Olga Carmona probably did not imagine playing left back at Real Madrid Femenino, but has had to transition into that role thanks to her side’s lack of depth in that position. The usual starter is Marta Corredera, a natural right back, who has struggled with injury problems of late, necessitating this experiment.
The adjustment hasn’t been completely smooth and she’s no defensive rock, but Olga has taken to her new assignment with gusto, energy, and a relentless work-rate. And, given the ever-growing influence of the fullback in modern football, she has still had plenty of opportunities to show off the refined offensive capabilities that she cultivated as a winger at Sevilla.
While her total box contributions might still be taking a hit, Olga’s deployment in a deeper role has allowed her to display her aptitude as a distributor. Against Madrid CFF, she constantly searched for the progressive pass and was eager to facilitate quick combinations to destabilize the opposition block. However, when the forward option wasn’t on, she was collected enough to quickly rotate play so that Madrid could attack the opposite flank.
In general, her first touch, close control, and vertical passing aids Madrid’s press resistance quite a bit and, though Madrid CFF didn’t press that often in this game, there were enough moments where you could see her impact in this phase.
In the second half, she began to affect her rival’s penalty area more often, dribbling past defenders to create the separation to deliver dangerous crosses.
Yet, fittingly, it was her work nearer her own box that ended up leading to the deciding goal, as she recovered the loose ball from Madrid CFF’s set-piece, warded off the pressure, and released Sofia Jakobsson on a 3v1 counter-attack.
Thanks to her recent performances, Olga Carmona has made a very good case to be Real Madrid’s starting left back even after Marta Corredera returns from injury.
I cut clips from Real Madrid’s twitch stream, where you can watch the full game.