Kiera Skeels overview.

Kiera Skeels is a very bright CB prospect at 22 years-old playing for Charlton in the Women's Championship.  She recently signed a 1-year contract extension with Charlton to keep her for a 4th season with the Addicks.  Skeels actually made 10 appearances for then WSL side Bristol City in 2021 on loan from Reading, where she came through the academy.

Player profile

Pros:

. Physicality/aggressive defending.

. Confident on the ball w/ both feet.

. Leadership.

Area for improvement:

. Acceleration.

Skeels is a very front-footed/proactive defender, recovering the ball 13 times a game, who will push out of the defensive line to contest aerial balls, and follow her marker when they drop deep.  This allows Charlton to win the ball back closer to the opposing goal, as they look to play down the wings at pace.  A confident header of the ball, Skeels is useful at dealing with long balls and defending set-pieces, winning 2.5 aerials per 90.  The 22 year-old is strong against opponents backing into her, doesn't get rolled easily and is capable of defending wide areas as she's got very good positional sense. 

Skeels passing stats don't initially jump off the page at only 82% overall accuracy and 47% long ball accuracy, but her technique is generally solid.  Her zipped short passes on the ground stand out along with her long, curled balls to the wings to help Charlton build-up quickly.  While her passing and carrying on her left foot doesn't look like 2nd nature to her, she is still very confident on her weaker left foot and doesn't shy away from playing the ball long on her left.  In fact, the angles opened up to her by being so confident on her left, makes me think that she'd be very suited to playing as a central CB in a back 3 - or a back 4 with an inverted full-back - at a higher level. 

The fact that Charlton have entrusted Skeels as a co-captain as a 22 year-old shows just how highly thought of she is as one of the youngest captains in the Women's Championship.  While not being one of the loudest voices on the pitch, it's noticeable that Skeels is in near constant conversation to organise her defence in and out of possession, whether that's instructing her teammates where she's looking to play the ball, or communicating with her full-back against a winger. 

The main thing that I think may hinder Skeels' progression is that because she's such a proactive defender in leaving the defensive line to defend high up the pitch, it does allow space in behind for her defensive teammates to cover for her lack of recovery speed.  She's not necessarily slow as her top speed is ok, but her acceleration could improve to really help in defensive transitions. 

In summary, Kiera Skeels looks a very solid defender who probably wouldn't look out of place in a mid-level WSL team in the future. Having another season in the Championship this year should really help her develop even more and hopefully she'll continue to get called up to England's U-23 squad.