Looking into 3 WSL 2 talents who could make a big jump in the 25/26 season.

Mari Ward

Bristol City have been fairly public in wanting to give young players a chance and eventually sell them to WSL teams as their business model. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if 19 year-old wing-back, Mari Ward got a move to a lower mid-table WSL team this season. Ward can fairly comfortably go by her opposing full-back on both flanks with decent pace, on and off the ball with 3.1 successful dribbles per 90 at a 66% success rate in the league. 

She has decent stamina to go up and down the flank. One defensive concern I have is that she needs to track back more consistently to help out in crossing situations as the CB's behind her can end up isolated in transition situations. I could see her adjusting to being a full-back or a winger which would require her crossing to improve as she only registered a 21% success rate in the league. That said, she can comfortably play the ball into dangerous areas on either foot contributing to her 4 assists in all competitions in the 2024/25 season. 

Ward's assist vs Brighton in the League cup group stage back in December.

Ward receives the ball on the left wing and battles past McLaughlin.

After getting by McLaughlin, Ward faces up Carabaly and continues towards the box.

Ward cuts the ball across the box looking for the back post run from her wing-back partner.

Jasmine Bull then finishes from a decent area after getting on the end of Ward's cut-back.

Fallon Connolly-Jackson

This past season was 18 year-old, Fallon Connolly-Jackson's first season of getting minutes at a professional level as a left-sided wing-back. In only 5 starts, and 16 total league appearances, she has shown good defensive tenacity to get into duels. Connolly-Jackson scored her first Scotland u-19 goal against Czechia in April*. She still has quite a bit of work to get up to the technical standards of a WSL2 starter, as her 52% pass success on low volume of 6 successful passes per 90 - in very limited minutes/starts - is an area for improvement. She has a pretty decent long throw which could be useful for her team to create chances if they have good aerial forwards.

I think that her stamina, willingness to track back and create contact without fouling - to either win the ball back or push her opponent off balance - suggest that she can be a useful defender for another WSL 2 club in the near future.

*Connolly-Jackson's goal vs Czechia in April.

Connolly-Jackson gets on the ball in midfield and looks to drive into the centre.

She looks to play a ball in behind the defensive line.

After running onto a poor touch from the defence, Connolly-Jackson carries on towards the box.

She chooses to shoot from just outside the box and scores with her shot going into the right side of the goal.

Jemima Dahou

19 year-old Jemima Dahou is such a good player to watch when she gets on the ball, which is something we've somewhat come to expect from a Man City academy graduate who has made 2 appearances for England's u-19 team. Her main problem is that, in my opinion, she didn't get on the ball nearly enough to make the sort of impact she could, as she averaged 41.75 touches in games that she started. Back to the positives, she's very capable of dribbling out of tight spaces with incisive turns. Her passing range is decent on both feet, given that Blackburn tended to play a fairly direct style which allowed Dahou to try to play long through balls in behind to get the forwards on the ball higher up the pitch.

Dahou seems a bit wasted as an 8 for Blackburn having to cover a lot of distance each game. In my eyes, I think she'd really suit a number 6 role to allow her to focus on ball progression from deeper areas. Her 1st touch, on both feet, is very secure and she's often able to use it to create space by luring her opponent in to press her, allowing her to glide by them. 

There's a lot of uncertainty around Blackburn as to whether they'll even be able to enter in the WSL 2 in the 25/26 season - which is frankly ridiculous that 2 clubs in 2 consecutive seasons could potentially drop out of the 2nd tier, due to lack of interest from their owners. I can really see her suiting Southampton, as either a backup to Chloe Peplow or a potential starter alongside Peplow in a double pivot. 

An example of Dahou's usefulness in deep midfield areas.

Dahou receives the ball from the wing with her back to goal.

She then quickly pushes the ball towards the centre circle and holds off her opponent.

Her opponent goes to ground while Dahou takes a touch to avoid the tackle.

Without rushing, she fakes as if she's going to pass to her nearby teammate before carrying on her dribble and passing out to her wing-back.