Football Season Guide

After 18 years in the lower divisions Charlton are back in the top flight. Finished only 2 points behind the Championship winners Birmingham last season but this enough only for 3rd place. This led to a tough promotion playoff vs Leicester. Athletic used their great defending to force penalties and triumph that way. Charlton had the best defence in the Championship last season, only 21 goals conceded in 22 rounds. Sophie Whitehouse kept the league’s highest 8 clean sheets. This will be 5th season in charge for coach Karen Hills. She has never managed in the WSL before though. Her philosophy is to play in low block against better teams and a lot of that can be expected from Charlton. Used 5-player defensive line in most of their friendlies this summer. Had issues scoring goals last season in the lower division, only 31. No player scored more than 5 goals. Ineffective striker Thestrup left now. Loaned in Partido and Azzaro in hope the forward actions can be better. Both are fast strikers and should fit nicely Charlton’s tactics to sit deep and launch fast breaks. Lack depth in midfield but the options in defence are rich. Likely to use 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 formations a lot this season. Not enough quality in the squad it seems. Lack experience at this level too, so a tough campaign seems inevitable.