Jordan James, The Shining Cymru Star – Scout Report 101
Jordan James, a young Welshman currently playing under the legendary Manchester United star Wayne Rooney at Birmingham City FC has put performances on display that have brought him on the radar of many top clubs around England reportedly, Leicester City is eyeing a move to get his services. This article thoroughly evaluates Jordan James’s profile and performances to unveil his strengths, weaknesses, and potential contributions wherever he chooses to play in the future.
Understanding Jordan James’s Profile.
Jordan James plays as right central midfielder (RCM) at Birmingham City FC, which averages a 43.7% possession per game in the Championship this season which means they lack control and dictation of games regularly, which can explain the low amount of chance creation ranking as compared to other midfielders in the league. The possession stat discussed is to understand the context of analyzing the data and visuals in judging James. Now, that we understand the play style of the Blues, it would be easy for you to grasp the potential and the analysis of the young Welshman.
It can also be seen from the visual that even though being decently involved in defensive activities, James is an important contributor in progression and most importantly in attacking aspects, his “shooting” rankings are very impressive for a player with such decent rankings on defensive actions, which does tell us about his versatility and work ethic to give the absolute best on the pitch. However, one thing that does need improvements in his game style is creativity, which is essential for a modern-day CM to have in his arsenal, even though Rooney’s side does not see so much of the ball, I would still want a player with such good shooting capabilities to have a slightly better cut-throat passing ability.
Physical Attributes.
Jordan James is gifted with excellent physical traits that can help him become a Premier League central midfielder, the Welshman is 190cm tall, allowing him to have the ability to win duels and scruffy balls in the middle of the park. A decently built upper body and longer limbs allow him to deal with awkward balls which are so frequent in the middle, such physical advantages in general make James a more natural duel winner and interceptor. Towering at 1.9 meters, he also provides a presence in the box as an attacking outlet and a defensive guard, be it for set-pieces or making late runs into the opposition box.
Technical Ability.
As previously also mentioned James operates as a RCM under Rooney’s Blues, but his heatmap further clarifies his positioning and areas of operations as a player.
It can be seen that he plays his part as a box-to-box midfielder pretty well, occupying the right side dominantly. James has scored 5 goals this season which highlights his acumen to make intelligent runs into the box from midfield and find spaces to score goals for his teams, his shots on target KPI further firms this analysis of him finding optimal spaces to test the keeper. He also has a very good ability to glide past players and make progressive runs with the ball, and his continuous complete coverage of the right side of the pitch does indicate James has that engine in him.
This is a visual that portrays the passing of Jordan James this season, passing can be considered as the most important aspect of a midfielder, especially an RCM. It can be seen that he has a decent passing range and has played pretty illustrious cross-field balls shifting flanks, which I think is again a very important weapon to have in the arsenal. Although these traits might appear basic, executing them consistently at the highest level is what distinguishes the best from the rest.
Conclusion – Discussing Weakness and Room for Improvements.
Weaknesses:
- Long Passes: As seen from the visual, most of the unsuccessful passes are long passes, which are a quite critical aspect of a central midfielder’s game, James must lift his long pass completion rate which is about 60% at the moment (EFL Championship 23-24).
- Creativity: James also needs to work on his creation with the ball for the attackers to work with, his creation numbers also need to surge, and working on it would benefit him a lot in becoming a complete midfielder.
Concluding Note:
Jordan James is only 19 years old and has already won Birmingham City FC’s Player of the Year once thanks to his brilliant display of performances, he is also now being lauded as the most talented player in the Blues squad at the moment and the interest from various clubs is a testament to his talent and hard work. Although there are some weaknesses in his game which is to be fair expected from such a young player and due to his age, his profile and attributes are only going to go up with proper development, there is no doubt that he is a youngster to watch out for.
With his physicality paired with a few technical tweaks to his game, he would be a joy to watch battle on the biggest of stages.
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Great article!