By Cameron Sheath

*This article contains several grainy screenshots from the WSL YouTube channel, accompanied by some state-of-the-art editing to illustrate tactical breakdowns from the Arsenal Women’s recent win at Anfield.

I’ve mentioned before that I believe Lisa Baum will soon be one of the most feared attackers in the WSL, and perhaps even in women’s football worldwide. The German forward is still a teenager, just about, but is already proving a handful for opposing defenders, including Liverpool left-back Alejandra Bernabe at Anfield yesterday afternoon.

Am I already way too excited about the potential for a ‘The Baum Supremacy’ article once the winger hits the heights I expect her to? Yes I am. Will that inevitably lead to a great sense of anxiety regarding a, by that point, completely unavoidable ultimatum of some kind? You’re goddamn right it will. But, for now, let’s just live in the moment.

Some late injury news ahead of the Liverpool game meant that Olivia Smith started up front again, with Stina Blackstenius unavailable. Whether the Swede would have started otherwise, and who would then have started on the right, is something we’ll likely never know, but I was glad to see Baum start on Sunday.

The young winger immediately made her presence felt on the right, both with her imposing physicality and her technical prowess. Bernabe quickly gave up the idea of bullying her out of the game and even played the ball out for an Arsenal throw at one point, having already ben dispossessed by her opponent in a dangerous area earlier in the game.

On the ball, Baum showcased her ability to go both ways to devastating effect. The first image (this will be an image-heavy article) is from the 6th minute of the game. Baum has the opportunity to play an early cross in behind (red), but having passed that up, jinks inside (blue) with a couple of stepovers and fires in a deflected shot which smacks against the crossbar (yellow).

Just under 40 minutes later, with Bernabe less inclined to engage with Baum, the winger whips in a first-time, inch-perfect cross with her right foot, which meets Alessia Russo in stride for Arsenal’s second.

Baum’s crossing with her right foot is far from just a secondary tool for her to use when she can’t work the ball onto her left, the winger is one of Arsenal’s best crossers of a ball with her right foot alone. To put this two-way ability into context, it took Bukayo Saka years to become this accomplished going both ways, to the point that defenders are so reluctant to let him cross with his right that it presents chances for him to cut in on his favoured left.

Baum’s two-way threat, the power with which she can strike a ball whilst remaining accurate, and her clear physical advantage over the majority of opponents she faces makes her a rare prospect. The term ‘rough diamond’ is often used for players who are more rough, and less diamond, than Baum, but I think the phrase applies perfectly here.

Rough Diamond

For all the physical and technical ability she possesses, Baum’s tactical savvy is currently holding her back, and in turn, holding her team back. At a time when Arsenal have struggled against low block after low block, Liverpool’s more aggressive press presented the Gunners with counter-attacking opportunities that have been hard to come by this season.

Take the example below, taken from the 29th minute at Anfield. After great work from Taylor Hinds and Russo, Arsenal get a three-on-two opportunity on the break. Caitlin Foord is occupying the closest defender to her, and will continue to do so as long as she remains a goal threat, so she has to drive goalward.

Even if she is unaware of Baum’s presence behind her, Smith should be making an angled run to drag the remaining defender out of Foord’s way. Baum should then drive the other way to stretch the defence further. Either way, the remaining defender should be forced into a decision between following Smith or tracking Baum, leaving one of Arsenal’s young attackers completely free.

Instead, both Smith and Baum run straight down the middle of the pitch, allowing the defender to cover both players, whilst also remaining right in front of the goal she’s trying to defend. I’ve included Smith in this segment because this is an area that she needs to improve on as well. Both players are phenomenal talents, but both are thinking individually in this instance, which denied one of them an easy finish in a tight game.

Foord ends us having to shoot through a defender, when really the attack should have ended with in a simple one-on-one with the keeper from close range.

Even with Smith occupying the defender on the penalty spot, Baum still has an opportunity to pull wide to the right, offering Foord an easy assist. The same thing happened earlier n the game, when Georgia Stanway won possession on the edge of her own box and played forward to Russo, triggering a similar three-on-two opportunity.

I know there is a third defender alongside Russo, but she wasn’t keeping up with the attack and had little chance of making an impact. Again, one of those centre-backs will eventually have to close Russo down, so Smith and Baum should be getting wide and spreading the defenders out.

Instead, the two stay narrow, allowing both defenders to remain compact and in position to defend their goal. You can see below that the right-sided centre-back has turned to face Russo, so the England striker’s pass is perfectly timed in behind the committed defender.

But because Baum and Smith both stayed so narrow, both defenders are close enough to close the Canadian down as she receives the pass. The lack of movement meant the defender could wait until the last moment before engaging with Russo which, like in the first example with Foord, delayed the final pass/shot. In this instance, that even allowed the third defender, who was miles off the pace, to get back and help crowd Smith out and deny a goal.

Arsenal don’t get many opportunities to counter like this, but these two attacks should have resulted in two goals at Anfield. Thankfully, it didn’t cost them more points, but we’ve seen already how missed chances can impact your season, and players as talented as Smith and Baum need to be capitalizing on chances like these.

Viktor Gyokeres is an incredibly accomplished finisher in front of goal, but his lack of movement means he doesn’t get the kind of opportunities he needs to become a top Premier League striker. Gyokeres doesn’t have the excuse of youth, and the tactical side of the game is often the last thing for young players to grasp, but with Renee Slegers’ side struggling for goals, this is an obvious area to focus on.

I have no doubt that both Baum and Smith have the talent to fire Arsenal to WSL and Champions League titles, but neither are likely to reach those heights until they begin to understand movement and space better. They say ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears,’ so both players should pack their book bags for the trip to Barcelona this week.