The curious case of Matilda Vinberg

The curious case of Matilda Vinberg

It's safe to say that Matilda Vinberg (affectionately referred to by fans and players as "Tilly") has had an up and down 2 and a half years since she signed for Spurs in January 2024. There was a decent amount of hype around her arrival as one of Sweden's brightest youngsters at the time, and Spurs seemingly managed to convince her to sign amidst reported interest from that season's league runners up Manchester City. Since she's been a Spurs player, she hasn't really been able to have a nailed on spot in the front line and, with her contract running out at the end of the season, I'm curious to see whether she will stay on as a Spurs player. 

 

Spurs' former manager, and fellow Swede, Robert Vilahamn brought her to Spurs during the January 2024 window. Her signing was helped in part due to them sharing the same management agency, but also the pathway to a starting spot in the Spurs front line was seen as more achievable compared to competing with City's wingers in England internationals, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly. 

 

In her first half season her playing time was limited to 11 league appearances with only 4 of those appearances being as a starter. The season after, and her first full season for Spurs, in 24/25 she wasn't able to fully break into the starting xi as she started in less than half of her league appearances as she started 8 games and came on in 10 games as a substitute. Her goal and assist output hasn't been elite as yet which is somewhat expected given her spotty minutes before this current season but she has now registered a goal and 2 assists in the league in 25/26 which is currently her best return for Spurs.

 

Football of course isn't just about the numbers of course and Vinberg does bring value to this team. Stylistically she suits Spurs' approach of wanting technical players that are creative passers and can carry the ball in wide and central areas. As mentioned earlier she can play multiple positions in that attacking midfield line, and I think she even has the profile to get minutes at the 10 slot as an occasional alternative to Olivia Holdt due to her potential as a ball-carrier. This positional versatility is a big plus due to managers in the modern game needing players that can fill multiple roles within a team and, as you can see by her heatmaps since she has been at Spurs, she has popped up almost everywhere on the pitch to take the ball.

Vinberg's half season 23/24 heatmap

Her 24/25 heatmap

Her 25/26 heatmap

 

Typically she can play on either wing but has been used more on the left of a 4231 or a 442. Spurs' attacking midfield line have had quite fluid roles at times as well, as the wide players have swapped flanks mid-game, and they've clustered over to one flank to try to create an offensive overload on that flank. In terms of profile balance she does mesh quite well with Olivia Holdt and Signe Gaupset who occupy central areas and want to attack the oppositions back line and push Spurs into attacking areas. 

 

Vinberg often looks to get on the ball in the half-space channels and very often she ends up playing with her back to goal where she will either try to roll her opponent or lay the ball off for a nearby teammate. Her back to goal play is something that I think she will look to improve as she can easily get crowded out by opposition players which cuts off her potential passing options, and she generally looks more comfortable when she's able to get on the ball facing forward with space ahead of her where she can look to open gaps in the opposition lines.

 

Her profile contrasts against her teammates that she's competing with for the starting winger minutes in Lenna Gunning-Williams, Julie Blakstad, Matilda Nilden & Araya Dennis (Dennis is more of a utility player that can play further back or as a striker) who are more direct wingers that look to play wider than Vinberg. She profiles more similarly to Maika Hamano in the sense that Hamano also doesn't have quite the same emphasis on pace in her game and can create in half-space channels and in wider areas.

 

The 23 year-old has shown promise of being able to be a threat as a ball-carrier with her completing 1.7 carries per 90 at a 45% success rate, but where her real talent lies is in her crossing and her ball-striking. Her cross completion numbers are quite good at 0.99 per 90 with a 37% success rate, but her actual technique on her stronger left foot allows her to get real power and accuracy on her balls into the box from set pieces and in open play. She does have Beth England and Cathinka Tandberg to aim for who are both good in the air and physical players but crossing isn't currently an area that Spurs make the most use of as they average 4 completed crosses per 90 which is the 6th highest in the league so they're about league average.

One problem holding her back is her over-reliance on her left foot. I will admit that I do value players who are elite on both feet in terms of shooting, ball-carrying and passing higher than other players but it's a tool that can allow players that extra edge of unpredictability, especially in isolation moments. It's not to say that she can't use her unfavoured right foot at all, as she can pass with it to a decent level, but very often her first thought seems to be how she can get the ball onto her left foot in moments where she's either about to shoot or pass off to a teammate in the final 3rd. This also limits her when she's the starting right-winger as she can't make the best use of that byline when she's in the final 3rd due to her reliance on cutting onto her left foot.

She has shown glimpses of being a good presser when the opposition has the ball deep in their own half to pressure them into having less time on the ball but her positional discipline and her tracking back are areas that also could use some work, as Spurs in general (not to point the blame solely at her) are not great at defending in transition.

 

Overall I think Spurs should extend her contract in the near future rather than lose her as a free agent in the summer. This season she has been shown more faith by Martin Ho as she's finally cracked the 1000 league minutes mark which is higher than in either of her previous 2 seasons. Her renewal may not be seen as a priority over club captain Beth England, whose contract also expires this summer, or Olivia Holdt whose contract runs until the summer of 2027 but is seen as one of the league's best number 10's. There is also a chance that Spurs try to make Maika Hamano's loan move permanent from Chelsea which could impact Vinberg's prospect of being a starter, but that seems unlikely as the Blues seem set for something of a squad overhaul, and Hamano has a long term contract until 2029, so the Japanese starlet is probably not coming back to Spurs. 

 

The end of the current season also represents a really good chance for Vinberg to up her goal contribution numbers to continue to show how she's improved since her arrival in 2024. The difficulty of the end of the season also gives her the opportunity to prove that she can be important in big games as Spurs have to face Arsenal, Manchester United, London City Lionesses and Brighton in the league, as well as facing Chelsea in the FA Cup semi final.

Why the number 6 and right-winger positions aren't appreciated enough in the WSL & WSL 2

This isn't meant to be looking into a problem necessarily as the WSL and WSL 2 are stacked with talent in every position. However, the 6 and the right-winger roles seem to have less of an emphasis on them in the respect of having fewer superstars that primarily play those roles and fewer players have been developed to play in those roles. This is also partially wondering why I often see fans and pundits mention that certain players don't really suit their specific roles - particularly with players in the number 6 position - and why they'd be better served playing in a different role. This isn't to say that they're wrong but it's something that's made me think for a while.

The number 6 

The number 6 position in football is arguably one of the most important on the football pitch. Not every team plays with a lone 6 in the WSL or WSL 2 however, so there can be a perception that they're a luxury player as they're mostly key for teams that look to dominate possession and build out from the back. That said, they're typically the players that link play from the back line in order to get the ball up to advanced positions and are crucial in controlling the centre of the pitch. 

Being able to play on the half-turn in deep areas is often a big part of the required skillset in a number 6, although teams can skirt around this by having the 6 drop into the back line to act as an extra centre-back. This can allow them to face forwards on the ball easier and less regularly play facing their own goal.

The leagues lack natural 6's as more often than not the players that do act as the anchors in either 3-player midfields or double pivots are often converted number 8's or number 10's that lack defensive awareness when it comes to screening the defensive line which can be as dangerous in transition scenarios and in settled defensive possession moments. Converting more attack-minded or box-to-box midfielders into 6's isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can just be harder to coach those defensive instincts and in a competition where each team only plays 22 games a season, learning that role in one season can be a task that teams just don't have time for if they're near the bottom of the table.

One of the biggest reasons for converting more attack-minded midfielders into deeper lying players can be their attacking instincts and, if they have a good passing range, it can make good use of their vision to open teams up that are in settled blocks in tight games. Number 6's in the modern game also need to be comfortable calling for the ball when the ball is in deeper positions in order to get play moving quickly out from the defence into the middle of the pitch, which is a very common trait in more confident number 10's who are often the focal point of their teams as they're often press-resistant through being elite passers or they can carry out of pressure and move the ball upfield themselves.

Keira Walsh and Yui Hasegawa are the gold standards for 6's in the top tier (even though Hasegawa has been given a freer role this season by Andree Jeglertz at Man City) with Sophie Ingle & Chelsea Cornet being the standouts in the WSL 2 this year. Walsh in particular is often marked out of the game specifically by opponents as an effective way to shut down either Chelsea or England, by forcing the rest of her teammates to progress the ball without her as they'll often look to funnel the ball out to wider areas. 

In one sense, the 6 is basically like gold dust because it is a difficult to specifically train players to have such a rounded skillset, and to be sure that their technical floor is high enough that they can consistently keep possession and progress the ball under pressure in some of the most important parts of the pitch.

The right-sided winger/wide midfielder

This is something that I've thought about for a while at this point. The point I want to make isn't that there aren't any good right wingers in English football, because of course there are. I just think the position lacks specialists who are guaranteed to play there week after week. Lauren James is England's most talented player and does often play there for club and country, but like a few other players I want to mention, a lot of wide players (including superstars) end up playing across the left, the 10 and the 9 slots in some cases, without really being an out-and-out right winger. 

To reiterate the point from the section about 6's, I'm not trying to look at this as a problem. It's just an observation that modern football does put a lot of emphasis on positional versatility, and (maybe I'm wrong here) there's less of an emphasis on left-sided wide players to play the same sort of minutes on the right side. A reason for this of course is the relative lack of left-footed players in football in general and with wingers often playing on the side that allows them to cut inside on their strong foot as inverted wingers/inside forwards. 

I think I am biased towards players that are capable of using both feet to similar levels of proficiency to the point of not really being able to tell their strong foot. This level of technical proficiency though can also be why those sorts of players either occupy number 10 roles, or can fairly interchangeably play on either flank. Maybe there's also less of an emphasis on the right-winger area as a lot of right-backs in the leagues are basically wing-backs that do create a lot of the chances on that flank for their teams

Arsenal actually have 3 players where you can argue that right wing is their best position in Olivia Smith, Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead. Smith and Kelly are both very direct and pacy forwards that love taking the ball down the line and sizing up their opposing full back but both of them have been utilized on the left at times this season with Smith even being used as a 9 (which she did for a big portion of last season at Liverpool as well). Mead in recent months for club and country has been used almost as an extra 10 (from the games I've seen her in) taking up very central spaces to almost vacate the right flank for Emily Fox or Smilla Holmberg for Arsenal or Lucy Bronze for England, which is a valid tactic to use as she's very good in these central areas and can create space for herself and her teammates.

Dropping down to the championship though is where there are actually 2 specialists who are both enjoying really stellar seasons on the right, despite sitting at different ends of the league table (yes this is also an excuse for me to talk about Sophie Peskett again). 

Starting at the top of the table Lily Crosthwaite has massively benefited from her summer move from Durham to last season's runners up Birmingham City as at the time of writing she has 6 goals and 6 assists in the league. Between her and Veatrikki Sarri on the left flank, Birmingham have 2 of the best wingers in the league who can cause opposing full-backs nightmares with how direct they can be. Although they have swapped flanks in games before, they are much more likely to stay on their flank for most of the game and Crosthwaite has developed even more as a ball-carrier and has honed her goal scoring to really take advantage of being the most advanced player in transition moments.

The reason that Sophie Peskett stands out to me as a player is that she really is such a well-rounded player that can just as comfortably cut inside on her left, or go down the line against her full-back on her favoured right foot in a foot race. Peskett is one of the quickest players in the league and her off-ball and on-ball speed has been part of her completing a massive 4.7 successful dribbles this season with a success rate of (67%).  She has started some games on the left for Ipswich but has been primarily used on the right of a midfield 4 and has 4 assists to her name along with 3 goals this season.

 

Abbie Larkin player profile

Abbie Larkin celebrating after scoring against Birmingham City as she points to the Palace bench.

 

Irish attacking-midfielder/forward Abbie Larkin has taken the leap into a starting role for Crystal Palace this season after struggling to break into the first team last season in the WSL. Since then, in Jo Potter's first season as manager, the 20 year-old Larkin has played as a number 10 or as a 2nd striker behind/next to a number 9. Her role as a 10 isn't to be a creator however. At the time of writing, she's the joint top scorer in the WSL 2 on 7 goals which have shown off her excellent ball-striking and her excellent movement in the box to finish off crosses.

Palace are a really well balanced side this season and can create chances from the sides or through the centre and can combine fairly intricate build-up play with longer, more direct balls into feet, which allows Larkin to be a part of moving the ball from the middle 3rd into the final 3rd as one of their key ball carriers. Her dribble success rate currently sits at 78% on a high volume where she completes 4.0 carries per 90. 

It's especially noticeable that when she plays next to Kirsty Howat as 10's behind a number 9, that when one of them shows for the ball, the other will stay higher to either stretch the defensive line by either making a run in behind for balls over the top or to make decoy runs when Palace move the ball quickly through the centre.

In a more conventional part of her role as a number 10 she is keen to offer a passing angle for her teammate on the ball, allowing her to pick the ball up in between the lines with her back to goal and then turn to face goal with space ahead of her. Her ability to take the ball with her back to goal is a massive part of her game as she can then burst into space laterally and give runners the chance to get ahead of her. She often makes use of Palace's central defenders' & midfield pivots ability to play line-breaking passes into central areas to give them an out-ball up the field to allow her teammates to create angles around her, almost like what a traditional target forward would do. She's an intelligent player that can open up play with her link-up when she's near the goal by drawing her defender in towards her before flicking the ball beyond them to a teammate. 

This the sort of area where Larkin plays her best football/tends to operate with her back to goal.

Aimee Everett launches the ball up to Abbie Larkin against Southampton.

Abbie Larkin takes the ball with her back to goal with space behind her and infield.

Larkin spots the run of Annabel Blanchard into space inside and lays the ball off. Nothing comes from the play but she managed to help progress the ball near Southampton's box with her hold-up play.

Larkin really suits Palace when they look to play quickly and in transition moments where she can make good use of her ball carrying and pace to break into space in central and inside right channels ahead of her. She is also often keen to make herself available to her teammates as she can either drop in or tuck in to provide a short passing option when the ball is near the inside channels in the opposition half. Her spatial awareness is a big part of her being able to find space for herself and does mean that she can ghost into pockets of space left by defenders when they retreat back to deal with the ball being progressed in deep areas of the pitch. 

Her defensive work rate when pressing from the front as well as being willing to track back in transitional moments show good signs that she can be an effective front-foot presser that can not allow opposing defenders time on the ball in their own half. She's also very effective when scanning off the ball in defensive situations in her own half to cut off passing angles and not allow gaps to appear behind her when Palace are in a settled defensive shape.

She does play a fairly one-footed style that's fairly reliant on her being able to get past her opponent with her right foot when either going inside or down the line. It's not that she can't use her left foot at all as she can pass out with it and control the ball, it's just that she rarely uses it to shoot, while rarely using it whe she has an opposition player near her. Her pace is notable but she's not explosive and does take a bit of time to get up to her top speed. While she is able to score excellent goals from outside the box, she really needs to clean up her shot map as she can be prone to shooting from range too often when she has other options near her.

Palace still have 6 games to go until the end of the season and look poised to either play in the relegation/promotion play-off game against the bottom team of the WSL. They also have a very real chance to gain one of those automatic promotion spots and Abbie Larkin's goals, as well as her general presence in attacking midfield have given her a real platform this season to make a name for herself this season.
 

Spurs Women post-Leicester (h) match thoughts 2025/2026

I don't usually write up post match thoughts like this, but we're now at an interesting point of the season as Spurs picked up 3 points against a dogged Leicester City side over the weekend, which saw the return of club icon Ashleigh Neville - who ended up scoring the crucial own goal to give Spurs the win. We're also still not even halfway through the winter transfer window (at the time of writing) and Spurs have certainly been busy in the past 2 months, doing a lot of business before the window even opened, with 5 new faces walking through the door at Hotspur Way. Signe Gaupset (who I'll talk about more later) was announced back in November for a club record fee from SK Brann in Norway. Then Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nilden were signed at the tail end of December, both from BK Hacken in Sweden. Finally, Maika Hamano's loan was announced at the start of the month as she'll finish the season with Spurs before going back to Chelsea in June, and Julie Blakstad was announced shortly after Hamano joining The Lilywhites from Hammarby.

All of the new signings, with the exception of Blakstad, were named in the matchday squad against Leicester, with Gaupset starting as the LW/left-sided number 10 in a 4231. The Norwegian starlet immediately showed her ball carrying prowess as she looked equally comfortable staying narrow to drive into central areas, while also looking dangerous slightly wider where she could also run onto balls in behind. Gaupset formed an attacking midfield trio with Olivia Holdt as the central 10 and Matilda Vinberg as the right-sided mdifielder. The 3 of them gave Spurs' midfield pivots of Eveliina Summanen & Drew Spence decent options to play line-breaking passes into, as Holdt in particular would call for the ball in central areas and look to turn her opponent, carry the ball into space or quickly release the ball to a teammate in space. Progression into the opposition half and, by extension, getting the ball consistently into the final 3rd has been an area that Spurs really need to level up to cement a place around the European spots (if you'd have told me that I'd be thinking like this at the start of the season, I'd have thought you were bonkers), and it looks like this is something that is coming along fairly well.

The first half was really impressive on the ball from Spurs, with Gaupset in particular looking like a real ceiling-raiser for this team. As the game wore on, when Spurs were off the ball they did get stretched at times when Leicester had the ball as with some quick passes, and some general sloppy play Leicester did end up creating more shots before the 83rd minute (when Spurs had a late flurry of shots as they got some control back). There has always been a worry that with Spurs looking to play more expansive football in recent seasons (even if it failed pretty miserably last season) that the high defensive line they use could be exploited by pacy forwards, and in Leicester's case, flying wing-back Sarah Mayling was able to get in behind the back line and create dangerous chances. Even though Spurs didn't get burned against Leicester, it's something that other teams have looked to use against them and will continue to do so. Spurs' wide areas will also need tightening up defensively as the season goes on, as Amanda Nilden has done fairly well this season on both sides of the ball for the most part but, since she has a green light to bomb forward, Spurs can be left open in transition moments when she's out of the defensive line. That said, Martin Ho seems a fairly adaptable manager so far so I'm not too worried that this will be a persistent issue and he should be able to find a competent workaround.

I'm curious to see how new full-back Hanna Wijk settles in as the season goes on as upping the offensive balance on that right flank will add a new dimension to this Spurs team. In the first half of the season this has probably been one of the weaker areas of Spurs' attacking capabilities. Jess Naz suited the right wing fairly well in front of the right-back but she generally suits the left flank more (get well soon, Jess), Olivia Holdt is so much more dangerous as a 10 in central areas and Olga Ahtinen was used as a false rw almost right at the start of the season where she could be more of a 10 on the ball. Now Matilda Vinberg seems to be favoured there which seems to suit her fairly well after mostly being played as a tricky LW that can carry the ball confidently, but now the angles are beneficial for her to get into more central areas where she can play look to play the final pass (something that I think she will keep improving on). Going back to Wijk, from what I've read she's not the most attack-driven full-back which isn't the end of the world but it does put more emphasis on Vinberg and Holdt (drifting over from the centre) to create in those wide right areas. Charli Grant and, when she returns, Ella Morris are more adventurous, right-sided full-backs that could add a good balance when both return to the squad (Morris will likely be next season).

To wrap up, I want to look at the midfield pivots. Eveliina Summanen and Drew Spence have both been crucial for Spurs this season on the ball in build-up and they've both been part of Spurs' attacking threat with Summanen bagging 2 goals and 1 assist and Spence has an assist which was to Olivia Holdt to complete the comeback win against Aston Villa in December. They're both excellent players which has seen Martin Ho put his faith in them from the start of the season, and they've partnered each other in every game, other than the one game Drew Spence missed against Chelsea even when Olga Ahtinen and Maite Oroz were match fit.

The two midfielders compliment each other well with both ranking well for defensive actions (data from FBRef and chart from FBCharts)

The midfield profile(s) that I do think that Spurs need is someone that can back up Eveliina Summanen from the bench but to have a near total emphasis on shielding the back 4 as it's still been too common for Spurs to get overrun in transition, and even in non-transitional moments, as that is one area where neither Summanen or Spence excel. The other thing you might notice from that graph is that neither of them rank especially highly for successful take-ons or progressive carries. It'd be a bonus to get a mobile player that could play in that pivot and be press-resistant with their carries as well as their passing. That player would be something of a unicorn if they really do exist. With Maite Oroz out until next season at least and with Olga Ahtinen suiting Spence's role of playing slightly higher on the midfield axis, I hope it's an area that Spurs at least keep an eye out/have players in mind for.

Thanks for reading. 

My 2025 football writeup

I do like end of year round-ups, and I couldn't really think of anything more in depth this month (as I've had a bit of a break from watching football since I moved earlier this month). So, while this might not be the most tactical or interesting thing I've written, I wanted to look back at some parts of my year with football

The first Women's football match I actually attended was actually in 2024 (this is relevant I promise) when I went to Leicester's final game of the 23/24 season. I do support Spurs but I am from Leicester and it was easy enough to get there, and honestly this game just highlighted how accessible games can be as I got the bus there.  Anyway, Leicester got torn apart by a Liverpool team that featured most of the same players that they still have, as of writing this. Leanne Kiernan bagged a 2nd half hat-trick and Leicester looked pretty dejected by the end of it. I did go by myself  and I honestly can't recommend it enough to just go to a game if there's a team nearby you, as you never know who might end up becoming a big name (Taylor Hinds played and has since become a Lioness) and it was just cool to actually be there in the stadium. This did also start me off on wanting to go to more games where I could.

Since that game I did go to both Spurs games this calendar year at the King Power which, despite them only drawing the first game while they were enduring a pretty serious slump at the start of the season, seemed like something of a turning point as they did play one of their better games in the final few months of Robert Vilahamn's tenure with the club. The 2nd game by comparison had some really good periods of play from Spurs while highlighting just how special Olivia Holdt really is with her excellent chipped goal to seal the 3 points. The losses of Ella Morris (probably my favourite Spurs player), Maite Oroz & Jess Naz to ACL injuries has been impactful and they're just 3 of many players that have been afflicted by those dreaded 3 letters this year.

The team does look so much better under Martin Ho and they clearly look a lot better coached as there's a more recognisable shape and he seems adaptable with his team selection without being chaotic so far.  Spurs still need time to get to the point where I and other fans think they can get to, as the direction of the club looks to be solid. Toko Koga & Cathinka Tandberg have really elevated Spurs on and off the ball since arriving in the summer as record transfers (before Signe Gaupset eclipsed them both to be the current record signing back in November) as they've really shored up the defence and forward line respectively. There's still a huge emphasis on playing out from the back and shorter passes when building up with the midfielders so I hope that the team can keep improving in that area as getting the ball into the middle and final 3rd consistently remains an area that can seem fairly labored. 

Back to other games that I went to this season. I went as a neutral to 2 other games in lower divisions. The first game was Loughborough Lightning's season opener against West Bromwich Albion in August for their game in the National League's Northern Premier Division. The game was a pretty enjoyable 1-1 draw and the ground was really cool as you could be really close to the pitch or in the stand as they didn't have assigned seating. It was a good experience to see football at that level as the national league doesn't have the same glamour of the top tier but plenty of players have loans or dual-registration periods with clubs at this level. 

Loughborough players warming up.

In September I watched Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace in WSL2 with my brother. It was a win-win because he really likes Nottigham (the city) and I'd wanted to go to a game at that level for as long as I've been watching the league (which has been about a year and a half now). I was - and still am - more familiar with Palace's players as they got relegated from the WSL in the 2024/25 season, whereas Nottingham had been promoted at the end of last season from the Northern Premier Division to play their 1st season of 2nd tier football. Annabel Blanchard was the player who I wanted to see the most as she arguably showed enough last season for a WSL side to take her on as a bench player or higher. The game was a bit scrappy but the atmosphere, contrary to what you might have seen on the stream where the camera was above the fans and was pointed over to the empty stands across from where we were sitting, was great from both sets of fans. Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah was another player I'm glad I got to watch in person and she did score Forest's consolation goal in their 1-2 loss. Freya Thomas (a former Leicester player) also looked really good here and is one of a few players I've found to be an interesting player to watch. She can get the play moving out from deeper areas, and she looks really comfortable arriving late in advanced areas almost as a number 10 from her nominal double-pivot role.

Nottingham Forest playerse warming up.

To change gears a bit I want to give some honorary VF (an abbreviation of the name of this blog) awards I want to highlight the WSL 2 player that I want to give some shine to and also talk about a club that could be on the up. 

Even though they're still bottom of the league at this point, Ipswich have one player that I just love to watch and who massively passes the eye test (I like stats and eye test for what it's worth). Sophie Peskett is someone that I have briefly mentioned before but I think she's got massive potential to make a name for herself this season and beyond. She did win the league's player of the year, was top scorer in the Southern Premier Division last season, and was also the first Ipswich Women's player to sign a professional contract so she does have accolades to her name already. At her current level though she looks an excellent winger that can play on either flank as she has started mostly on the right, but has played on the left in some league games this season. Her volume of touches isn't as high as a lot of other wingers in the division but when she does get the ball, she's fast enough to take on her full-back for pace down the line, or she's adept enough on her left foot to cut inside and look for a killer pass into Rianna Dean. If any Ipswich fans do end up reading this eventually then cover your eyes for a second. I think she's got huge potential to make a move next season either to an upper table WSL2 side or even a lower table WSL side.

As for the club I mentioned, even though they're fighting out for promotion this season they don't get quite the same attention (in some aspects due to Birmingham and Charlton being the top 2 sides so far) I think Bristol City are a real club to keep an eye on. Off the pitch they were taken over a few months ago and are now separate from the men's team so there's real scope for them to improve quickly. Summer signings Sophie Ingle and Vicky Losada have added some much needed experience to a fairly young team with promotion aspirations and added extra layers of creativity and defensive solidity to this Bristol side. They took youngsters Olivia Hibbert-Johnson and Vera Jones on loan from Brighton and Chelsea respectively and both players look like they could really make an impact now and in the future. The one player who they've managed to keep fairly hidden who could be their next big sale (as they have previously let on that they plan to sell young players that they've developed to the top tier sides) is midfielder Malaika Meena. Meena arrived in January 2025 after playing for 3 and a half years for Wake Forest University in the USA. An England youth international, Meena is a number 8 that has huge potential and she has a very well-rounded game that will translate to higher levels.

Anyway, thanks for reading if you got this far. Happy New Year. 

Durham had their best game vs Southampton: How they did it and why a rarely used tactical shift played a part

Durham had their best game vs Southampton: How they did it and why one tactical shift played a part

Before this game, Durham had been struggling to get wins on the board as they still sit 9th in the league after 9 games. Beth Hepple was among the leagues top scorers with 5 goals going into the game, which is a pretty ridiculous number for a number 8 this early in the season. As an aside, strikers in the WSL 2 haven't really been the ones to top the goal charts early on, with Emily Scarr in 2nd who hasn't always been afforded the number 9 slot this season as she contends with Eleanor Dale for that 9 role. Of the other players to have scored at least 4 goals (of which there are currently 8 players) only 2 out and out number 9's while the other 6 are more positionally diverse with 3 wingers, 3 are number 10's/very attack-minded number 8's and a left wing-back. 

Durham are quite a direct team that don't really look to build up slowly using short passes, instead they opt to hit the ball long fairly early for players such as Mollie Lambert to run onto in the channels. While that is a gross over-simplification of how they look to play, it is a fairly common action for Durham to play long into the wide channels from deep areas when they win the ball back in their own half or when they have to play over the press of the opposition. In most games they start with Poppy Pritchard as the 9 in a 4141 system that doesn't really utilise wingers that hold the width and run 1v1 vs opposing fullbacks.

 

Hannah Blake has taken up the slot of the starting right-sided winger, while they have swapped between Mariana Speckmaier & Grace Ede on the left side. None of these players really benefit from having the ball in wide areas. Blake often drops in centrally when Durham look to play out from deeper areas to provide an extra option in midfield. Speckmaier has been used as a striker at times as well, & Grace Ede hasn't had enough game time as yet to really make an impact but, similarly to Blake, she can look to use the spaces in central areas similar to a number 10.

What this can often mean is that Mollie Lambert & Beth Hepple, as the starting number 8's, will often find themselves in higher areas of the pitch. Lambert especially will look to run into the wide channels where she can often attack the byline and cut the ball back or get a shot off if she can get in behind the defence. Hepple will look to link the play in central areas, but she'll also burst into spaces to get on the end of the crosses that Lambert will look to play.

To get back on track, there's a game that really stood out earlier in the season. When Durham played Sheffield United at Bramall Lane earlier this season they lost to a resurgent Sheffield United team by 2 goals to 1. The part of that game that really stuck out about that game is that Durham really struggled to get the ball into the box and were forced into turning the ball over when they did get into the final 3rd. It didn't help that their shot selection was speculative at best, with only 2 of their shots coming from inside the 18 yard box (one of which was their penalty). Fast forward two weeks and manager, Adam Furness, had created a solution for their isolated striker situation.  

Instead of starting Speckmaier or Ede on the left side against Southampton, Furness instead chose to start Pritchard on the left side, where they could play the ball up to her for her to hold the ball up and bring the ball back inside. As well as being able to hold the ball up out wide, Pritchard also looked to run in behind  and stretch the Southampton back line alongside Speckmaier to form a split front 2 in some moments. 

Lambert is able to turn on the ball in the centre circle and play the ball up to Pritchard

Pritchard gets on the ball in behind Collett with a run at goal but was ultimately tackled.

This game saw Durham players create spaces for themselves when moving the ball inside from wider areas, allowing them to drag Southampton midfielders out towards the ball and then run in behind the midfield and defensive lines for a shot. Starting fullbacks, Grace Ayre and Lauren Briggs don't typically get that involved on the ball in the opposition half, but Ayre in particular looked to play narrow on the right side for Durham, allowing her to play the ball through the lines centrally fairly often. Whether this was to play Lambert, Hepple or Blake in, Ayre's positioning and eye to break the lines made a huge difference in this game.

Ayre receives the ball from Blake on the right wing.

 

After circling back, she spots Hepple ahead of her who has made the run into the space near the defence.

 

Hepple is able to run onto the ball and get a cross off.

 

Typically Durham aren't among the most aggressive pressing teams in the league but in this game they were able to really pressure Southampton in their own half into turning the ball over. In fact that's how their goal came about. In the 10th minute after Aimee Palmer won the ball back near her own team's box, and her pass into Ellie Hack encouraged Beth Hepple to follow the ball. Hack's poor touch/pass allowed Hepple to poke the ball beyond Fran Stenson.

Pritchard gets tackled while being outnumbered on the ball.

Palmer is about to receive the ball without realising that Hepple is about to press her/the backpass

Hack gives the ball away under Hepple's pressure.

Hepple opens the scoring after getting onto the loose touch/pass to make it 1-0.

It's also worth mentioning that Durham might have signed one of the best goalkeepers in the league in the summer. Catriona Sheppard has been an outstanding signing having kept 2 clean sheets and has put up an 80% save per game ratio on 4.9 saves a game. Along with her big stop in the first half to deny Atlanta Primus at the near post after a low cross got into the box, her biggest moment came at the end of the game when she was able punch away an excellent inswinging corner falling backwards at her back post to prevent Southampton taking the win.  

Ultimately they didn't win this game and will have been disappointed that they weren't able to move ahead of Palace. They'll also be frustrated that they couldn't capitalise on this game as they put in a fairly meek performance the week after in the League Cup draw away to Sunderland. Admittedly neither team could progress to the next round as Liverpool had secured the maximum 9 of 9 points before they even kicked off, and Durham did heavily rotate their starting lineup making 7 changes. As a club they're in an interesting spot. They're able to give younger players a role in this team and they've been staunchly loyal to a number of players in this team, but with the league being as competitive as ever, they'll need to put in performances like this as often as they can.

Looking at the bottom 3 teams in the WSL2 after 6 games.

 Looking at the bottom 3 teams in the WSL2 after 6 games.

Portsmouth:

Portsmouth have been suffering with an injury crisis so far. It got to such a point that they had to cancel their League Cup match against Charlton on the 19th of October, due to them only having 9 outfield players available to play. At the worst point of their injury crisis, which was the case against Southampton, they only had 4 players on the bench with one of those being their backup goalkeeper, Comfort Erharbor. It's a difficult task to really get any consistency when the team has been forced into so many different starting XI's this early into the season. 

Jay Sadler opted to switch from playing a 4231 starting lineup for the first 3 games, to a 532 to play with an extra CB to make use of the starters that are fit. They average the 2nd lowest possession % in the league through 6 games with 43%(despite the data being incomplete due to their game against Bristol not having any public data as the stream was riddled with visual issues). While it's not uncommon for teams in this league to play a lot of long passes, Pompey don't look after the ball especially well and do look to clear the ball long fairly often when they are able to win the ball back deep in their half.

In terms of their defensive woes, their total of 16 goals conceded, they're averaging over 2.7 goals shipped per game so far this season and, while 9 of those have come in the last 2 games. They have conceded 3 penalties already this season and, for their height at the back with Greta Humphries and Hannah Coan as their first choice centre-back pair, they don't defend set-pieces or open play crosses especially well, as was the case when they conceded twice from crosses in their 3-2 defeat against Ipswich (insert the goals). The team doesn't deal well with 2nd balls as the midfield can often get overrun by the opposition press and even when they do manage to hold onto the ball, they often look to play forward quickly which makes them have to run after the ball again as their long ball accuracy is lacking (again hard to get a proper read on the data due to the data for the game against Bristol not being released).

Their fullback/wing-backs have also not been consistently lining up together since their game against Ipswich. The switch to a 5 back system has given Jazz Bull (RWB) and Tia Primmer (LWB but she's a converted winger) more attacking responsibilities on their flanks as the 2 also have quite high starting positions off the ball in order to pressure the opposing wide players higher up the pitch. Bull has been targeted less frequently compared to the left flank (even before Primmer took over Izzy Collins role on the left) which was especially the case in their loss to Southampton where Isabel Watts and Abbie Ferguson were able to take on Primmer down that flank frequently. Deanne Rose did an excellent job of exploiting their left side in their 4-1 loss to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground by consistently getting into the spaces that were left by Primmer and Coan on that left side to create plenty of chances in the box.

Rose receives the ball by the touchline with Primmer near her.

Rose bursts into the space left in behind.

Freya Thomas gets on the end of Rose's cross to her for a shot.

Later, Rose looks like she's going to break towards the touchline.

She stops and is able to turn inside and burst towards the goal.

Rose is then able to play the ball in behind after facing up Hannah Coan.

The squad overall does have quite a lot of individual attacking talent that gives them some threat when they are able to get into the final 3rd and their focal point player this season has been Meg Hornby. Hornby tended to start as a RW last season, as she looks to cut inside on her left foot to shoot and get crosses in on her left foot curling inwards. This season she's been played on the left wing and as a number 9 due to an injury to starting number 9 Emma Jones which has kept her out since the 3rd match. Hornby's role as the 9 has often to be the player that Pompey look to on the break due to her willingness to play with her back to goal and she has often been willing to take the ball into the wide left channel to use the width and get the ball into the final 3rd to either cross the ball to the back post or cut the ball back to the top of the box for  an onrushing teammate to get on the end of. In Jessie Gale they have an energetic forward/attacking midfielder that can play on the left or as a 2nd striker that makes use of the space that Hornby leaves ahead of her. Gale's energy on and off the ball allows Pompey to have a presence on the right flank when they look to play the ball down the line and also means that she can be well positioned to counter-press when they do turn the ball over as the team turns the ball over at quite a high rate.

Ella Rutherford, like Gale, hasn't been a permanent starter but has made a real impact off the bench in her 82 minutes of league action as she really suits the central role that she has been given as an attacking midfielder/number 8 with her willingness to play line-breaking passes and operate in between the lines as a presence that Pompey lack when she's not on the field. One of their first signings over the summer was Rugby Borough winger/attacking midfielder, Angelina Nixon who has made a big impact in her limited minutes. Her goal off the bench against Ipswich was an excellently hit shot from 30+ yards out and, for as good as it was, it did somewhat highlight a big problem with Portsmouth's attack in that they struggle to create consistent chances in the box. That said, Nixon is, like Rutherford, a very creative player that is confident when she's on the ball out wide or when she gets the ball centrally as she will take on her opponents to drive the ball forwards which is an aspect of Portsmouth's play where she has the biggest impact of any of her teammates.

While she has been played in between as a number 8 and a number 6 this season, Jemima Dahou still looks like she has plenty of room to improve in this team as she has been played as a 6 in her last 2 starts in a 3 player midfield. Dahou is a very talented player on the ball that has previously shown a decent ability to progress the ball out from midfield and offer some press resistance with her ball carrying in tighter spaces. Ideally her defensive contributions will continue to tick up as that side of her game still needs development although she does look like she has already improved this season compared to her last season at Blackburn.

Portsmouth really struggled for most of last season before a late season purple patch saw them survive narrowly after being rock bottom for a sizeable chunk of the season. Their recruitment of younger players that aren't in their primes yet has found them plenty of solid talents, but mixed with their injury crisis and the high turnover of players in the summer, it could be another struggle for them to stay up this season based on how they have been playing so far. 

Ipswich:

Ipswich have adapted to life in the 2nd tier surprisingly well and the best example of this was their 0-0 draw away against promotion challengers Charlton Athletic in week 2. Manager Joe Sheehan has opted to line his team up in a 4231 for each game this season which allows their shape to quickly recover when they lose the ball in the opposition's half as Jenna Dear can easily move alongside Rianna Dean in the press. They have also experimnted with a back 3 in their build-up to push their LB higher up the pitch and using more of the width while allowing Sophie Peskett more freedom on the right flank. Dear, along with summer signing Rianna Dean, form a very narrow front 2 out of possession that has made it difficult at times for opposition defences to play the ball through the middle and their wingers are very quick to push up when the ball goes wide. The shape can also look like a back 5 at times off the ball when they're being pushed back or when they need extra help dealing with wide threats. 

They've been able to put out a fairly consistent starting XI in the league so far before Bethan Roe picked up a pretty ridiculous red card for hitting out at Sheffield United's Tilly Bristow after a foul. The former Charlton player had been playing between LB and number 8 before her red card and she had been fairly consistent as she was able to find spaces in midfield as an 8 or she could push inside from the left when she was starting as a LB. Similarly to Portsmouth, they average around 45% possession and don't protect the ball especially well as (this is also the case league wide) they can look to clear the ball long quite often. 

Arguably their star players have been 2 of their attack-minded players. In Sophie Peskett they have one of the most exciting right-sided wingers in the league who currently is the joint leader in assists tied with Annabel Blanchard and Jess Simpson of Crystal Palace and Southampton respectively. Peskett did finish last season as the WNL South top scorer with 23 goals, and her 8 assists put her 1 behind teammates Lucy O'Brien & Kyra Robertson at the top of the assist leaderboards. She is yet to score yet this season, but she's a player that loves to go 1v1 with her fullback opponent down the line. Most of Ipswich's best attacks do come down her side - partially because they currently don't have any naturally left-footed players on their left side - as she's developed chemistry with Jenna Dear in the 10 and Grace Neville at RB where they all can either push all the way to the touchline or make use of the inside right channels. She's not opposed to cutting inside from the right flank to look to play in central areas to look to play the ball into the box from dangerous areas while facing up the back 4.

Peskett faces up with the space seemingly ahead of her.

She takes her time and then shapes to carry inside.

Peskett managed to get the ball into the centre before playing the ball into the box for Rianna Dean.

Against Southampton, she's moved inside near Lucy O'Brien to burst into the space that is in behind Southampton's midfield line.

Her acceleration is able to push her closer to the centre and gradually creates even more space.

Peskett now has a completely free space to carry the ball into in Southampton's half.

She then releases the ball back to Lucy O'Brien who carried on her run to provide an extra option.

2 of Peskett's 3 assists have come from her precise crosses against Portsmouth. In that game she was also unlucky not to get a 3rd assist in that game as another one of her crosses found Rianna Dean in space in the box from just outside of the box. She's also a very smart presser off the ball which allows her to create turnovers high up the pitch and that's also how she got her 3rd assist of the season vs Sheffield United on a poor back pass.

Rianna Dean arrived in the summer after her last season with Southampton was cut short due to a lengthy injury to her knee after scoring 5 goals in 8 appearances (5 starts). So far this season she's been excellent in the air and has been the focal point for Ipswich players to look for in central areas. Partly due to her hold-up play with her back to goal and her aerial ability has contributed to her 3 goals this season. She's still getting to grips with having the presence of Jenna Dear next to her as Dear tends to be the player that will run beyond her when Ipswich are able to hold the ball up and face the defence. Dean herself is able to make good runs off the ball as well off the shoulder of the centre-backs to stretch the back line with her pace. Overall she's played a big part in Ipswich's attack so far this season with her skillset being so well-rounded for a number 9.

One of the biggest sources of their goals conceded has been from corners, due to their difficulty clearing the ball in the 2nd phase (if the ball hasn't already gone into the back of the net). In their first game this season against Southampton they conceded from 3 corners and one of their 4 goals against Birmingham before the international break was a poorly dealt with in the 2nd phase. One consistent theme has been that the goalscorer has ended up with far too much room around them to get their shot/header off as they've not been tracked to a good enough extent or the defender has been slow to react to the initial cross in during the 2nd phase. 

Mary Bashford is near Negri in the 6 yard box before she peels off to attack the ball.

Unchallenged, Bashford heads in at the near post.

After initially clearing Birmingham's corner, Ji spots Quinn in space on the right wing.

Quinn is able to get her cross off in time.

Chelsea Cornet has space to head the cross into the far corner after not being closed.

Sheffield United:

This Sheffield United team is somewhat fortunate to still be in the division as Blackburn's failure to support their women's team saw them re-form their team in the 5th tier, allowing Sheffield back into the 2nd tier after they finished last in the WSL2 last season. Sheffield deserve credit however, as they recruited smartly this summer as their two star players in Amy Andrews and Charlie Devlin both arrived as free agents from fellow WSL2 teams Newcastle United and Birmingham City respectively. This team is arguably a bit unlucky to be 10th in the league, as they've been very competitive in their first 6 games, and they've already faced promotion hopefuls Birmingham, which they narrowly lost in the final minutes. Their 352 setup looks much more solid off the ball, and when they need to line up in a deep block against tough opposition they're able to really clog the spaces between the lines to make it harder for teams to play through them.

Charlie Devlin, as mentioned earlier, has been a huge addition to the club after arriving as a free agent in the summer after leaving Birmingham City in the summer. She operates mainly as a 2nd striker/number 10 that has licence to move quite freely when Sheffield have the ball.

Devlin's heatmap for this season.

She's currently 7th in the league for the most successful dribbles with 21 total successful dribbles which works out at 3.2 per game at a 70% success rate and is a massive help as she can win fouls to relieve the pressure when they have the ball in and around the final 3rd. Devlin has also played the 3rd most key passes in the league with 11 so far which isn't a surprise as she is Sheffield's main creative source. Sheffield's on ball play can look a bit heliocentric (which, debatably, is neither good or bad) around Devlin and her average of 57 touches per 90 is quite impressive in a fairly small sample size and she takes a good amount of their set-pieces,

Sheffield's other attacking star this season is Amy Andrews. Similarly to Devlin, Andrews arrived in the summer seeking starting minutes after being used as a subsitute for most of her solitary season with Newcastle. She's a very pacey forward that can also act like a winger to take on the fullback on the left side. That role last year was often occupied by Maria Farrugia, who is now a Bristol City player, and the part of Farrugia's game that was quite weak was her ability in the 1v1 on the wings which didn't allow her to get the ball as her best attritbute was her ball striking when she had space ahead of her. This season she's often found herself around the inside left channel in the final 3rd to get on the end of balls upfield towards her where she can look to run at defences or hold the ball up and wait for overlaps. It's not all togethere a new trend but her tendency to hang around in the inside channels does mean that Sheffield can lack the central 9 presence that could win them more games. There is hope amongst Sheffield United fans that Joy Ralph can eventually be that presence that can play off of Devlin and Andrews.

In Abbie Lafayette and Jess Reavill they now have 2 wide CB's that can operate high and wide on the ball allowing Leanne Cowan and Sophie O'Rourke to operate high themselves as the wing-backs. Cowan especially is keen on playing high to provide the option of going out to the wide right where she can combine with Devlin to find space in behind the opposing fullback or take them on off the dribble. The best example of this was against Ipswich when she was able to find a huge amount of space ahead of her on a fast break where Devlin was able to draw in the Ipswich defenders to her on the left flank, allowing Cowan to sprint into the vacated space to shoot 1v1.

Defensively, their biggest struggle - which they've since improved on and similarly to Ipswich - has been crosses into the box, as this was something that Sunderland were able to exploit in their 4-0 opening day loss at home. Katy Watson was able to create plenty of dangerous opportunities down Sheffield's left flank with her 5 crosses and her 6 successful dribbles out of her 7 attempts and the first one she was part of created space for Marissa Sheva to curl the ball towards Emily Scarr in the middle of the goal (11:15). The 1st goal of the game (40:00) came from a transition situation where Watson was again able to run down the line before getting her own cross into the back post for Izzy Atkinson to volley the ball into the back of the net. The final example is from the corner that made it 2-0 to Sunderland as Natasha Fenton's lofted ball to the back post found Rhiannon Roberts who managed to create a massive amount of space, in part due to Tammi George losing concentration for a split second and then Marissa Sheva smartly screened George to give Roberts the extra time to have a completely uncontested header.

Katy Watson ran the ball down the line before finding Sheva behind her in space to cross for Scarr.

Scarr misses the cross but the ball went into a very dangerous area.

For the first goal, Watson has the space ahead of her to carry the ball into.

Watson gets her cross into the box and Reavill doesn't pick up/notice Atkinson behind her.

Atkinson fires the ball low and beyond Parker-Smith.

Roberts at the top of the box finds space to run into from the corner.

She breaks away from George to attack the back post.

Her looping header makes it 2-0 to Sunderland.