Katie Cousins Scout Report At Valur Reykjavík 2024 – Why She Could Be Valur’s Secret Weapon In The Icelandic League Title Race

With just six matchweeks left of the 2024 Besta deild kvenna campaign, things could not be tighter at the top as Breiðablik Women and Valur Women, comfortably the two strongest sides in the Icelandic top flight this year, are separated as things stand by just a +5 goal differential in the former’s favour.

However, Valur will harbour a strong belief that they can overtake their title rivals and can end the year at the top of the pile, and one of the reasons for that is the presence of midfielder Katie Cousins in their ranks.

The American joined from city rivals Þróttur Reykjavík Women during the close season and has quickly established herself as a key cog in their machine, and the fact that Þróttur have gone from third in the standings last time out to eighth at the time of writing shows how influential she can be to her team’s fortunes.

With that in mind, this tactical analysis will take a closer look at why she could be an essential weapon in Valur’s arsenal as they strive to add a 15^th league trophy to their honours list, breaking down what she offers tactically and showing why the former Angel City midfielder (who featured for the NWSL side back in 2022, alongside the likes of ex-Liverpool Women player Miri Taylor and Germany goalkeeper Almuth Schult) has consistently been among the league’s best performers.

Katie Cousins Creating Chances

When Katie Cousins featured for Þróttur in previous years, she tended to be used in a more offensive manner, with her former side deploying an attacking style of play that revolved around sequences of passes and playing through their opponents when inside the final third.

As the current campaign has gone on, it has become apparent that she has brought those same qualities to Valur this time around and has been a significant addition to their own attacking play.

It is for that reason that situations like this, when she has had the ball in space and with the opportunity to set up a shot on goal, have been common to see in Valur’s games, with Cousins here making an interception to regain the ball high up the field and now in a position to feed the ball into the territory behind the FH Women defensive line.

However, to simply leave it at that would be to ignore the detail that has gone into making the chance come about, with several characteristics that Cousins needed to demonstrate to ensure that Valur could apply pressure from a promising area of the field.