I think the emergence of Aïcha Camara has been a blessing for Barcelona and she will be massive next season if Ona is to leave.
If she develops the attacking side of her game, that's a world class prospect there.
Is WSL the best league in the world?
I tried to look at the numbers behind what makes a league competitive & eventful
•WSL is very eventful but has a top group of teams above the rest
•NWSL is very balanced in both metrics
•Liga F is a fairly competitive w/o Barcelona
Was so uncharacteristic from Alcaraz today. Wind impacted him a lot and just looked a bit flat idk
Alcaraz vs Sinner is always box office
This was an attempt to understand & quantify the quality across leagues.
Obviously there are many caveats around the style of play & the fact that even poor defences will make a league eventful.
So this isn't gospel but an attempt to demystify the arbitrary quality of leagues.
Thanks Mark!
Appreciate it Alex!
This is a really interesting way to look at it
Have often (over the years) seen folk who don’t watch the French or Spanish leagues (throughout their name changes) blanketly shit on them for having one dominate team, saying they mustn’t be competitive and therefore not good, always lacking context
🧵 from Yash.
I for one am not trying to prove anything. This was just an attempt to see if data can present anything meaningful here after Nusken pointed out differences between WSL and Frauen Bundesliga
Yeah I want to look at stylistic personalities in leagues but averaging it out means it won't be true picture so might try something looking at every individual team and see
Yeah could look at the last 3 seasons
Really like this
Hahaha talk about confirmation bias
Exactly!
Interesting from Yash. I've enjoyed catching up on Serie A recently and this makes a lot of sense. Roma are top but not convincing in a lot of games. Not much between them and Inter/Juve. Then you can chuck a blanket over fourth to eighth, and a fairly intense 3-4 team battle to avoid relegation
Interesting thread. 👀
Sure will keep in mind for the future.
Data accessibility issue
Understanding eventfulness distribution in each league
•The four horsemen of WSL are ahead but relatively a lot of "open" games
•NWSL teams very close in this aspect as well
•Serie A has two groups but both not as eventful
•Barcelona, Lyon, Bayern far ahead of the rest
Understanding the team strength distribution in each league
•Serie A & NWSL has teams very close in quality
•Barcelona is so far ahead of the rest & so seems Bayern
•There isn't a single outlier driving the league strength but rather a group of 4 clubs that seem better
How much is the quality & competitiveness dependent on the top club?
•The biggest change in competitiveness can be seen in Liga F, highlighting Barcelona's dominance
•Bundesliga is very eventful & is highly competitive w/o Bayern, who are a level above the rest.
Is WSL the best league in the world?
I tried to look at the numbers behind what makes a league competitive & eventful
•WSL is very eventful but has a top group of teams above the rest
•NWSL is very balanced in both metrics
•Liga F is a fairly competitive w/o Barcelona
This kid is nuts. After taking down Bumrah, today he took down Bhuvi and Hazelwood
🚨For @espn.com
Young players are exciting due to the heights they can reach in the future.
I ranked 21 of the best U21 players in WoSo based on their performances last year!
Before reading the piece, can you guess the top 10? Brownie points if in order👀
www.espn.in/football/sto...
5. Taina Maranhão (LW/RW, Palmeiras)
•Extremely skillful & full of flair
•Excellent change of direction & speed, can go inside & out equally well
•Does well to generate seperation & earn foul during carries
•Likes to attack the byline & look for cutbacks
•Good shot on her
4. Jordyn Bugg (CB, Seattle Reign)
•Very calm and composed on the ball; can progress via her passes and carries
•Dominant in her duels and tracks play well; positioning is great as well
•Very good anticipation and agility
•Can play on either side center-back & as fullback
3. Sydney Schertenleib (CM, Barcelona)
•Disruptive ball carrier; excellent long strides & very agile
•Good close control & maneuvering in tight spaes
•Has an excellent shot on her and is blessed with good vision & execution of passes
•Has good press resistance
2. Dudinha (LW, San Diego Wave)
•Excellent acceleration on her & has flair
•Great ball carrier and can dribble past challenges while retaining possession
•Very good left footed shot & can instantly set up a shot for herself
•Good movements in the final third
1. Franziska Kett (LW/RW/LB/RB, Bayern Munich)
•Kett is extremely versatile & comfortable on either foot
•An explosive attacker with room to improve her final product
•Exceptional workrate
•Her defensive insticnts, timing of challenges and technique is excellent