from what we see in the pilot and based off numbers = positions back in 90s football, we can assume lottie is a centre back.
there's two main types of centre back: ball-playing defenders (bpd) and then your classic centre-back (liberos are included in this but I've already rambled enough about those)
bpd is more modern but has its roots in the traditional 'centre-half'. if you've read my other ramblings, you'll know I've talked a lot about Italian football and shock horror WE'RE BACK! we've talked about the metodo, and centre-halves used to be referred to as metodista's in reference to this formation. bpd has seen a natural sink back into defence with the phasing out of liberos and centre-half midfielders. you'll typically hear people calling centre-backs, centre-halves for this reason. think leah williamson and ruben dias
and while this position has some merit in modern football, I don't believe lottie would be operating in this role if we follow what I said about shauna as that libero with the 1333 formation. i wholeheartedly believe lottie would be a traditional 'if in doubt kick it out' type defender. think prime harry maguire or millie bright
this can be taken two ways: the severe deterioration of her mental health that she doesn't believe in self preservation or the root back to her position
as a centre back i can say this, no one wants to be a centre back. you get thrown there for numerous reasons: tall, can't run, strong, unafraid of hurting themselves or others. we obviously know shes about ten million foot tall and would be the main reason for her being a CB, but I do also believe it is deeply entwined with her mental health and how she views her needs on the pitch and off it.
centre backs focus on defending the goal. especially in the 90s, they rarely had the ball to feet, far more focused on the attacking players and stopping them. lottie would believe that through any means necessary she needs to protect the goal and the girls. I believe shes a very 'body-on-the-line' defender and would risk injury to herself for the betterment of the team.
cb's are often an unsung hero in the team, especially with more traditional football focusing praise on attackers. especially with how much you have to be willing to do whatever necessary to keep a clean sheet. i see this translating to her forcing or endorsing these hunts, watching everyone else attack and try to 'score'. we hadn't seen lottie participate in a hunt until the adult timeline, and I believe she's so deeply rooted in this idea that she can't attack, she has to hang back and just watch like she would during a game.
and still, we see her protecting and defending when she 'warns' mari about the pit, she's assisting her attacking teammates by not fully warning mari, but also defending her teammate by giving her enough of a hand to save herself. in lottie's warped mind, this could be her doing whatever necessary because they need the hunt to survive, and either outcome would be positive for the team.
its also important to note that most centre backs are seen as only good as their partner. and you often see, in modern football, a bpd paired with a traditional strength based cb. in the 90s you would often see two strength based partners, think rio ferdinand and nemanja vidic. and I think we see lottie struggle a lot with individuality, most of the team can be paired off. but lottie doesn't have that concrete person, and I think we see a lot of this struggle in season 3 and with adult lottie the most.
a cb/full back partnership is intensely important to how any formation functions regardless of any tactical decisions. we see lottie have this connection with laura lee, who based on numbers we can assume is the right full back. lottie is almost dependent on this relationship, looking to laura lee for the protection/attention or something else entirely that she needs. and laura lee as a full back has to split her time as equally as she sees fit between attacking and defending. laura lee getting into the plane could be seen as a form of attacking by forcing a change in the state of play and could be another reason as to why lottie is so negative towards the idea of attacking.
lottie places laura lee in this position of importance that laura lee could never fulfil because she has different priorities, needs and importance. laura lee tries to fill in this role and yet even when she does, there's an aspect of lottie that knows its not as concrete as it should be based on the devolution of her character whilst LL is still alive. the death and failure of LL 'attacking' and 'going forward' cements this also
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