Rachel Daly: Born to Score, Asked to Do Everything Else

"I've only played striker in three matches this season, and I've scored three goals. That's not a bad return, is it?" Rachel Daly delivers the line with a grin, but the statistic speaks volumes about how the talented forward has been utilized throughout her career.

The Aston Villa attacker has spent nearly ten years winning silverware, claiming Golden Boot honours, and scoring crucial goals — all while being repeatedly deployed in positions far removed from her natural striker role. She was used as a left-back during Euro 2022, operated as a left wing-back at the World Cup, and has featured in deeper midfield positions under manager Natalia Arroyo this season. The same player who netted 22 goals in 22 Women's Super League matches during the 2022-23 campaign — matching the league's all-time single-season scoring record and becoming the first English player to claim the Golden Boot since Ellen White in 2018 — has managed just three goals in 14 appearances this term.

The double-edged sword of adaptability

Daly's professional journey represents every coach's fantasy and every pure striker's frustration. She's filled practically every outfield role imaginable — striker, winger, second striker, wide midfielder, holding midfielder, left wing-back, left-back, and even left-sided centre-back. During her first year at St. John's University in New York, her coach actually positioned her in net during practice sessions. Her response? She scored a hat-trick in her next competitive appearance, helping her team cruise to a 5-0 victory over Fordham.

That cycle continued throughout her professional career. She became Houston Dash's all-time top scorer with 42 NWSL goals and captured both the 2020 Challenge Cup Golden Boot and MVP award — only to spend the entirety of summer 2022 playing left-back as England captured the Euro 2022 championship. The following summer, she scored twice against Italy in the Arnold Clark Cup operating as a centre-forward, then was shifted back to left-back and left wing-back duties for the World Cup, including the final against Spain. When England needed an offensive boost in that championship match while trailing 1-0 at halftime, manager Sarina Wiegman substituted Daly out. Her international career concluded the next spring.

"I used to explain it by saying my athleticism made me effective at left-back," Daly remembers, echoing Wiegman's reasoning. She harbours no resentment about the situation, but she's forthright about what it cost her — constantly tracking back on defensive duties, perpetually switching between club striker and international defender, ping-ponging between different tactical roles. "Don't misunderstand me. There were matches where I struggled defensively, and Spain was definitely one of them."

Her true identity as a finisher

Examining her goals reveals a striker far more technically complete than her reputation as simply a strong header of the ball might suggest. There's the spectacular swiveling left-footed volley against West Ham in November 2023. The clever debut finish against Manchester City in September 2022 — Villa's first-ever WSL goal against the Manchester club — where she intelligently curved her run to stay onside before pouncing on goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck's fumble. The Golden Boot-clinching scramble against Arsenal on the final day of the 2022-23 season, scored while the opposition supporters chanted unprintable remarks about her award.

"That Arsenal goal was vintage me," she reflects. "Before the match, everyone was singing, 'You can shove your Golden Boot up your a--'. I distinctly remember Ruesha Littlejohn leading the chant at me."

While she acknowledges her aerial prowess — and data analytics platform WyScout identifies her best action as a header against Brighton in January — Daly possesses more technical refinement than commonly recognized. She dedicated two summers working with individual skills trainer Dave Copeland Smith in California, focusing relentlessly on finishing from the right flank, developing her left foot, and mastering separation touches. "It was endless repetition of my weaknesses," she explains. "He helped me eliminate those gaps."

Now 34 years old with just one year remaining on her Villa contract, Daly is watching Kirsty Hanson excel in the striker position that initially attracted her to the club — Hanson has registered 11 goals this campaign. Daly has three and hasn't been regularly deployed as a centre-forward under Arroyo's system. Her open-play touches inside the penalty area have dramatically decreased.

She underwent a medical procedure following the Brighton fixture in January and didn't return to action until May. That provides important context, but the positional debate will inevitably follow her into next season.

"I'm only finished when I decide I'm finished," she declares. And when given opportunities at striker, the statistics demonstrate she's nowhere near done. Three appearances as a striker this season. Three goals.