Talia Younis 2023/24: Breaking records, shaping futures, and an unfinished canvas – scout report

On the 22nd of October 2023, at the age of 14 years and 361 days, Talia Younis broke Sam Kerr’s long-standing record for the youngest-ever A-League debutant by 49 days — before it was again broken by teammate Ischia Brooking just 14 days later.

Despite that, Younis has been given significant first-team minutes at such a young age, totalling 352 minutes across 11 games, including four starts, as Western Sydney Wanderers make a push for the playoffs, currently sitting just three points off the pace in eighth position. Having already earned appearances for Australia’s U17 and U15 sides, a future for the Matilda’s may well be on the cards.

In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will provide some analysis of the key tactics and characteristics that make Younis such an interesting prospect within her current role for the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Positioning and understanding of space

Younis has demonstrated her versatility in the Western Sydney side. With her making her debut as an attacking midfielder in Wanderer’s 3-4-1-2 shape, she has been used 48% of the time. However, more recently, her minutes have come as a central midfielder, where she has played as a junior for the Australian U15 and U17 sides. In the most recent game, a 2-1 win against the Newcastle Jets, she started up front as the lone striker in a 3-4-3 formation.

As you can see by Younis’ heat map, she covers a large proportion of the field with the intensity evenly distributed across it. This is down to the freedom she has been given to find pockets of space to receive the ball from teammates and try to combine with teammates and progress attacks. This is only possible due to her understanding of space and off-the-ball movement of a level far beyond somebody of her young age; we will outline some key examples in the rest of this section.

This understanding of space enables her to make quick and accurate decisions, enabling her to complete an average of 30.78 passes per 90 at a success rate of 75%. What is most impressive about this is that 33% of her passes are played forward, showing an intention early in her career to try to be positive on the ball.