Manchester United Women have been one of the WSL’s overachievers since their promotion back in 2019, which sounds strange given the name that they play under. However, the brutal fact is that they don’t enjoy the same amount of support that some of their league rivals receive from their clubs, meaning that transfers can be a problem and their dream of reaching the WSL’s top three and earning a place in the Champions League is yet to be realised.
Despite these issues though, they have some excellent individual players in the team who work hard to gain results, and one who perhaps doesn’t receive the credit that she deserves is Netherlands international Jackie Groenen. Since joining the club from Eintracht Frankfurt Frauen in 2019, the midfielder has established herself as an irreplaceable member of the team, contributing to defensive and attacking situations and playing a vital role in both Casey Stoney’s and current head coach Marc Skinner’s tactics.
As a result of her excellent performances and Manchester United’s inability to break into the Champions League so far, Groenen has been attracting attention from teams around Europe this summer, most notably Italian champions Juventus Femmenile. This tactical analysis will therefore break down her game in more detail, showing what she brings on the pitch and why she has become such a coveted asset for her current side.
Limiting options
When looking at her positioning during games, Jackie Groenen tends to play in a mainly holding midfield role, sitting in front of the back four and offering them much-needed protection whilst also keeping plenty of the pitch ahead of her.
She often plays alongside a teammate in this role, mainly next to captain Katie Zelem who is in the yellow circle here, which means that they cover more ground and form a strong second line of defence when needed. This allows Manchester United to dictate play in their own half of the field, with Groenen particularly important at disrupting attacks and forcing opponents to reangle their forward movements. In this example, Manchester City Women’s Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir was looking to find a way into Manchester United’s goal area, but her sole option now is to move the ball out towards the wings.
In most cases, this would give Manchester United the advantage, as it is always easier to defend crosses than balls coming from central areas. However, Manchester City are perhaps the exception to that rule, with Weir’s pass ending up at the feet of England international Lauren Hemp, who was arguably the best winger last season at cutting inside and creating goalscoring opportunities from wide areas. On this occasion, Hemp’s shot went narrowly wide, but the point still stands that Groenen plays an essential role in diverting opposing attacks and making her team hard to beat.
