Hawa Cissoko — Player Report

Position: Centre-back / Age: 24 / Height: 5ft 9in / Foot: Right

Hawa Cissoko is a 24-year-old defender playing for West Ham United in the FA Women’s Super League. A versatile player who previously played as a right-back in a four, she has found her place as a centre-back in West Ham’s back three. After an injury early on last season, she established herself as a regular under Olli Harder’s management, and has enjoyed a positive start to this campaign.

Mostly, Cissoko plays in the centre of the back three. Her role could be described as ‘sweeper’, covering for the outside-backs (Gilly Flaherty, Grace Fisk, or Lucy Parker). It’s a role not dissimilar to the one Jess Carter is playing at Chelsea right now, in-between Millie Bright and Magdalena Eriksson.

Cissoko’s good form has earned her a recall to the France national team for their World Cup qualification games against Estonia and Kazakhstan. This scout report will analyse her strengths and areas to improve as a centre-back, taking into consideration the specifics of her role with West Ham, before assessing her chances of earning a regular place in the French squad.

The scout report will be broken down into three broad sections related to Cissoko’s position: 1v1 Defending (direct challenges with an opponent in the air and on the ground), Other Defending (marking, anticipating, blocking shots), and On The Ball (passing, receiving, running with the ball).

OVERVIEW

DEFENDING — 1v1

It’s difficult to think of a single FA WSL centre-back who is quicker than Cissoko. She has a good change of pace and, once she hits maximum speed, even the likes of Lauren Hemp can’t beat her in a foot race. When faced up 1v1 she’s a good judge. She engages attackers quickly and gets close enough so that she’s able to take advantage of a bad touch, but she doesn’t dive in.

Cissoko is patient and waits for the right moment to tackle, showing the attacker outside and knowing she can win for speed if the attacker tries to knock the ball past her. She knows when to use her body to out-muscle the opponent and when to slide in, and executes both well. All of this means that, in transition or out wide, she is one of the best 1v1 defenders around. Closer to the by-line she can be thrown off by a bit of trickery or a feint, but even then she’s agile enough to react and recover quickly.

Overall, though, Cissoko’s 1v1 defending is about extremes. While she’s exceptional on the ground, she is not so good in the air. In fact, I would say her aerial ability is a weakness when compared with other centre-backs. She has a good leap and decent height, but doesn’t always commit herself to the aerial challenge and occasionally misjudges the ball flight or mistimes her jump.

It’s noteworthy that, when defending set pieces, West Ham do not place Cissoko in the thick of the action (she usually defends back post at corners), and when attacking them they keep her back (they prefer keeping her back to nullify counter-attacks, as opposed to having her up-field to attack high crosses in the air).

DEFENDING — OTHER

Playing at the centre of West Ham’s back three, Cissoko adjusts position relative to where the ball, the opponent and her teammates are. When the outside backs are drawn out to defend the touchline or between the lines, she is on hand to cover them. Likewise, when the opponent plays over the top, she is responsible for sweeping up the loose ball. Her speed means she almost always gets there before the attacker.

Cissoko anticipates play well and is rarely caught out of position, getting into the right places to cut out crosses and block shots, or at least narrow the angle. Her red card for handball against Brighton earlier this season was harsh — she was absolutely committed to getting in the way of the shot and preventing a goal. She’s also exceptional when it comes to decision-making on when to step in and intercept. Seeing the pass before it’s played, she will sprint in front of the attacker and win the ball.

Marking is a subtle but important area where Cissoko could improve. Generally, she does well to get tight to the striker in transition and help nullify the counter-attack. But sometimes she marks too aggressively and fouls, and sometimes she doesn’t get tight enough and lets the attacker turn towards goal. In the penalty box there have been instances where she fails to see and pick up the striker running free, or where she gets her body position wrong and can’t beat her opponent to the low, driven cross.

ON THE BALL

Cissoko’s main role in possession at West Ham is to keep play ticking. Though sometimes her first touch can let her down, particularly when taking a bad pass or a bouncing ball, her short passing is good. She’s able to pass confidently and accurately off her favoured right foot or her weaker left, and she keeps the tempo up, every now and then firing into the feet of a midfielder. It must be mentioned that her composure under pressure is superb. Where others would panic or punt, Cissoko keeps cool and looks for available options.

It’s unclear if Cissoko is tactically instructed not to play over the top and diagonals to the wing-backs, or if this just isn’t something she can pull off. Either way, she doesn’t play long balls — everything she does is along the ground. Every now and then, she will try to play through the lines to the forwards or attacking midfielders. Weakness or not, the most important thing is she doesn’t over-extend herself and try passes she cannot complete.

Cissoko isn’t a playmaking centre-back, like a Wendie Renard or a Leah Williamson. However, she is brilliant at taking space when the opportunity arises, particularly after stepping in to intercept the ball. In these scenarios she can initiate a counter-attack single-handedly, accelerating away from opponents and driving the attack forward herself.

LOOKING TO THE (INTERNATIONAL) FUTURE

Cissoko thrives at the centre of West Ham’s back three in part because the extra centre-back takes away some of the responsibility for winning aerial duels. This is a weakness that might be exacerbated by her playing in a back four, although her anticipation and speed means that she could be ideal for high pressing teams who want to squeeze space. If France choose to press as they did at the 2019 World Cup, Cissoko could be a real help to them.

Of course, France aren’t short of options. Alongside Renard, there’s Aissatou Tounkara, Griedge Mbock and Elisa de Almeida. I would say the closest comparison for Cissoko is with De Almeida, another fast centre-back who has also played right-back and isn’t a specialist in the air. I imagine Cissoko has an opportunity to work her way into Corinne Diacre’s squad as cover for two positions (centre-back and right-back) whilst also giving the option of a back three if and when necessary.