Whilst many leagues in the women’s game will not be back from their winter breaks for another couple of weeks, there have still been plenty of things for fans to discuss, with the window transfer window now open and rumours flying around over which clubs will look to strengthen their squads and which players might be on the move.
One side widely expected to have a busy window is Arsenal Women, with the WSL side recently losing star duo Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema to long-term injuries and therefore needing to bring in players to replace them. As a result, Jonas Eidevall’s side have been linked over the last month with a host of top names, including Brazil and former North Carolina Courage playmaker Debinha, Ajaxs Netherlands midfielder Victoria Pelova and Benfica’s Canada striker Cloé Lacasse.
However, one player who is reportedly closing in on a switch to Meadow Park is 19-year-old Nordsjælland and Denmark midfielder Kathrine Kühl, and this tactical analysis will look in closer detail at what she would bring to Arsenal during the second half of the season if she made a switch to the WSL. The scout report will focus specifically on her attacking, midfield and defensive qualities as well as analysing why she could be an underrated and yet critical signing for the north London side.
Offensive play
What is immediately clear when watching Kathrine Kühl is that she is capable of offering something in every area of the pitch, which will always attract managers and is one reason that she has been linked with a move away from her native Denmark. However, by preference, she tends to play as more of a creative attacking player than a defensive enforcer, so it makes sense to begin this analysis by focusing on her qualities when she is in the final third.
One thing that she does well during matches is reading the game and anticipating what might happen during different situations, and it is common to see her making runs into areas where she can support her teammates as a result. Here, against AGF Women (who are based in Aarhus), she has spotted the gap in the defensive line and is making a run towards that area, giving her team a way of exploiting it and turning this attack into a shot on goal.
What this demonstrates is that Kühl’s focus is always on the second phase of each attack, with her not concentrating on the ball and instead trying to put herself in a position from where she can receive the next pass. This is because Nordsjælland play a measured style of football that sees players overload the central channels and stay in close proximity to each other, meaning that the ball tends not to travel across large distances when they are moving it around.
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