Madison Perry, Levante Las Planas and Víkingur Reykjavík's bright start to the Icelandic top flight season - your women's football roundup
There is undoubtedly an end-of-term feeling among a vast majority of fans around the world at this moment in time, with play-offs nearing their end, tournaments in their closing stages and league champions and relegated sides continually being confirmed.
It is a time when games become tighter as teams look to scrap for a few final points or to extend their season for another week, which is a positive when it comes to overall excitement, but it also means that the time is nigh when supporters will have to bid farewell to their favourite players before they either move on or simply take a well-deserved break.
As ever, this newsletter will bring you everything that you need to know from the women’s game, highlighting three talking points from on the field and then providing carefully selected reading and listening material, allowing you to become fully up to date on all of the very latest news and analysis.
3 key talking points….
Madison Perry could be a key player for Reading next season
There remains a fair amount of uncertainty around Reading at this moment in time with regards to what they will be able to do in the transfer market this summer, with it not yet certain what finances will be available to them and what limits they could face.
As a result, it could well be that they turn to some of their academy products to bolster their ranks, which is never a bad thing, and one player who has really benefitted from that approach in the season just gone has been Madison Perry, with her making a permanent step up at the start of the campaign and quickly establishing herself as their first choice striker.
When watching Perry play, it becomes immediately apparent that she is a star in the making, with her constantly making a number of good decisions and demonstrating that can be depended on to make the right impact both with and without the ball.
https://twitter.com/BarclaysWC/status/1773024685191545311
She is not yet the complete player and there is still a fair amount for her to work on, such as her goalscoring rate, but she is still just 18 and the fact that she constantly gets into the right positions and gives her teams something to aim for when moving the ball up the field shows that she is someone that they can build their attack around.
“I believe in my own ability, and when I’m given the opportunity to show it, I need to make sure I show why I’m Reading’s number nine.”
Madison Perry, speaking to the club website in November 2023.
Her arrival into the senior squad has been timely, with question marks still hovering over Charlie Wellings and her ability to produce performances on a consistent basis, and the fact that Perry ended her breakthrough campaign with a strong display against Watford at the weekend, with two goals to her name, will only add to those calls for her to keep starting matches next season. She is certainly a good example of why Reading should not fear promoting from within, should money be tight and external additions not be possible.
Levante Las Planas are not a team to underestimate
When glancing briefly at the Liga F table, the fact that Levante Las Planas currently sit second bottom (albeit 14 points clear of bottom side Huelva) might give the impression that they have been a fairly easy team to beat and an outfit that have failed to really trouble their opponents.
https://twitter.com/LigaF_oficial/status/1785325867188543895
However, to think that way would be wrong, because, whilst it is true that they have not got league points on the board, their performances have actually shown that they are not a team to take lightly, and those coming up against them have needed to tread carefully at times and to show patience when moving the ball around the pitch.
That was clear to see during their meetings last week with Barcelona and Real Madrid, with the former starting with a more experienced selection of players (with first choice names kept fresh for the weekend) and the latter once again looking slightly hesitant in all areas of the field.
Both of these issues played into Levante’s hands and allowed them to instigate their counterattacking tactics and to punish the lapses in concentration that both teams experienced at times. In particular, the pace of Allegra Poljak on the right-hand side proved to be really dangerous, and her ability to connect with striker Irina Uribe when inside the final third was what led to all three goals across both matches.
https://twitter.com/razalo71/status/1783168190538768777
Barcelona might have come through with a win in the end and Real Madrid might have also gained three points after a last minute free-kick, but neither side looked entirely at ease in their clashes with the second-bottom side and were susceptible to their quick breaks. Therefore, it was a clear indication of why a league table never tells the full story.
Víkingur Reykjavík have made a bright start to life in the Besta deild kvenna
The new Icelandic football season got underway two weeks ago and there have already been some notable results and some exciting performances, with Valur commencing their title defence well and looking sharp, Breiðablik currently topping the standings and looking like serious challengers once again and plenty of players in all areas of the league starting off in really fine form.
For a look at Valur’s tactics on their route to last season’s title, have a look at my article for Total Football Analysis here:
There has also been a chance for fans to assess the credentials of the two newly-promoted sides in the top flight, and the one that has really caught the eye early on is Víkingur Reykjavík, who have hit the ground running and appear to be in no mood to simply settle for survival.
Their style of play has been what has really attracted positive glances so far, with their tactics based largely around pressing when out of possession in a bid to constrict the space that their opponents have to move the ball around in, before then attacking up the field at pace when they regain it and never allowing their opponents a chance to set up in their shape.
When looking at their two matches so far as a collective, it is clear to see how dangerous this makes them, with their opening game at Stjarnan yielding all three points whilst they also gave fellow newcomers Fylkir a really tough time of things.
https://twitter.com/bestadeildin/status/1784736046355259699
They are not perfect and their defensive work does still need improving, with them conceding some poor goals against both sides that will have frustrated them. However, they can be pleased with their overall start to the campaign and, on this basis, they could well be ones to watch as the weeks go on.
Read all about it….
The changing roles of the #9 and #10 - on Total Football Analysis, Scott Martin has written a really interesting tactical theory piece on the evolving demands of the #9 and #10 players around the field. It uses examples from the men’s game and talks about the men’s game, but some of the points he raises are very relatable to the women’s game too.
Seattle Reign’s woes and North Carolina Courage’s home strength - in his weekly NWSL piece over on his Squad Depth site, Theo Lloyd-Hughes has raised some interesting thoughts about why Seattle Reign are currently struggling for form and talks about North Carolina Courage’s ability to be so formidable on their home ground.
Crystal Palace seal promotion to the WSL - one of the main stories to break the news over the weekend was Crystal Palace officially sealing promotion to the WSL, and Emma Smith has looked back at their history and road to promotion for BBC Sport. For those who aren’t as familiar with their story, this is a really interesting read.
Lend me your ears….
Amanda West: A Pittsburgh record-breaker ready for the NWSL Draft - to add some variety to the newsletter, this week’s listening selection is one from the archives, with this interesting chat between Theo Lloyd-Hughes and now-Houston Dash forward Amanda West on Squad Depth, recorded before the 2024 NWSL Draft. With the discussion including her background, college career at Pittsburgh, what she has taken from her hockey experiences to add to her footballing skillset and her own take on what she still needs to improve on, it is a really interesting listen.
That’s all for now - back next week!!