December of last year saw Arsenal Women make a significant signing in their bid to continue fighting at the WSL summit, with Australia international Caitlin Foord joining the Gunners.
The 25-year-old forward had previously played for Portland Thorns in the NWSL, the women’s equivalent of the MLS, and Sydney in her home country.
She arrived at Meadow Park with a reputation for being a quick and direct attacker, capable of scoring goals.
This Caitlin Foord scout report will provide a tactical analysis of her play, looking at how she fits into Arsenal’s system and how she helps their attacking phases of the game.
We will also examine how she has adapted to Arsenal’s tactics.
However, because she has only played twice for Arsenal Women, and never in the WSL (her appearances came in the FA Cup win over Lewes and the Continental Cup loss to Chelsea Women), this analysis will take a different shape to the usual format.
First, we will look at Foord’s time with Portland, Sydney and with Australia in international matches, before moving to her time at Arsenal, first seeing how she is continuing to do the same things there, before analysing how she is adapting her play to fit Arsenal’s tactics.
Caitlin Foord Before Arsenal Women
The first thing to mention about Caitlin Foord’s style of play at Portland was that she wore the No. 9 shirt.
This is significant to mention because it shows that her natural position was as a centre forward.
If we look at the image below, we can see her in this position.
We can see that she is ready to receive the ball in the box, having already closed down the goalkeeper.
If we look at her body position, the 25-year-old is facing away from the goal completely.
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