When naming the strongest teams in European women’s football, some of the first to come to mind are Barcelona Femení, Lyon Féminin, Chelsea Women and Wolfsburg Frauen, who all currently top their respective domestic leagues. However, another side worth adding to that list is Twente Vrouwen who also currently tops their division, the Vrouwen Eredivisie, and, like Barcelona, have yet to drop a point.
The Eredivisie is not as one-sided as Liga F (the Spanish top flight) can be though, and so it is an achievement for Twente to have won every league match during the 2022/23 campaign, and this tactical analysis will look in closer detail at the tactics that have helped them to get to this stage of the campaign with maximum points. The analysis will specifically focus on their different ways of building attacks under head coach Joran Pot and how their productivity in the final third is down to more than players being in the right place at the right time, and will also look at their defensive shape to show why teams have found them difficult to break down.
Final third tactics
Given that they have been victorious in every league match so far, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Twente Vrouwen have also been the Eredivisie’s highest scorers so far, with 66 goals to their name to date. However, what is worth pointing out is that they are 22 ahead of the next-highest scorers, title rivals Ajax Vrouwen, and that statistic alone demonstrates just how potent they have been when in the final third this season.
When taking a closer look at how they create chances, one very noticeable aspect of their play is their dependency on the wide spaces. As this situation against league newcomers Fortuna Sittard Vrouwen shows, Twente constantly look to push as many players as possible into the final third when they have the ball and want them to take up positions where they are in close proximity to each other, as that enables structures like this to be formed.
The obvious observation to make about this particular shape is that it gives Twente a way of playing through their opponents more easily, and that is true. However, what also needs to be highlighted is the role played by left-back Marisa Olislagers, who has moved up the field to join her teammates here. Olislagers has shown throughout her time at Twente that she fits their attacking full-back profile, and it is a common feature of their games to see her high up the pitch and supporting her team’s offensive play.
