Veinte Futbol: 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.