- I feel so lucky to have had Julia as a teammate and friend this year. Not only is she a kind person but also a fierce competitor. It has been fun to watch and play beside her throughout her first year in the NWSL. Whether Juila started or came off the bench she always provided an attacking spark and quality 1v1 defending. We could always count on Julia.
Another great quality Julia had as a player this year was her ability to play anywhere. Although she proved to be a great outside back for us this year and helped us win the NWSL Championship, she proved to be a great midfielder and versatile defender. Her work rate and positive attitude was very admirable and set a good example for me and the rest of the team.
My husband Jeff and I also had a great time getting to know Julia and Jacob. We spent lots of time together throughout the season and created lots of fun memories, said Ashley Hatch when asked to describe this week's player and guest in the podcast Their Pitch, Julia Roddar.
Roddar and Hatch are teammates in Washington Spirit and play together in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US. The 2021 season, Washington Spirit won the NWSL Championship after securing a spot in the playoffs, where Roddar played a huge part. She scored her first goal in a crucial match against Chicago Red Stars, that saw to the fact that Washington was through to the playoffs.
Fast pace and quick to put pressure
Roddar is a midfielder that also can serve as a full-back. She represents the Swedish women's national team and has 13 caps earned in the blue and yellow coloured match shirt.
Recently, the Swedish FA in collaboration with Adidas Football, released a guide called How To Stop Sweden when Sweden’s new match shirt ahead of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 was launched. This is what the guide tells us about Roddar strengths:
Julia plays at a fast pace. She’s both very quick to put pressure on opponents and to win the ball, especially so during counterpressing opportunities. Be wary of Roddar’s intense pressing and be ready to make quick decisions on the ball so as not to allow her more time to get close to you.
All over the pitch
In the Swedish League, the Damallsvenskan, she has played for two clubs, Kvarnsvedens IK and Kopparbergs/Göteborgs FC (now BK Häcken) where her resume says 103 league appearances and 9 goals scored. According to WyScout, Roddar played a total of 4,647 minutes in the Damallsvenskan for Göteborg. Being versatile, she has played both in the midfield and in the defense. She had 77 shots with 36.4% of them on target, scored 7 goals and made 6 assists. She also had a passing accuracy of 76.2%, 260 successful dribbles, 239 interceptions and won 53.4% out of 1,275 duels.
Roddar alternated between the positions of left and right winger, left and right fullback and operated in the central parts of both sides of the midfield.
She left Sweden to play in the US and the NWSL with Washington after winning the Swedish league title with Göteborgs FC. In Washington, Roddar has played all sorts of positions across the midfield, while also as a full-back on both sides. Flexible? Yeah, to say the least.
Julia Roddar - the football player
Who is the football player and versatile midfielder/full-back Julia Roddar on the pitch? What other players in Sweden is she competing with to get into the starting eleven looking at her position ahead of the Euro 2022 in England this summer?
In Transfer Lab, Roddar’s primary position is a left full-back. So, we look at her in the player profile ‘Full back - All Round. Compared to all other full-backs from looking at the last 12 months in the NWSL she ranks 92 whereas her qualities lie especially within the defensive parts of the play; tackles (quality), 1v1 defending (quality) and expected assists (key passes).
In tackles she ranks 83, 1v1 68, and expected assists 61.
Mastering more than one just position, Roddar is a very versatile football player that can be used all over the pitch. Her heatmap in her profile shows that. This means that in the Swedish national team, she can play several positions and have many different roles. Since she can, if needed, play on both sides as a full-back, we can let TransferLab compare her to players like Hanna Glas, Jonna Andersson (who both serve as full-backs/wing-backs) and to a player like Amanada Ilestedt, who play primarily as a centre-back but also can and has played as a full-back for Sweden.
If you compare Roddar in TransferLab with the previously mentioned national team players, we can easily see where she might lack in quality compared to them; the progressive passing game, long and short and also in carrying. But, Roddar could be
important in games where Sweden might go in to play in a more defensive way. Her profile scores higher or similar to the players we have compared her with, in tackles, 1 v 1 and in interceptions Roddar plays regularly in Washington and has been playing a lot since joining the American capital side, whereas a player like Jonna Andersson has not been given as much playing time in Chelsea this season as previous ones.
It’s all about playing style and tactical approach to the matches; but it might be a surprise, if Julia Roddar wasn’t picked to the UEFA Women’s Euro 20222 in England this summer since in a tournament like that, her versatility could be very useful, when playing many matches against different opponents during a shorter and more intensive period of time.
About TransferLab Scouting Tool:
TransferLab is a scouting software that goes beyond raw numbers. Feeding the data through our unique algorithm, the platform produces a host of predictive metrics which add depth and colour to the basic stats that are generally used within the football industry.
Applying these metrics to over 100,000 players in our database, TransferLab allows you to scout players to a level previously unavailable to most clubs. With the extensive suite of tools available within the platform, you can now discover players much more efficiently than ever before.
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