball up to Leanne Kiernan. Kiernan laying the ball off to Grace Fisk on the right flank. Fisk playing Leanne Kiernan through for Taylor Hinds' 1st goal ...

Here's a quick roundup of some of the players I've found especially interesting to watch this season.  Goalkeepers: Rafaela Borggräffe (24): SC Freiburg The 24 year-old shot-stopper is one of the brightest goalkeepers in the Frauen Bundesliga. She is assertive in coming off her line to narrow angles and claim 50/50's. Her cross claiming numbers are low at only 4% claimed, although at 5'9 w/ long arms I can see this number improving. She has shown that she won't be bullied on corners in recent weeks by towering above players in the box to punch crosses away. She plays an average of 40 passes a game which is important in the modern game as long passes can also get Freiburg out of jams, especially since she's so comfortable using her weaker left foot which helps clear the ball when she's on the left side of her box. In my opinion she's one of the most overlooked keepers in Europe right now and with an expiring contract at the end of ...

Last season Charlton were only 1 point away from getting promoted behind champions, Crystal Palace and coming into this season they looked poised to make another push for promotion. They started this season in strong form picking up 4 wins in their first 4 league games in the Championship. In this span they only conceded 1 goal from 20 total shots, while scoring 8 times. Ever since their 2-1 loss in the league cup against Spurs - Charlton have slid all the way down to 8th place in the table, failing to win a single game since the 2-0 win over Blackburn at the end of September. It's also worth pointing out that - at the time of writing - the parity in the league is pretty strong, as only 5 points separate 1st place Birmingham City (19)and 8th placed Charlton(14). This is in part down to clubs like London City Lionesses and Newcastle investing smartly in the summer window. The quality of teams they have faced in this 5 game stretch have all overtaken Charlton and they all...

Leicester have so far played four times in all competitions this season and have scored a grand total of 2 goals. In one sense, having 1 point in the league after playing Liverpool and Arsenal while looking pretty solid in both games is not the end of the world. But against Crystal Palace,(a team that shipped 11 goals in their first two games)the Foxes only managed 7 shots and barely tested Palace keeper, Shae Yañez. In all fairness to Palace they were very defensively disciplined throughout most of the game, forced Leicester into their sloppiest performance so far and really limited the amount of time Leicester were able to be in the final 3rd while only giving up 2 big chances in the second half. In terms of the two big chances in the second half, Leicester's first saw Jutta Rantala slipped in by, half time substitute, Shana Chossenotte inside the box only for her right-footed, far post, shot to be cleared by Yañez's right foot. The second involved Noemi Mouchon ...

The Women's Championship has now been back for three weeks as of writing. Here are two of the many players that have stood out to me so far in the early weeks of the season. Neve Herron  Neve Herron (21) joined Birmingham in 2022 from hometown club Sunderland and has been played as a left-sided CB this season. In the 23/24 season she was voted as Birmingham's young player and player's player of the season. Defensively, Herron is very proactive in pushing out of the defensive line to intercept passes into the player she's marking. She's also got solid positional sense, which sees her track across horizontally when Birmingham are defending transitions. She's made some really important blocks already this season  such as this one against Bristol City . Aerially, Herron is pretty solid although I wouldn't necessarily call it a strength of hers as her positioning helps when dealing with off-target passes to head the ball on, and she has g...

As a relative Serie A newbie (I started in 2022/23), Hellas Verona didn't initially interest me that much as they dont carry the same flashy name appeal that either of the Milanese clubs or Juventus carry.  That said, since the turn of the calendar year, I've actually found the club's project to be quite interesting, as they're very willing to flip players after a short stint with the club.  Over the past decade or so they have also played a part in the development of plenty of top level players such as Jorginho, Destiny Udogie, Sofyan Amrabat and Mattia Zaccagni. The main player that inspired me to write this is Isak Hien (25).  In August 2022 Verona signed Hien from Sweden's Djurgårdens IF for a reported €4m and just 18 months later he was signed by Atalanta for roughly €8m.  For Atalanta, Hien has looked like a truly top level CB, whose tenacity in aerial and ground duels has helped him bed in perfectly into the centre of Gianpiero Gasperini's 3 m...