Manchester United currently sit fourth in the FAWSL in their first campaign in the top flight. As United find their footing and look to build a foundation that sees them playing in Europe, a key player has emerged. Through tactical analysis, we can see Leah Galton has given the United squad an attacking asset that has helped to push the Reds into the upper tier of the first division. After analysis, we can see that Galtons individual ability aids in expanding Uniteds attacking tactics. This scout report will look into just how Galton adds to the Manchester United attack.
Background
Born in Harrogate, England, Galton was quickly found by Leeds United at age 14. It took only two years for Galton to move into the first team and she made herself known with her first goal in September 2010 at age 16. In 2012 she took her talents to Hofstra University, just east of New York City. With Hofstra, Galton tallied 122 points ( 2 points per goal, 1 point per assist) over her college career which remains the highest tally in program history.
Galton was drafted by Sky Blue FC in the second round of the 2016 NWSL draft. In the 2016/17 campaign, Galton created an immediate impact leading the team in assists and tying for third place in goal contribution. In 2017 Galton signed with Bayern Munich, but by March 2018 had announced that she would be taking a break from football.
Galton has also been capped internationally with England with the U-17 and U-19 teams. Galton was called up to the England first team in August 2016 but had to pull out due to a hip injury.
In July 0f 2018 it was announced that Galton would be joining Manchester United in the club’s reintroduction into women’s football. Galton aided the team in achieving a first-place finish and automatic promotion from the FA Womens Championship to the FAWSL.
Attacking 1v1s
Galton can be considered an attacking left-winger who is quite comfortable staying on the left side of the pitch. Throughout her career, she has achieved an average of 6.8 1v1 dribbles per 90’ giving us a caricature of a player who is comfortable attacking defensive players directly. To date, she has a quite high 87.3% success rate and a 94.7% success rate specifically against opposing centre-backs.
This has led Galton to rank in the top three in the FAWSL when it comes to touches in the opposition box with 5.73 per 90’. Additionally, during the 2019/20 FAWSL campaign she ranks number six in dribbles per 90’, but leads the way with a 71% success rate. For perspective, this is about the same success rate as Mason Greenwood, who leads the men’s Manchester United attackers.
Galton is able to achieve these statistics with a combination of core attacking 1v1 skills: Change of speed, change of direction, body feints and outright physicality. Change of speed and change of direction cannot be executed effectively in isolation. But when paired together at a high level, they can be quite the problem for opposing defenders.
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