Open Data XI, Week 2: Four of the Five Best Center Backs Play on the Left

Re-weight the model for a high press and the best player in the league gets even better.

Week 2 of the Open Data XI ranks WSL 2023/24 center backs for one job: a direct, high-pressing 4-3-3. In this system a center back has to win the ball back (55% of the score) and break lines with the pass (35%). Carrying, xG and xA make up the last 10%.

Naomi Layzell, already #1 in the base model in Part 1, jumps from 87.8 to 93.1. Among center backs she’s 100th percentile for progressive passing and 97th for defensive actions, after adjusting for how little of the ball Bristol City had.

Naomi Layzell (Bristol City): 93.1
Shannon Cooke (West Ham United): 83.6
Julie Thibaud (Leicester City): 83.1
Josie Green (Leicester City): 79.4
Jorelyn Carabalí (Brighton & Hove Albion): 78.7

The bigger story is the other side. Four of the top five play left center back. The best right-sider, Green, did it in barely 1,000 minutes. The best right-sider with a solid sample, Maya Le Tissier, scores 73.6. Build this XI and right center back is the gap.

One asterisk: Cooke played 949 minutes, just over the 900 cut-off. Thibaud is the steadier read, with 1,637 minutes and the best defensive numbers of any center back in the league.

Still a screen, not a verdict: no fees, no wages, no video. The radar comparing the top three is on X.

Next week: full backs.

Link to part 1: Open XI