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.