Veinte Futbol

It's easy to get wrapped up in narratives and to be reactionary with football news. I've very much fallen foul of both of those pitfalls over the past 24 hours. Although, honestly I've been hoping for a bit of a shake-up since the end of 2024. Unfortunately, some of the early signs coming from Spurs suggest that the club could be in for another subpar season. The contract renewal news concerning Ash Neville and Kit Graham (whom I'm glad extended) along with Olga Ahtinen and Josefine Rybrink (I'm less excited about) having their 1-year extensions triggered was an early surprise, given that Spurs tend to wait until the end of June (the full end of the season cycle) to begin announcing departures and renewals. Spurs also just announced that Martha Thomas signed new 3 year contract which comes as something of a surprise given that her last league goal came in November 2023 and her last goal in all competitions came against West Ham in the Subway League Cup...

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 ...

The Frauen Bundesliga is a highly entertaining league that maybe doesn't get the plaudits it deserves amongst non-German fans. The title race from January until a few weeks ago between Bayern, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt, was one of the only close races in the top 5 leagues in Europe. From a personal standpoint, I've found watching Werder Bremen a really interesting experience this season. This is due to their young squad with some very promising young players including Swiss number 2 goalkeeper, Livia Peng, as well as Germany u-23 internationals, Larissa Mühlhaus, Sophie Weidauer and Tuana Mahmoud. @comradedarth.bsky.social was nice enough to answer some of my questions about what it's like to be a fan of Werder's women's team. How long have you been a fan of Bremen's women's team? I was aware of them for some time, but actively in 22/23 when they played a "highlight game" at weserstadion and "I watch every game" levels after the...

Part of the initial appeal of Vilahamn's 4231 set-up was the balanced width that would be provided by having wingers and 2 deeper midfielders in the buildup while ideally (in theory) being able to quickly play through the thirds with quick short passes. This season has seen Spurs regress both offensively and defensively. They've looked especially poor in defending wide areas as players lose their markers far too easily, and aerial balls continue to be a problem against top strikers. Offensively Spurs look like they're running out of ideas in the final 3rd and are still having trouble in progressing the ball into the final 3rd against top half sides. On the surface, it might seem a radical change to completely remove wingers from the team after a down season for Spurs. Spurs adapting to a 442 diamond could be a difficult process initially, but would allow Spurs more options centrally when building through the thirds. My two ideas for how Spurs could u...

General: They have started most league games as a 352 (7), but have also tried a 3421 twice and have also used a 433 twice. In terms of substitutions they have tended to use at least 3 subs per game which suggests Matt Beard doesn't wait around to try and change games. They have had quite a few injuries this season with Sophie Roman Haug and Marie Höbinger being the main players out before the Christmas break, but both are likely to be back against Leicester as Höbinger came off the bench against Brighton. They try to play their own way against all opponents by playing out from the back and to put the forwards in behind to middling effect this season.  Some of their best play will come from triangles they form out wide such as their first goal against Aston Villa.  Marie Höbinger playing the ball up to Leanne Kiernan. Kiernan laying the ball off to Grace Fisk on the right flank. Fisk playing Leanne Kiernan through for Taylor Hinds' 1st goal ...