Williamson, Eidevall, and Arsenal: The centre-back conundrum
With a plethora of central defensive options at Jonas Eidevall's disposal, who does he pick to partner Leah Williamson?
Thanks to Tim Stillman, Domagoj Kostanjšak, and Alex Ibaceta for their advice.
For the better part of 18 months, Arsenal have been looking for a stable partnership at central defence. Both in part of finding Leah Williamson a partner that complements her and also because of the number of injuries affecting Arsenal in this position.
Since the summer of 2021, Arsenal’s central defensive options have improved with the additions of Simone Boye Sørensen and Rafaelle Souza. Williamson, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Steph Catley, Jen Beattie, Boye, Lia Wälti, and Souza provide significant depth to Arsenal’s options in the middle, but how does Arsenal’s main pairing look on the pitch?
Jonas Eidevall has come in and made the centre of the pitch an imperative part of the team’s build-up structure. Given that he has brought two central defenders on top of the ones available meant he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the options in hand to suit his style of play. So, bringing in players that are more all-rounders than specialists seems to be the trend and this is where the signing of Souza is significant.
The Brazilian was signed in January and at 30 years of age, she brings a wealth of experience and you’d think slots her straight in the first team. This begs the question as to why was Souza such a sought-after signing and how does she rank against the plethora of other options at Arsenal? Eidevall tried to sign her in the summer, but her contract wasn’t up yet in China.
It’s safe to assume that Williamson, when fit, will always be one of the starting centre-backs but the question has always been around her partner. Arsenal’s ideal playing style is to always play out from the back and find a pivot player most times and build up from there before they find the wingers and occasionally the full-backs. In this case, it requires two very competent central defenders. Arsenal signed Souza as a left-footed option and she seems to be the main option at centre-back, but I think it’s worth looking into the data and footage a bit closer to truly see if Souza is the right profile.
Besides Eidevall’s need to mould the squad to his liking, Arsenal needed to solve issues related to needing a left-sided central defender. Playing a left-footer there opens up quicker passes, angles, and their spatial awareness is naturally inclined to cover the inside spaces by showing them the line. Arsenal have been playing with makeshift defenders at times and this has caused certain goals to be conceded that could have been avoided with better positioning, with one such case being taken from this goal conceded against Hoffenheim.
Given that the defensive line from this game wasn’t blessed with pace, it meant the German side’s attackers could play between and behind the line, to exploit any spaces left behind. In these cases, teams need to drop deep or have exceptional anticipation or reading of situations. This is where Williamson becomes extremely important for Arsenal.
Williamson is a shapeshifter for Arsenal at the back because she can take up a variety of roles. Depending on the players that play with her, she adopts a different sort of role each time. She can play a more cover role with a range of passing, both long and short, or be an aggressor in defending and starting attacks from the back. In an interview with Tim Stillman for Arseblog, Williamson referred to her role in the side as a creator more than a pure defender.
“It’s not just about getting the ball to a teammate, it’s making sure that they can do something with it when they receive it. I’ve played in quite a lot of positions, not just centre half and central midfield and it’s given me good experience of getting the ball from A to B from different angles.”
Looking at a couple of players, Beattie’s strength is to play shorter passes and is more physical while Williamson possesses and uses a much wider, longer range of passing. Wubben-Moy brings a more positive style of play with a long passing range than Beattie, has the ability to carry the ball into midfield, and has a good diagonal pass ball. In the cases for Wubben-Moy and Beattie, Williamson would play a more covering role, sweeping in behind.
Both Catley and Wälti are makeshift centre-backs but each offers a mixture of positional awareness and passing range which helps to complement Arsenal’s on-the-ball play. This is more the case with Wälti than Catley, while the Australian has more defensive awareness because of her role as a full-back.
I’ll discuss Souza in more detail later.
In each case, Williamson keeps changing her role depending on who she’s played with, but if we’re to look at her ideal role, it would be as a more aggressive, stepping forward and defending on the front foot. On the ball, she’s their instigator and the attacking outlet, being one of the best playmaking defenders in the league. Her ability to find line-breaking passes and players in the middle and final third is excellent. She averages in the 95th percentile for progressive passes per 90 minutes this season, just to point out how good she is on the ball.
A numbers game
Now, going through the numbers, I wanted to analyse Arsenal’s central defenders and understand how each of them compares to the rest of Europe in the current season. I looked at how each of them ranks in chance creation, defensive actions, and build-up involvement with each of these metrics meant to highlight the main areas of focus that an Arsenal centre-back profile needs.
My data set includes centre-backs from the English, German, Spanish, French, Brazilian, and Italian top-flight leagues with a minimum of 500 minutes played. The comparison is done with a total player set of 323 players. I’ve highlighted Arsenal’s centre-backs so we can see their results compared to the rest of the players. The first graph depicts total progressive actions and player involvement. Parts of this data analysis was inspired by an analysis done by Domagoj Kostanjsak on modern pivots.
Possibly an obvious set of results, but Arsenal central defenders all rank in the high performing quadrant of play going through them – i.e. how much of the ball they see with high progressive actions. Total ball involvement includes received passes per 90 minutes and total passes per 90 minutes whilst progressive actions includes progressive runs and progressive passes per 90 minutes.
Wubben-Moy, Beattie, and Williamson rank the highest but the other three aren’t too far behind and given how much of a possession-based side Arsenal are, this graph infers our initial thoughts of Arsenal’s defenders being the first line of attack.
Next, I wanted to look at chance creation. Given that Eidevall prioritises the defensive line as a source of attack and how passing angles plays a huge part in creating attacking opportunities, what I did here was look at the Expected Assists (xA) per 90 minutes and line-threatening passes to see how effective each player is in creating chances for the team. Line-threatening passes include passes to the final third, passes to the penalty area, and long passes per 90 minutes.
It’s noticeable that each Arsenal defender averages more than 0 in the xA statistic considering that a high volume of players aren’t each off the mark here. Again it is Wubben-Moy who averages the highest number of line-threatening passes, followed closely by Williamson. Catley averages highly in terms of xA because some of her games have also been played at full-back.
Lastly, we need to also look at how effective these players are in the defensive metrics. Given that Arsenal play with a high line, being able to cover spaces, identify attacking moves, and win high turnovers becomes important in stopping teams from exploiting spaces in behind. While speed is of obvious importance, positioning and overall covering ability become a key identifier. So here, I’ve looked at defensive actions that include interceptions, sliding tackles, and shots blocked with duels (both offensive and defensive duels) to overlook a holistic view of their defensive output.
In this case, we start seeing a drop off in their performances so far this season with Wälti as the highest-rated player. Since she is their sole No 6 at times it makes some sense, but it’s important to note that Souza is the only other player in the high-performing quadrant of these actions.
Considering how we’ve gone through the numbers rather quickly, it’s time to make sense of it all and assess the players in question. When it comes to Arsenal’s current options, it’s obvious that Arsenal have some excellent ball carriers and passers who are able to play through the lines and are heavily involved in build-up, but it’s in the defensive metrics where they seem to lack against defenders from other teams.
Williamson might rank in the middle against some of these other central defenders but in the WSL, she is amongst the best when it comes to playmaking and creating chances which is why she’s Arsenal’s most consistent centre-back. So where Williamson ranks amongst the rest is still a huge positive for Arsenal. It’s here where Souza ranks higher than Arsenal’s specialist options and just behind Wälti. Playing the Swiss international in the pivot role is important, thus making Souza a viable and good option. This is where Souza comes into the discussion of being Arsenal’s first choice, at least certainly in the short to medium term.
A case for Rafaelle
Souza is a combination of all of Arsenal’s centre-backs in one player. Being left-footed, she’s another ball-playing central defender with a wide passing range and good spatial awareness. Most importantly, she’s a player that has the recovery pace to match Williamson as well as having good anticipation. If penetrative passes are played in behind, Souza can sweep up and cover for her defenders.
What’s most interesting is that Souza can occupy both a cover and stopper role simultaneously, which I believe can only be adopted by Williamson at the moment. Beattie, Catley, Wubben-Moy, Wälti, and Boye are all stronger in one aspect or another, but the Brazilian has the capability to deliver on both fronts. A key ideology of Arsenal’s defensive shape and line is to play higher up and win aggressive turnovers with the pace to cover behind in case they are penetrated.
Though it’s not just from a defensive standpoint that Arsenal want to play higher and have complementary centre-backs. Playing out from the back remains a key principle in Arsenal’s approach. Having a central defender that is not just competent at playing out from the back, but who can also be as progressive and effective as Williamson, is essential to this principle.
One of the key aspects of Souza’s signing is the sheer fact that she’s left-footed. A rare commodity in football, Souza’s left foot brings about a whole host of benefits, none more so that her ability to create better passing angles that a right-footer would take longer to carry out. It’s significant that the rest of Arsenal’s centre-backs are all right-footed which is why Catley was also used in this role. Eidevall made this point during Souza’s unveiling when talking to Tim Stillman for Arseblog.
“For me, it was a big to find a left-footed central defender because it helps a lot with the angles building up, especially when teams press you a little bit higher so to have a really good left-footer in the build-up helps a lot with that.”
Take this build-up passage against Reading. When Souza picks up the ball, she drives out towards the left, feigning a pass towards Catley, thus committing the attacker towards her. The quick turn inside leaves the Reading player behind and pushes Arsenal out of their box.
Now in midfield, Arsenal’s midfield can hold and push up, allowing them more players in forward areas to create overloads. The pass out from Souza to switch the point of attack means Arsenal have a clear path forward in numbers.
The data set is too small to make an accurate statement on Souza’s effect on the side because she’s only played 309 minutes so far in the league. However, she already ranks in the 95th percentile for progressive carries per 90 minutes and in the 85th percentile for passes in the final third. This is only the beginning but if this is what Souza has to offer so far going forward, then Arsenal have found a hidden gem from an overlooked league.
Keeping a high defensive line is part of the need at Arsenal and another solution provided by the Brazilian defender. Part of the problem is the opportunities presented as a byproduct of this high line. Both centre-backs need to stay high to win turnovers and start attacks on the front foot, but this inevitably leaves space in behind.
This is an example of an opposition taking advantage of Arsenal’s high line by playing a simple line-breaking pass between the two centre-backs. They were caught on the break and the two defenders were unable to catch the Birmingham striker that resulted in a goal.
It’s in covering these spaces and the sudden turnovers that Arsenal need to be wary of. Teams have been able to counter Arsenal by taking them in quick, high-transition moments and the need for two players that have the speed and understanding of space becomes imperative. As I’ve mentioned before, Souza does give reassurances in this regard. Her pace is key and so is her ability to match Williamson’s cognitive processes of centre-back positioning, as shown in this passage against Liverpool.
What’s more important is if the partnership is able to interchange roles in the game. Both Souza and Williamson have pace, spatial awareness, and the passing range to carry out Eidevall’s football. Their pass maps are mirror images of each other, with Souza (top) and Williamson (bottom) playing from the left and right side of central defence. These passes are not only going across but towards the flanks which encourages more wide build-up and higher full-backs. This suits someone like Katie McCabe who is naturally attacking and wants to be in the final third.
Take this example where Souza pushes up against the striker but gets turned, which exposes Arsenal to yet another counter-attack. However, Williamson is able to shepherd the player until support arrives. In the end, Arsenal are able to get bodies at the back and Souza/Catley are able to limit the opposition to a long-range shot, which is saved.
Yes, Arsenal will be threatened in behind regardless of the make up at the back, but it’s about handling the situations put in front of them and making them hard to beat. You look at the way Barcelona and Lyon defend, they ensure possession dominance to keep the ball away but it’s their last line of defence that has a good mix of pace and intelligence to keep teams at bay.
Someone like Mapi Leon or Wendie Renard are excellent insurance policies when their defensive lines are pierced. It’s the individual skill that bails them out when needed and Williamson is that figurehead for Arsenal. It’s their partners that ensure they are not overly exposed. Kadeisha Buchanan/Griedge Mbock and Irene Paredes are excellent at managing the game as front foot defenders and working around their partners.
There’s still a significant portion of the season to go, but the signs of Arsenal settling into a stable back-four is proving to be key for Arsenal. Though they’re fighting for first place in the WSL, they will yield the full effects of this new back-four next season, and going into a Champions League campaign with a partnership of Williamson/Souza forms the basis of what I believe to be an excellent spine.
Photo by Justin Setterfield - The FA/The FA via Getty Images