This article is part of the data analysis series focusing on Team GBs women’s soccer Tokyo 2020 Olympic roster. Considering the recent announcement and postponement of this summer’s Olympic Games, and although no competitive games this summer will occur in Tokyo, the analysis of players for a potential Tokyo 2020, if the games would have occurred will proceed.
Utilising comparisons of key metrics, 18 total players will be identified for consideration and subsequent selection within Phil Neville’s group. Each article will be split into position-specific groups, and alongside Abdullah Abdullah, the wide forwards and central defenders have been completed previously. This article will look at the data on the wide defender positional players in order to provide an objective analysis and scout report on each player.
To recap, Team GB women’s soccer head coach, by analyzing the England women’s team and the tactics implemented previously, would likely have utilized a 1-4-4-2 (1-4-4-1-1) or 1-4-3-3 (1-4-1-4-1) system. In order to provide a balanced roster and for the purposes of this data analysis article, Team GB will be listed as rostering 3 GKs, 3 wide defenders, 3 central defenders, 4 central midfielders, 3 wide forwards and 2 central forwards. As previously stated this data analysis article will provide a scouting report of potential wide defenders.
Utilizing previously identified requirements, the following wide defenders (listed in alphabetical order) have been considered for further data analysis: Lucy Bronze (Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, England) Hannah Blundell (Chelsea FC Women, England), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash, England), Loren Dykes (Bristol City WFC, Wales), Lisa Evans (Arsenal WFC, Scotland), Alex Greenwood (Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, England), Sophie Howard (Reading FC Women, Scotland) Hayley Ladd (Manchester United WFC, Wales), Rachel Rowe (Reading FC Women, Wales), Kirsty Smith (Manchester United WFC, Scotland) Demi Stokes (Manchester City WFC, England) and Leah Williamson (Arsenal WFC, England).
Whilst some players may have alternating positional roles for club and country, they have performed at the wide defender role for either club or country (or both). For the purpose of providing consistency and potential comparison, the statistics of Rachel Daly will only be utilized from her England appearances where she occupied the right defender position. For her club team, Houston Dash, Daly typically plays as a central forward, thus impacting the data.
Metrics used
In order to provide a balanced analysis and one that incorporates comparisons between both out of possession and in possession and also to provide coach Phil Neville with different options based on his game model and specific opponent tactics and strategy, the following metrics will be used during this data analysis: defensive duels per 90, defensive duels won (%), interceptions per 90, clearances per 90, progressive runs per 90, accurate passes per 90, accurate forward passes per 90, passes to the final third per 90, xA per 90 and accurate passes to the penalty area per 90.
Out of possession: defending
This initial overall comparison is between the number of defensive duels per 90 and the % of defensive duels won. Wyscout has defined a ‘defensive duel’ as one in which “the defender is playing 1v1 against the attacking player and trying to stop his/her attacking run or dribbling when the possession of the ball is in the other team”.
The scatter plot contains four quadrants, the top left contains players who have above average number of defensive duels per 90 minutes compared to the average of all twelve players but lower than average % of defensive duels won. This group includes Kirsty Smith, Loren Dykes, Rachel Daly, and Lucy Bronze. Lucy Bronze has especially close to the average statistics for both categories. The average number of defensive duels per 90 was 6.61, Lucy Bronze averages 6.76. The average % of defensive duels won was 65.76%, Lucy Bronze averages 64.42%.
