On their run to the semi-final of the FIFA Womens World Cup, England have owed much of their success to the quality of right-back Lucy Bronze. The Olympique Lyonnais star has been recognised as one of the best in her position for a number of years, and her performances this summer have only served to consolidate that status.
Born to a Portuguese father and an English mother, Bronze began her senior career at Sunderland. Following a brief spell in the USA, she went on to play for Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City.
In the summer of 2017, the three-time Womens Super League champion opted for a new challenge abroad, signing for French giants Lyon. Since then, she has added a UEFA Womens Champions League to her extensive list of honours, while also continuing to excel on the international stage.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine the attributes that have taken Bronze to the summit of womens football.
Inverted full-back and underlapping movements
As the position has evolved in recent years, full-backs are expected to serve their team in a more varied manner. Not only do they require the attributes to add width to the attack, they must also possess the close control and passing abilities needed to provide support in central areas.
Pep Guardiolas sides have perhaps been the most famous example of the inverted full-back concept, with the likes of David Alaba and Philipp Lahm alternating their positional play between the wings and the deep half-spaces. Phil Neville has also made use of these tactics since taking over as England womens manager last year.
Preferring to play with a single pivot in a 4-1-4-1 system, Neville tasks one of the full-backs with making regular movements infield to support the holding player, both in circulating possession and ring-fencing behind the attack.
Bronze is particularly useful in this regard, with the right-back often carrying the ball through gaps in the opponents midfield line. Her coach at Lyon, Reynald Pedros, also recognises the value in giving her license to roam.
In the sequence shown below, the 27-year-old notices the disjointed nature of Barcelonas midfield in a moment of transition. Instead of feeding her winger and driving forward on the overlap, she dribbles through the central space.
Having arrived in the final third, Bronze has the vision and composure to find a teammate in behind with a perfectly weighted through ball. Germany international Dzsenifer Marozsan finishes the move to give her side the lead.
Diagonal dribbles have also been on show from Bronze at this summers World Cup. In the Lionesses round of 16 encounter with Cameroon, she assisted Ellen White for their second goal by carrying the ball into the ten space.
In the image below, we see her arrive in the final third after beginning the move in her usual full-back spot. She plays a lofted through ball to evade three defenders, picking out White with just the keeper to beat.
