On the latest episode, the Three Players and a Podcast panel discuss what it's like to play out of position after Rachel Daly's switch from full-back to striker for Aston Villa and England this season; Listen and subscribe below!
Friday 3 March 2023 11:45, UK
After Rachel Daly's incredible switch from full-back to striker, the Three Players and a Podcast panel ask if playing out of position is a good or bad aspect of the game.
The Aston Villa forward has traditionally played in defence, having played at left-back in all six games of England's Euro 2022 triumph.
However, since her move to Carla Ward's side in the summer, she has transformed into a potent No 9, and is the WSL's current joint-top scorer with Manchester City's Bunny Shaw with 10 goals this season. She recently scored twice for the Lionesses in the recent international break while playing up front.
While a change in position has hugely benefitted Daly, it does not always work for every player. On the latest Three Players and a Podcast, Izzy Christiansen, Jen Beattie and Rachel Yankey discussed the issue and their own views on Daly's switch.
"My view on it is you do a job for the team, whatever you're asked to do. As a player, you've got to understand that coaches see different things.
"Rachel Daly played left-back at the Euros and she was superb. Now, she plays in the No 9 role and she's the WSL joint-top scorer. She played in the recent Arnold Clark Cup in the No 9.
"Sarina Wiegman has used her strengths at full-back. As a one-on-one defender, Daly is very good. She can match most forwards in the world in terms of pace and physicality and she's got a real burst of pace, which Sarina likes from a full-back to get around on the overlap.
"It's credit to a player and Rachel Daly has adopted a very good attitude to deal with playing in two different positions.
"A player who had a slightly different approach is Georgia Stanway, who left Man City last year to go Bayern and she was unhappy playing a multitude of positions at Man City. It's very circumstantial and individual… you've got to have a growth mindset as a player and do a job for the team wherever you ask to."
"It depends on your age. When I was younger, I played in loads of different positions. You're keen to develop and you want to play. If a coach is telling you 'this is where I want you to play', you're like 'OK, I'll do whatever to play and be part of the team'.
"A lot of how a player feels comes down to the coaching. If a player is playing out of position, that has natural insecurity, a bit of anxiety and that's helped by confidence from the coach.
"Georgia Stanway was my example too of a player unhappy playing in loads of different positions and leaving to go to another club. That was eventually what I ended up doing, I think I was 22 when I moved to Montpellier because they needed a centre-back and at that point, centre-back was what I wanted to pin down.
"It also depends if it's club or country. If you're playing for your club consistently in one position, that's always going to help you in terms of internationals. I needed to pin down centre-back for international because that's what my coach wanted at that time. Those work in tandem.
"But Rachel Daly has this unbelievable ability to deliver at such a high level - I find it fascinating. There's the ability to play in different positions, but then there's the ability to go from left-back to striker and scoring on the international scene. I don't think that's a very common thing at all.
"It's so difficult because you do see the game so differently from so many positions. For me, I loved it as a kid but the older I got, I knew I needed to pin down a position in order to get better at that."
"If you're that talented that you can play in multiple positions, to the team, you become valuable, to a squad you become valuable - especially to an international squad.
"So actually, you can look at it as a massive positive, and that depends on the player and their attitude and how they view where they play.
"Some people just want to play in one position and that's them and that's where they are - if they get changed, they throw their toys out of the pram. She doesn't seem like that so looking at Rachel Daly, I don't think it's a real problem whether she plays in what she sees as her natural position or an unnatural position, coming on and scoring.
"That's something she does and has the thrill of playing and she seems like she's enjoying it."
