Looking into Charlton's mid-season slump

Last season Charlton were only 1 point away from getting promoted behind champions, Crystal Palace and coming into this season they looked poised to make another push for promotion. They started this season in strong form picking up 4 wins in their first 4 league games in the Championship. In this span they only conceded 1 goal from 20 total shots, while scoring 8 times. Ever since their 2-1 loss in the league cup against Spurs - Charlton have slid all the way down to 8th place in the table, failing to win a single game since the 2-0 win over Blackburn at the end of September.

It's also worth pointing out that - at the time of writing - the parity in the league is pretty strong, as only 5 points separate 1st place Birmingham City (19)and 8th placed Charlton(14). This is in part down to clubs like London City Lionesses and Newcastle investing smartly in the summer window. The quality of teams they have faced in this 5 game stretch have all overtaken Charlton and they all look quite strong in terms of personnel. 

Charlton themselves recruited fairly smartly, picking up ex-Spurs forward, Ellie Brazil as a free agent. Sheffield United defensive pair Charlotte Newsham and Jodie Hutton and midfielder Melisa Filis from West Ham were also brought in over the summer. The losses of full-back, Rebecca McKenna and forward, Tegan McGowan to Birmingham as well as goalkeeper, Sian Rogers were the main departures over the summer and all three positions were replaced. Since fully committing to a 5 at the back defence at the start of the season manager, Karen Hills has largely selected the same players in, Beth Roe, Elisha N'Dow, Kiera Skeels, Charlotte Newsham and Jodie Hutton with Gracie Pearse being brought in at CB in some games.

In the 5 games they have dropped points in however, they've only allowed more than 1 expected goal in 3 separate games, being the losses against London City and Southampton, as well as the 3-3 draw vs Newcastle. The main outlier of those 3 was the London City loss in which they conceded 17 shots compared to the Southampton and Newcastle games where they allowed 8 and 6 shots respectively which - particularly against Newcastle - showed the sorts of chances they were giving up. 

One of Charlton's biggest defensive problems is dealing with attacks down their wide channels. For Bristol's opener in the 2-1 home loss, Hutton is left behind the play as some nifty inter-play between Mari Ward and Emily Syme set the former down the right flank unchallenged, before blowing by Beth Roe (at LCB/LB for this game) to cross the ball in to find Lexi Lloyd-Smith at the near post - who smartly nipped in front Elisha N'Dow - and head past Sophie Whitehouse. Against Newcastle, the first goal they conceded came from a knocked down long ball that let Amy Andrews in behind N'Dow who, along with Skeels, wasn't able to keep up with Andrews' run. This coupled with Newsham not picking up Hayles, who was hanging back in the centre of the box for the easy tap in from a cut back, highlights that Charlton's defence - particularly the centre backs - finds it difficult against wide players. 

Ellie Brazil isn't the be all and end all for this Charlton front line, but her presence was missed for the 2 full games she missed with a minor injury. Her pace was a real factor in stretching opposition back lines, along with her tendency to float across into the wide channels to take on full-backs. The team as a whole poses a decent threat from set-pieces with Melisa Filis and Jodie Hutton being the primary corner and free kick takers. The first two goals against Newcastle both came from corners delivered from Jodie Hutton on the right which saw a Charlton player get a touch on the ball from the initial delivery. 

Jodie Hutton in particular has had a good offensive season so far with 2 goals and 2 assists in the league including a fantastic cross to assist the first goal against Sunderland. The 24 year old has a wand of a left foot and it'll be important for the team that she continues to improve her offensive productivity down the left flank in order for them to get some sort of form back. 

This team certainly has the personnel to regain their early season form, but it does seem like teams have worked them out to an extent and have been able to capitalise on some gaps that are left at the back. 

Leicester's tough start to the season

Leicester have so far played four times in all competitions this season and have scored a grand total of 2 goals. In one sense, having 1 point in the league after playing Liverpool and Arsenal while looking pretty solid in both games is not the end of the world. But against Crystal Palace,(a team that shipped 11 goals in their first two games)the Foxes only managed 7 shots and barely tested Palace keeper, Shae Yañez. In all fairness to Palace they were very defensively disciplined throughout most of the game, forced Leicester into their sloppiest performance so far and really limited the amount of time Leicester were able to be in the final 3rd while only giving up 2 big chances in the second half. In terms of the two big chances in the second half, Leicester's first saw Jutta Rantala slipped in by, half time substitute, Shana Chossenotte inside the box only for her right-footed, far post, shot to be cleared by Yañez's right foot. The second involved Noemi Mouchon deftly finding Ruby Mace on the edge of the box, where she was able to ghost in front of Katrine Veje, but her left-footed shot was tame and left the American keeper untroubled. 

The Foxes' only league goal came against Liverpool from a quickly taken free kick in their own half where some quick-thinking from Yuka Momiki managed to play Rantala through from a cross-field switch(and some good fortune after Taylor Hinds got a slight touch on Momiki's long pass). The Blues were arguably unlucky not to pick up all 3 points against the Reds as Ruby Mace's header from a pinpoint Jutta Rantala cross was judged to be offside. Against Arsenal they actually played pretty well when they had the ball and really could've come away with at least a point if either Rantala and/or Chossenotte been able to put away their big chances in the 2nd half.

I think there are definitely reasons to be hopeful that Leicester can turn around their winless form, which extends back to a 5-2 win against Bristol City in February who were later relegated. For one the average age of the six summer signings was 21, with Ruby Mace being the early standout. The team certainly has very good technical players such as Jutta Rantala, Yuka Momiki, Saori Takarada and the aforementioned Ruby Mace. In terms of wing options they can either use inverted wingers with Rantala and Momiki or to be more direct they have Chossenotte, Missy Goodwin and Deanne Rose. Last season's talisman, Jutta Rantala, who got 11 goal contributions(6 goals and 5 assists)in the league, still looks she could be a game-changer with her threat on both feet.

I'd like to see Amandine Miquel tinker with the formation and personnel in future games to maximise the players on the pitch. I think there's real potential in shifting the in-possession structure from a 4141 to a 4231 so that there'd be more options in the early build-up allowing the back line another central option and it would still be easy to transition to press in a 442. The holding midfielders could be any two of Mace, Takarada or Tierney which would create a good balance of combative defending in midfield and good ball progression. 

In front of the double pivot, moving Rantala into the 10 would probably suit her skillset and would get her into more effective central areas where she can either slip players through, take the ball in half-space channels to then get crosses into the box. As much as I'd like for both wingers to be very direct, I'm not sure Chossenotte is ready to start and I think it'd be hard to fully drop Momiki so the Japanese international should be the starting rw alongside Missy Goodwin on the opposite flank. Like her French compatriot, Chossenotte, Noemi Mouchon still looks quite raw and has been fairly starved of service in the final 3rd. I think Mouchon should still start but replacing her with the pacy Deanne Rose during the 2nd half would be a good opportunity to play balls in behind.

All in all, this Leicester team has some decent potential, and if they can improve their finishing, as well as stamp out some of the sloppy play that has cost them then they could improve and pose more problems to other teams.

Neve Herron and Lucia Kendall profiles

The Women's Championship has now been back for three weeks as of writing. Here are two of the many players that have stood out to me so far in the early weeks of the season.

Neve Herron 

Neve Herron (21) joined Birmingham in 2022 from hometown club Sunderland and has been played as a left-sided CB this season. In the 23/24 season she was voted as Birmingham's young player and player's player of the season.

Defensively, Herron is very proactive in pushing out of the defensive line to intercept passes into the player she's marking. She's also got solid positional sense, which sees her track across horizontally when Birmingham are defending transitions. She's made some really important blocks already this season such as this one against Bristol City . Aerially, Herron is pretty solid although I wouldn't necessarily call it a strength of hers as her positioning helps when dealing with off-target passes to head the ball on, and she has got good timing, but her standing leap isn't especially noteworthy. 

She possess a real comfort on the ball and is often the first pass that goalkeeper, Lucy Thomas, looks for when building up from the back. She's very capable of carrying the ball out from the back and uses her very proficient, non-dominant, left foot where necessary, which is a big plus for helping her avoid opposition players pressing her.

One of her best/most used actions is when she carries the ball near the left touchline to play the ball down the line for Tegan McGowan (or another forward running down the left channel) to run onto while catching out the opposition's defence, which has seen her complete 4.0 accurate long balls per 90 at a completion percentage of 40%, meaning that there's still definitely room for growth in this area. 

Herron has also previously played as a central midfielder when she was at Sunderland and it really shows by her confidence on the ball. I think being a left-sided CB is a good fit for her right now in her career. 

Lucia Kendall

Lucia Kendall (20) came through Southampton's academy and has been a regular starter since 2022. The young midfielder has also captained the side on multiple occasions and has also appeared twice for England's u-23 squad. 

Typically playing as a number 8 in a double pivot, Kendall has a keen sense for recovering loose balls in midfield by moving into the passing lanes in front of her marker. This keen defensive sense has seen her put up 7.0 interceptions and 12.7 ball recoveries per 90 in the first 3 games of the season. 

Playing alongside former Leicester City player, Aimee Palmer, in Southampton's midfield this season, the 20 year-old's role in the midfield is to push higher up the pitch than her midfield partner in build-up. She's got a very keen sense for moving into space off the ball to create better angles for the ball carrier, and is technically secure enough to play the ball of with one touch to either bounce it to a third player or complete the 1-2 and carry on her run into another space. When she is the ball carrier she can quickly switch direction and which foot she's using to protect the ball. She possess decent strength to hold off opponents and will play with her back to goal in deep build-up.

While her final third presence hasn't been too threatening this season, I wanted to highlight this sequence against Blackburn. In this clip she's able to play a big part in Southampton getting the ball into a dangerous position out wide with a perfectly weighted through ball on her weaker left foot to Aston Villa loanee, Freya Gregory. Even in the first few seconds you can see how aware she is of her surroundings by her scanning five times before receiving the ball for the second time. 

Kendall's off-ball movement, ball progression and defensive nous could probably see her do a good job of being a lone number 6 if a team ever needed her to play that role. I can definitely see Kendall ending up in the WSL or another top league in the not too distant future.

The Hellas Verona project

As a relative Serie A newbie (I started in 2022/23), Hellas Verona didn't initially interest me that much as they dont carry the same flashy name appeal that either of the Milanese clubs or Juventus carry.  That said, since the turn of the calendar year, I've actually found the club's project to be quite interesting, as they're very willing to flip players after a short stint with the club.  Over the past decade or so they have also played a part in the development of plenty of top level players such as Jorginho, Destiny Udogie, Sofyan Amrabat and Mattia Zaccagni.

The main player that inspired me to write this is Isak Hien (25).  In August 2022 Verona signed Hien from Sweden's Djurgårdens IF for a reported €4m and just 18 months later he was signed by Atalanta for roughly €8m.  For Atalanta, Hien has looked like a truly top level CB, whose tenacity in aerial and ground duels has helped him bed in perfectly into the centre of Gianpiero Gasperini's 3 man defence.

Hien was sold in the same window as Belgian winger, Cyril Ngonge (24), who had a very encouraging start to the 23/24 campaign for Hellas scoring 6 goals and getting 2 assists in the first half of the season.  This impressive start saw Napoli pay €18m to secure the creative Belgian wide man, although he has struggled to make the same sort of impact for Napoli as he's mostly featured off the bench.  Ngonge was also brought in during the 22/23 season for a mere €500k from FC Groningen, which represents excellent business and is probably the ideal scenario for the club to buy the player cheaply in their early to mid 20's to then flip them to a richer club for a profit in quick fashion.

The other two players that left in 2024 that I wanted to talk about are, Juan Cabal (23) and Tijjani Noslin (25). The Colombian Cabal made quite a high profile move to Juventus for €13m before the start of the 24/25 season despite also being linked to fierce rivals Inter.  Cabal was signed in August 2022 for €3m from Colombian side Atletico Nacional.  He's already become a fixture of new coach Thiago Motta's back 4 as the starting LB.  Noslin made the move to Lazio off the back of scoring 5 times and assisting a further 4 goals in just 17 Serie A games for the Gialloblu.  The Belgian only arrived in Verona in January of 2024 after moving from Dutch side Fortuna Sittard for €3m which meant that when he moved to the Roman giants of Lazio for €8m, Verona made a very quick €5m profit.

In terms of players currently in the squad, Jackson Tchatchoua (22) is arguably the most hyped prospect already reportedly attracting interest from Napoli.  The Cameroonian wing-back/full-back has shown great dribbling qualities whether that's cutting inside from the wing to attack the box or going down the line.  He's also a very competent 1v1 defender winning 3.2 tackles and interceptions per 90 in the 23/24 season.  Tchatchoua was signed permanently in 2024 after initially being on loan from RC Sporting Charleroi in Belgium for what looks to be a bargain €3m. 

Another young prospect in the squad is central-midfielder, Reda Belahyane (20), who arrived from OGC Nice in January 2024 for €500k.  While initially he found game time hard to come by in his first season, he has been given his opportunity by coach, Paolo Zanetti, in the first two games of the Serie A season after an injury to Suat Serdar against Napoli on the opening day.  Early signs are that the young Frenchman has very good ball retention qualities and uses his body very well to win fouls in duels.  He gives off a calm air on the ball and is very willing to drop in deep when in possession to help Verona build in the first phase. 

Verona also saw 3 players (that are still with the club) get minutes at Euro 2024 in Slovakian, Ondrej Duda (29) and Tomas Suslov (22), as well as the Polish defender, Pawel Dawidowicz (29).  

Veteran midfielder Duda has Premier League experience with Norwich City and also had two stints in the German Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin and FC Köln.  Duda's role with Verona is as a more creative number 8 despite how he use to be used as more of an attacking midfield outlet earlier in his career. Duda arrived for €3m from Köln.

His Slovakian international teammate Suslov has inherited the right sided number 10/wing slot vacated by the previously mentioned Cyril Ngonge, who has also has a very promising left foot and an eye for a cutting pass.  Suslov posted an impressive 51% take on success rate last season while attempting just over 3 take ons per 90.  Suslov was signed for €1m from Groningen in January 2024 and has already attracted interest from AS Roma and city rivals S.S Lazio.

Dawidowicz has been operating as the right-sided CB for Zanetti's 3 man back line and cuts a tall figure at 6'2.  Interestingly, the Pole is comfortable moving the ball on with the either foot in the buildup and at first glance it's difficult to tell which is his favoured foot. In the 23/24 season he put up an impressive 2.8 successful 2.8 aerial duels per 90 at a success rate of 69% which was good enough to rank him in the 89th percentile among CB's in Europe's top 5 leagues.  Dawidowicz was signed permanently for €3m from Benfica in 2019.

One other player that's worth mentioning is 20 year-old CB academy graduate, Diego Coppola.  The young Italian defender has lined up as the middle CB in the back 3 in the opening two games, stands at 6'3 and has made 4 appearances for Italy's U-21 side as of writing.  Coppola was actually in the 99th percentile of aerials won per 90 with 4.5 among CB's and is seen as one of Italy's next up and coming defenders.

Overall, Hellas is a really intriguing club with how they operate in terms of picking up young players and giving them the platform to develop and then sell them on to other clubs for efficient profit. 

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. 

Ella Morris: How will she fit in at Spurs?

Ella Morris arrives at Spurs with over 100 appearances for Southampton after making the jump from their youth teams to the senior team in 2019.  The 21 year-old defender certainly fits head coach, Robert Vilahamn's, idea of being a quick, attacking player, who is confident on the ball. 

Pros:

. Plenty of senior experience (100+ games already).

. Pace (useful offensively and defensively)

. Can get past her opponent 1v1.

Looks comfortable when in central positions (really impressive ball retention)

. Decent defensive instincts.

Cons:

. Final ball still needs some work and is a spotty crosser.

. Game time might initially be difficult to come by.

Morris is an explosive runner and eats up ground on and off the ball, which is stylistically perfect for a full-back/wing-backs in the modern game.  When Southampton would turn the ball over, Morris has shown that she can quickly close down the space in behind.  Using her long strides, she can either close off the space, or nick the ball off of the opposition player. Her pace also allows her to constantly run up and down the right flank for the full 90 minutes.  This is demonstrated by her heatmap from last season. 

Sometimes, being a quick sprinter can mean that a players' footwork suffers as a result of their brain's not being able to work at the same speed as their feet.  Generally speaking, she's quite tidy on the ball when facing up her opposing full-back or carrying the ball at full speed, which adds to her threat down the right flank. 

Ella's first touch is usually quite reliable, allowing her to either push the ball out in front to sprint forward into space, or keep the ball close to pass the ball off to a teammate.  Her ability to cleanly receive the ball, coupled with her comfort in central areas, mean that she's not always hugging the touchline and allows her to create a midfield overload to help in possession.

The young full-back is already looking like a decent defensive player, as she's a good tackler who does tend to stay on her feet.  Her positioning sense allows her to block crosses and intercept balls down the line at a pretty decent frequency.

Morris did accumulate 3 goals and 4 assists last season in the women's championship, but I'd say that her crossing is something that will be worked on this season.  Her most dangerous balls in tend to be either cut-backs from near the byline on the right side of the box or low-driven crosses from just outside the box.  I'd like to see her improve the power in her whipped crosses as that would create better chances for her teammates in the box.

Initially game time might be a struggle for Morris to come by as she's going to be competing against Charli Grant and Ash Neville at the RB slot and Amanda Nildén at LB(the aforementioned Grant and Neville also deputise on the left).  She has also played as a RM in a midfield 4 so there's also potential for her to backup Celin Bizet and Jess Naz on the RW. 

Given that she's quite highly regarded from her time at Southampton, being an England u-23 international and that all 3 full-back options missed games last season with injuries, I think she may spend this season training with the first team to get used to the WSL environment. I don't think I'd mind if she was loaned out to a WSL team that would be able to give her starting minutes to help her development but I don't really anticipate that happening. 

Overall, she's a very exciting signing that has potential to eventually knock on the door of England's senior squad. 

3 players that have stood out for me: Euro 2024

As a quick disclaimer. Three games is obviously not enough to properly judge a player's ability. That said these players caught my eye and I've followed 2 of the 3 during the regular club season, and the 3rd has started getting links to big European leagues.

Georgiy Sudakov (21): Ukraine

Georgiy Sudakov is someone who I didn't really know about before the tournament, but seeing as Ukraine have been an interesting watch so far, I thought I'd pay more attention to him during their games. So far, Sudakov has lined up as Ukraine's most advanced 8, which has seen him push up to make a front 2 out of possession.

He's shown a tendency to drop very deep to help Ukraine build up the play which has limited his threat nearer goal so far. But he's shown that he's very press resistant, being able to jink away from opposition players with fakes and quick footwork. His long passing has been a help, by being able to switch the ball out to the flanks when Ukraine win the ball back, Sudakov allows the team to quickly move up the pitch. The young midfielder already has a good sense of where spaces will open up and has shown his intelligence to get into those pockets of space in front of the opposition defence and either turn, or play the ball to a teammate.

He's not registered a goal or assist in this Euros, but he played a big part in Shaparenko's equalising goal against Slovakia. 

Ukraine countered quickly from a Slovakian turnover, which saw Sudakov follow the ball as it went to the left side of the final 3rd. 

He waited patiently on the outside of the box to receive the ball from Dovbyk after initially taking a few steps back. When he got the ball, he paused for a second to allow Zinchenko to overlap on the left.

Then, without looking, he played a nicely weighted pass for Zinchenko to cut the ball back to Shaparenko to finish off an impressive counter.

Nicolas Seiwald (23): Austria

Nicolas Seiwald made the move that many other RB Salzburg players have in recent years by moving to sister club RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023. Seiwald hasn't cemented himself as a starter for his club yet as he's behind Xaver Schlager, Kevin Kampl and Amadou Haidara in the double pivot pecking order, but he's currently partnering Florian Grillitsch as Austria's double pivot in this Euros. 

For Ralf Rangnick's Austria, Seiwald has mostly been the sitting midfielder in the double pivot, although because he's such an intense presser, he has followed his man further up the pitch to close down his passing options. Seiwald has very good defensive sense which has seen him make 17 tackles and interceptions across the first 3 games. In transition he also covers at RB, or steps inbetween the CB's when Austria are being countered to make sure there's 4 players in the defensive line or to cover space for potential attacking runners. 

The 5'10 midfielder is quite stocky, but this doesn't hamper his ability on the ball as he can comfortably shift the ball onto the other foot when needed. As with the other two mentioned he's very comfortable using both feet, and his 1 and 2 touch passing is very impressive. His passes have mostly been very safe, with Grillitsch/Laimer being more likely to progress with a long ball or carry the ball. Although he has shown a willingness to play passes forwards between the attacking and midfield lines.

Stanislav Lobotka (29): Slovakia

Stanislav Lobotka has been a big name #6 since his Celta Vigo days before his move to Napoli in 2019. The Slovakian has a small and slight frame which makes him very nippy when carrying the ball out of deep areas, although he's also able to use his positioning sense to nip in front of opposition players to intercept the ball and stop counters. 

Starting as the deepest lying midfielder in Slovakia's 433 in possession, Lobotka is the player that most of the play goes through when they're progressing the ball up the pitch. Out of possession he plays behind the midfield 4 in a 4141 when they press teams high up the pitch, which has seen him clean up loose balls high up the pitch. This allows Slovakia to immediately attack again when opposing defences are struggling to play out from the back.

At the most basic level, Lobotka excels in build-up as he constantly picks up space to allow for the back 4 to play the ball straight to him in space or find a 3rd man pass in midfield or out wide, to give Lobotka space in front of him or space to run into out wide. He's incredibly comfortable on the ball and has no problems passing on his left foot.