Shukurat Oladipo Is Primarily A Centre-Back, Not A Right Back (Fullback)

✳️First of all, let's establish the fact that Shukurat Oladipo is primarily a Centre-back whose primary attributes include serving as the last point of shield for the goalkeeper.

✳️As a CB, Oladipo has properly transitioned from the age-grade and NWFL into Super Falcons and AS Roma where she won the award as the best Centre-back in the Italian League.

✳️Now, so many people confuse being a Centre-back with being a Full-back so let me further clarify:
The primary assignment/attributes of a CB are clearly different from that of a RB, so are their responsibilities.

✳️Whilst a CB is judged by their ability to shield the home front, the modern day RB has added responsibilities in the form of ability to link up play, overlap, pull productive crosss into the dangerous area of opponents, and record fine final third ball impact.

✳️This is why you won't call Ola Aina to come pair Bassey or Onyemaechi to pair Ajayi....their roles aren't the same and it takes  a level of maturity and adaptability for certain players to be able to play both as a CB and FB like Calvin Bassey does.

✳️Back to Shukurat, especially giving she is just transitioning, she must be guided to take on Ohale's place as a Centre-back as that is her primary responsibility. We even need her to start pairing Demehin and that should have happened since the last WAFCON which would have made her more confident and well adjusted ahead of this WAFCON. Using her as a RB when she hasn't integrated into her primary assignment as a CB speaks to confusion on the part of the technical crew.

✳️Maturity, growth, consistency and gradual integration is very crucial when a player is getting to step into big shoes, saddling her with extra responsibility especially in an unfamiliar terrain, also out of her primary position at a sensitive time is a gamble which does not make any football sense.