Apparently, there are some people who can’t see the value of our number 6, Frenkie de Jong.
A player who’s reputation preceded him when he was still at Willem II and rejected offers from Feyenoord, PSV and Ajax throughout his youth.
He made the switch at a relatively old age (19) to Ajax, where he quickly established himself as a top talent, next to players like Mathijs de Ligt and Abdelhak Nouri. His football twin Nouri would never make it to the top as a result of a tragic brain aneurysm, as we all know.
All the pundits, experts and analysts agreed: this lad has something special and his elegant dribbling got him some early comparisons with a certain Johan Cruyff.
Frenkie’s best position on the pitch is not the false striker role, like JC, but the 6 position, in the heart of the engine room.
He impressed in the CL with Ajax and won trophies, he quickly became a firm starter in Oranje and made a big money move to Barcelona, the club of his dreams, while receiving applause from many a coach and player on the globe.
Bringer of the ball
Criticasters increasingly lament his walking with the ball and his mailman style of “bringing the ball”.
The legendary Marco van Basten said it after the Finland game “I find him to be wanting in the foreward pass department. He doesn’t accelerate the game.” Strange, because statistically, Frenkie plays the ball into the final third most of all players.
Ruud Gullit added: “He doesn’t score or assist enough. A midfielder needs to have direct goal involvement, at least 10 per season.” Gullit forgets that the other famous 6 at Barcelona – Busquets – hardly scored or assisted, but is seen as one of the best midfielders ever.
Frenkie himself explained his playing style in an interview with El Pais: “I think my game is not easy to judge, as I don’t score goals or give many assists. People are focused on stats these days and I don’t do well in those two stats.
And I keep the ball in my possession longer than most players. I don’t always play the one or two touch game. Sometimes, but not always.” Frenkie explains that slowing the game down is the idea.
“When I am the free man and I have the ball, why would I pass? My team mate won’t be free and open. Why would I play the ball to a marked team mate? Sure, if it’s Lamal or Messi, I can do this but when I am the free man, I need to lure the opponent towards me so another player gets the freedom.
When I am free and play the ball to the side, to the full back, I actually give him a problem. And yes, people will say “oh he accelerates the game nicely” but I don’t agree. It’s not about quick passing, it’s about quick thinking.”
This example against Finland for instance.
Frenkie has the ball but uses seconds before he passes to the left. A simple square ball to Van de Ven. Why not quicker?
Yes, it can be done quicker, but now, Frenkie lures two players towards him. The right mid also squeezes towards Frenkie opening up the pass line to Cody Gakpo. Van de Ven finds Gakpo who has time and space to cross a dangerous ball in. All due to Frenkie’s “slow pace”.
Or take this example.
Frenkie could play the quick ball to Dumfries on the right, but he is half marked. De Jong pushing forward with the ball towards the left back and the defender needs to step out and squeeze leaving a huge gap for Dumfries to run into.
“When I am the free man, my role is to get the opponent to press me so another player in our team gets freedom. As Frenkie took out a midfielder and the left back – with his pass – Dumfries crosses the ball into Memphis who has the freedom to score.
Frenkie’s pace is determined by the opponent. When an opponent parks the bus, the classic logic is to play quicker. Not Frenkie. He starts walking to see when and if an opponent loses patience and tries to attack Frenkie with the ball. That is what he’s waiting for.
Take this situation versus Poland’s 5-4-1. Frenkie has the ball and he’s pretty open. He will dribble forward – like a mailman, yes – until one of the defensive mids of Poland makes an attempt to stop him.
And thus he creates space for Memphis who finds the free space in between the lines and is open to receive the pass.
Whenever Frenkie gets the ball when marked, he will immediately play the one-touch ball to diminish the risk of losing possession.
It’s not the goals or assists stats that tell Frenkie’s story. The forward passes do. Only four players in Europe play more successful forward passes in the final third: Pedri, Sander Berge, Oscar Gloukh and Martin Odegaard.
To the left is ” with Frenkie” and the right is “without Frenkie”. The rest will be quite obvious in terms of what it means.
These Oranje stats tells you the story, with a higher goal average with Frenkie and significantly more progressive passing with him in the team, than without.
This is why he plays like a mailman, more about the story of who is Frenkie here.
This post was inspired by the amazing VI Pro site (Pieter Zwart, thank you)
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