The 5 best right-back players in the 2022/23 Women’s Bundesliga season
the Women’s BundesligaThe 2022/23 season has ended. We look back over the past few months and look at the players who have been particularly great this season. In focus today: right back.
1. FC Cologne hasn’t had a great season. Only Billy the Goat managed to avoid relegation to the Second Division. One of the few bright spots in Cologne’s side was his home countryman Alli Godorff, who has always been one of FC’s best players on the right flank.
It was not for nothing that the 22-year-old was called up to the national team by call in the fall. If Godorff had not torn his meniscus at the start of the second half of the season and if FC had been more successful, who knows if the emerging international would not have been part of the World Cup squad in Australia and New Zealand.
Also, in order to have better chances with the national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg in the future, Godorff now leaves her home club and joins FC Freiburg. It’s very likely that we’ll see the winger in our rankings again next year – maybe a place or two higher.
Another player to watch for years to come is Sarai Leander. The 23-year-old is the undisputed regular at TSG Hoffenheim and is likely to travel to Australia with DFB side.
Linder is a technically proficient right-back with a low error rate, but like Gudorf (only two assists this season, none) she still needs more involvement in the offensive game. With a goal and two assists, their record is expandable. For comparison: Katarina Naschenwing, her Hoffenheim counterpart on the left, has 13 points (six goals and seven assists).
FC Bayern’s Maximiliane Rall is third in our ranking. The newly crowned German champions moved to Munich after Julia Gwen injured her cruciate ligament, playing 19 of a possible 22 games and contributing five goals and one assist to clinch the title.
Rall is a very powerful attacking full-back who would probably be better suited as a rail player in a defensive five or as a right midfielder than a right full-back in a defensive four. There their defensive (and technical) flaws are often exposed, especially against opponents of international caliber such as Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The 29-year-old remains one of Germany’s best defenders. Only being called up for the on-demand World Cup came as a bit of a surprise.
Sofia Kleinhern will certainly be present at the World Cup. The woman from Frankfurt must be part of the permanent staff. You really deserved it after a great season with Eintracht.
Unlike last season, when Kleinhern formed a centre-back pairing at SGE with Sarah Dorsson, this season she worked on the right defensive flank. Goal and assist in 22 games is certainly an expandable record, but this is more than offset by Kleinhern’s phenomenal ball quality. Rarely has any other player in the Bundesliga been as strong at tackles as the 23-year-old.
Next season, Kleinheirn can get a taste of the Champions League for the first time in her career – provided that Eintracht manages to qualify. The defensive specialist is always up for it.
The best right-back this season was Len Willems. The Wolfsburg player impressively defeated rival Joel Wedemeyer and has been consistent in all competitions in the VfL.
Even though Wilmes is only 22 years old, he is a very complete player who is always up to par defensively and always provides important drives in attack. There aren’t many defenders in Europe who can perform at a high level in this era like the Wolfsburg player.
Willems still has to fight for her place in the Dutch national team. Even though she will be at the World Cup, she will likely be content with a backup role.
“Coffee trailblazer. Social media ninja. Unapologetic web guru. Friendly music fan. Alcohol fanatic.”