We continue our look back at the 2023 NWSL season to find the top-5 players in each position group according to StatsBomb’s OBV (On Ball Value) metric. This measurement takes into account passing, dribbling & carrying, defensive action, and shot data to assess a player’s overall impact on their team’s likelihood of scoring, or conceding, a goal.

If you’re just joining, welcome! You’ll want to bookmark goalkeepers, center backs, right backs, left backs, defensive midfielders and center midfielders to get caught up. In this one we’re finally moving into the final third to review the top-5 central attacking midfielders from the 2023 NWSL season.

Onward!

5) Jess Fishlock: .09 OBV/90

Pass .03 | Dribble & Carry .08 | Defensive Action .01 | Shot -.03

Not to spoil the list but you’ll be unsurprised to know that Dribble & Carry numbers are quite high among the top 5 (with a couple exceptions), and is Fishlock’s highest. Digging a little deeper, what really stands out is Fishlock having one of the lowest rates of being dispossessed, .90 per 90, second lowest of CAMs with at least 900 minutes played.

That safety makes her an invaluable part of Laura Harvey’s team, and is quite unique in the NWSL. The sheer number of possessions often leads to attacking playing getting the ball at their feet quite frequently when compared to other leagues. As a result, they tend to take more risk. Fishlock is different.

However, you’ve probably noticed the .03 Shot OBV, which is essentially the result of Fishlock trying to score outside of the box bangers. A thing I wholeheartedly endorse, even if the data doesn’t.

One thing that surprised me was the low number of key passes (passes that lead to a shot). Some of this must be Harvey’s conservative style that had the Reign tally the second lowest expected goals (xG) per 90 last season, only above woeful Chicago.

Still, I anticipated a higher number. Though there’s also a bit of a quality/quantity thing (or a moderately low sample size, you decide) going on, because .10xG per shot is quite a good average. It suggests more risk could’ve been taken with her passing, but also could have been something Harvey didn’t want her doing anyway.

4) Savannah McCaskill: .11 OBV/90

Pass .02 | Dribble & Carry .03 | Defensive Action .03 | Shot .03

Won’t lie, this name surprised me at first. Then looked at the numbers and it made sense. The numbers are solid across the board, and none are negative, which is an important factor in OBV, but also nothing that stands out as truly threatening.

What this suggests to me is that McCaskill is probably playing the wrong position. This all-around game is probably best deployed as a box-to-box midfielder, where the task is to get the ball to a player with more creativity or direct threat to goal.

Or, if you’re Casey Stoney, she’s your ideal brand of industrious attacking midfielder and you sign her in the offseason even though you have Jaedyn Shaw (more on her later).