11 Women's footballers that I've looked into during the first half of the 2024/25 season.

Here's a quick roundup of some of the players I've found especially interesting to watch this season. 

Goalkeepers:

Rafaela Borggräffe (24): SC Freiburg

The 24 year-old shot-stopper is one of the brightest goalkeepers in the Frauen Bundesliga. She is assertive in coming off her line to narrow angles and claim 50/50's. Her cross claiming numbers are low at only 4% claimed, although at 5'9 w/ long arms I can see this number improving. She has shown that she won't be bullied on corners in recent weeks by towering above players in the box to punch crosses away. She plays an average of 40 passes a game which is important in the modern game as long passes can also get Freiburg out of jams, especially since she's so comfortable using her weaker left foot which helps clear the ball when she's on the left side of her box. In my opinion she's one of the most overlooked keepers in Europe right now and with an expiring contract at the end of the season (according to Soccerdonna), I'd hope she stays at Freiburg to continue to make a name for herself. Failing that she'd probably do fairly well for any recently sized club that needs a competent sweeper keeper that's not even in her prime yet. 

Livia Peng (22): SV Werder Bremen

This is Peng's 2nd year at Bremen after moving from Häcken and has cemented her starting spot at just 22 years old. Her save % numbers aren't amazing this season (63%) and has had shaky games this season. That said I think she has very good box presence, especially when you consider that she claims 10% of crosses which puts her in the 90th percentile among top 5 league keepers. Peng also ranks very highly in sweeping metrics with over 2 actions per game outside her box on average which is apparent given that she's often outside her box when Bremen are in settled buildup play. I personally rate Borggräfe higher than her right now, but given that Peng is 2 years younger than her German counterpart, and that Bremen are a fairly comparable club to Freiburg, I can see Peng being a very solid keeper with room to continue improving. 

Defenders: 

Ella Morris (22): Tottenham Hotspur FC

Morris is a player I looked into previously around the time that she signed for Spurs . The 22 year-old has suffered an injury-hit first few months in lilywhite and is currently out with an MCL injury at the time of writing. Even in her limited minutes however she's had no trouble showing off her explosive pace down the right flank. This was especially prevelant in her first league start against West Ham when she was often able to carry the ball down the right flank in the first half. Against Aston Villa, her defensive instincts were on show as she was able to continually get on the end of Aston Villa crosses in the box. Going back to her Southampton days it was evident that Morris really suited playing as a right-sided wing-back as she could motor up and down the right flank for 90 minutes and this also saw her play further forward as a defensive winger in some games. She's also shown glimpses that indicate that she's comfortable enough inverting into central spaces on the ball to help create midfield overloads in possession.  Although these moments have been fairly infrequent, it's definitely a tendency that I hope she continues to use as it'll be a massive help for Robert Vilahamn's spurs team going forward.

Neve Herron (21): Birmingham City FC 

Herron has been part of the best defence in the Championship having only conceded 5 goals before the winter break. At points earlier this season, when I first looked into her, she really struggled defending wide left in isolation but has improved and is taking the mistakes out of her game as she continues to solidify her defensive game. Herron still has a lot of scope to improve that side of her game, e.g getting more comfortable defending using the left side of her body when on the left flank. Her sense of timing has got better and is pretty good when covering across the right flank. She takes a lot of touches per game as Birmingham tend to dominate possession, which inevitably means she's pretty involved in build-up, whether that's through long diagonal passes or shorter play with either foot to get the ball into midfield. She is one of the best ball-carrying CB's in the Championship which figures since she also played in midfield quite a bit earlier in her career and adds another element to Birmingham's build-up play as she can be press-resistant. 

Jodie Hutton (23): Charlton Athletic

The 23 year-old wing-back/LW has really impressed in what's been a down first half of the season for Charlton. Her crossing is probably her best attribute (on show for assist against Sunderland) despite her accuracy being quite low at only 33%. Part of this is because she's on inswinging set-pieces on the right and she's not the fastest off the dribble in isolation. Typically her best play comes when she finds space on the lw to take down long passes from the centre-backs and either link-up with the midfielders/forwards, or play a ball in behind the defensive line/cross in from the left. Charlton can switch between a back 4 or back 5 during the game fairly fluidly meaning that she's given licence to stay higher up the pitch to give an option higher up in transition. She's had a fairly underwhelming first half of the season defensively as she gets dribbled past fairly easily, although she has recorded an impressive 5 interceptions per game so far. 

Midfielders: 

Ashanti Akpan (19): Birmingham City FC

The Chelsea loanee is getting her first meaningful run of games at table-topping Birmingham in the Championship. Primarily being played as a number 6 in a midfield 2, Akpan isn't needed to make a massive defensive contribution, seeing as Birmingham average 58% possession per game, which is 2nd only to London City Lionesses - who average 59%. You'll often see her winning the ball back high up the pitch when Birmingham have a lot of players in the opposition's half, allowing her to get in the way of clearances that are underhit and create high turnovers. The 19 year-old mainly gets involved in the 2nd stage of buildup and will look to get the ball further into the opposition's half and does have a decent eye to break lines with her passing on either foot. 

Katharina Piljic (21): Bayer Leverkusen 04

Piljic plays as part of a double pivot in a midfield 4 for Leverkusen where she's typically the midfielder that stays further back and can be quite a big part of Leverkusen's build-up. The game against Frankfurt in particular showed off, when given the licence to be the main player to build out from goal kicks, how she could play a big part in carrying the ball into midfield and starting attacks. Her proficiency on both feet is a big plus (as with quite a few others on this list) as it opens up a lot of angles when passing or carrying, and also plays a big part of why she's attempting 2 take-ons per 90 and winning 50% of those take-ons. Piljic's 2.9 tackles per 90 - with 1.8 of those coming in the middle 3rd and placing her in the 91st percentile among top 5 league midfielders in that category - is impressive for her age at 21, and given that she tends to be on the left of the pivot, she can double up on wide players with her wing-back and narrow angles for opposition wingers. 

Leverkusen are a solid team in possession which makes her relative lack of touches as a midfielder (50 per 90 minutes which is very low for a number 8) an aspect she'll need to look to increase for the foreseeable future by being more demanding when off the ball in build-up. She's a competent scanner offensively and defensively which will continue to be a big plus in her career and will also help improve her awareness and decision making as she continues to gel with her Leverkusen teammates.

Jemima Dahou (19): Blackburn Rovers FC

After signing on dual-registration from Man City in 23/24 , Dahou signed permanently in the summer. Getting starting minutes at this point of her career is important and she has started most games this season as a right-sided number 8. Dahou is fairly tidy on the ball in the midfield and has a good passing range in order to play Blackburn's strikers in behind with long through balls. She's crafty enough to be press resistant in tight spaces by using drag backs and doesn't mind using her left foot to open up angles to either pass into teammates or carry the ball into. A similar theme throughout the other players on here that I want to see her get more involved in the game and register quite a lot more touches, especially as a midfiedler. The next big thing for her to improve is her defensive contribution as she often gets left behind play as one of the 8's, when tracking back more could make a difference and isn't strong in the tackle at all yet. 

Lucia Kendall (20) Southampton FC

Lucia Kendall is probably my favourite player that I watch (and I've been very high on since I started watching her)that doesn't play for Spurs. Kendall has been given licence to move from a double pivot number 6, earlier in the season and for a big part of her career, to an advanced number 8/number 10 role where she's able to press as part of a front 2. The biggest attribute of hers - that's been able to influence the game more now that she's been given more freedom further up the pitch - is her use of space in the middle and final thirds. 

You'll often see Kendall pull away from the ball carrier to give her teammates good angles to pass into her when bringing the ball up the field. This space creation allows her and her teammates more chances to break midfield and defensive lines with runs in behind. Now that she has been given a more offensive role, you would hope that her goal and assist numbers would start to increase as 0 goals and 3 assists seems underwhelming on the surface. Taking those numbers purely at face value does a disservice to her offensive threat as she has gotten shots off in high xG areas this season, but she just hasn't been able to put the ball in the back of the net. 

Forwards: 

Shana Chossenotte (19): Leicester City FC

Typically playing as the rw in a 4231, Chossenotte offers Leicester a way to go down the line or she can cut inside on her left foot. Leicester don't tend to hold onto the ball for that long - mostly due to all of their recognised number 9's being out with injuries in the first half of the season - and only average a measly 38% possession. Consequently the French winger ends up spending a lot of time in her own half defending as almost an extra rwb, which she does fairly well by the standards of wide players, averaging about 2 tackles per 90 in the league. She's managed 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 appearances in all competitions which is an okay return given Leicester's current situation. 

Her attacking stats really don't jump off the page at the moment but as soon as she's able to continue to string together more starts and minutes - seeing as she's missed the last 2 league games due to a recurring injury that's being managed - you'd hope that also having a number 9 presence would help give her a reliable pass target when she's in the box. She's still a very raw talent evidenced by how often she turns the ball over in isolation situations against full backs, but I'm fairly confident that her decision making and footwork will continue to improve with more minutes. 

Maria Farrugia (23): Sheffield United FC

In a summer window where Sheffield United lost a lot of key players, Maria Farrugia has emerged as the Blades' new talisman. In all honesty I'd been meaning to look into another forward seeing as the rest of this is very midfield heavy and after seeing her recent purple patch, I became curious. Farrugia is a 23 year-old LW/number 10 who represents Malta internationally. Her goal catalogue this season has been nothing short of phenomenal, with her left-footed rocket shot against Bristol City winning October's goal of the month in the Championship. Her right foot is her dominant foot but, as referenced before, she's very capable of scoring - as well as dribbling and carrying - and crossing on her left foot, which gives her an advantage on defenders who would try to force her down the line. A very common action when Sheffield build-up from goal kicks is for Farrugia to drop deep to offer the centre-backs an option in the inside left channel, where she can either turn into space and carry up the field, or she can lay the ball off sideways to a teammate to take her marker out of the play.

Farrugia is good enough on the ball to beat her full-back in isolation off the dribble but struggles to actually get her cross into the box as she doesn't have explosive pace. She's fairly average defensively comparatively to other wingers as it's not especially difficult for her opponents to dribble past her, but she fairly frequently nips in from behind to steal the ball from behind when play has slowed down. 

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.