Owen Wijndal — Scout Report
- Age: 22 (D.O.B 28/11/1999)
- Position: LB
- Club: AZ Alkmaar
- Career: Jong AZ, AZ Alkmaar
- Nationality: Dutch
- Preferred foot: Left
- Height: 5 foot 7 inches
- Transfer value: £10.80m
Owen Wijndal is a full Dutch international (11 caps) taking part in their European championship campaign during the summer and has already amassed over 100 appearances at club level for AZ all at the age of 22 years old, whilst also captaining the side on numerous occasions. Already, he has attracted interest from around Europe and is heavily linked with a move to Eredivisie giants Ajax.
He is a dynamic fullback who likes to cover the full length of the pitch and is strong both in and out of possession. So far this season Wijdnal has broken his previous record when is comes to assists by recording 8 in 19 appearances so far this season in the league.
Here we will take a look at what makes Wijndal so good and why there is buzz around the youngster.
Tactical Understanding:
Owen Wijndal is a left back who looks to use the whole length of the field to his advantage. He is not shy to impose himself on the opposition half to find ways to orchestrate attacks.
Below you can seen a heat map from Wijndal from this season and can see firstly the left side of the field is where he likes to operate and the depth he has as well. This is what makes him so dangerous as he likes to make dynamic runs beyond his winger to stretch play.
When in these areas of the field Wijndal is very smart with his movement, helikes to make angled runs off his marker to receive in dangerous pockets near the oppositions penalty area.
In the above image we can see these type of movements in effect. His teammate has come to a crossroads out wide in possession, Wijndal recognises this and makes a clever run off the back of his marker to attack the half space to receive.
Here we can see the ball being played into this area where Wijndal finds a smart cutback to his teammate for an assist and a goal for AZ.
Above again we see Wijndal recognise space in the half space once again between the fullback and centre back and make a darting run to split the defence open to receive in a dangerous area.
Positional awareness is a strong trait which Wijndal possesses, and is something he has shown time and time again. He understands where and how to position himself to ensure the best possible outcome for his side.
Here is another example of Wijndal’s positional and spatial awareness but in a different area of the field. Wijndal recognises the space in a valuable area off the pitch (centre field) and receiving in this high value area.
This demonstrates the tactical awareness and matureness that he already possesses at a very young age which allows him to affect the game in multiple ways. This astute tactical awareness is something that will help Wijndal transition his game to the next level and be able to make the move to higher level of club football.
Technical Ability:
As mentioned above we have seen that Wijndal is capable at recognising areas of the field to move into and when too but what does he do when in them. This is where he also is very strong at using his strong technical ability to find open teammates or clip whipped balls into the area with pinpoint precision. This has been another factor to him totalling 8 assists so far in the Eredivisie this season.
Wijndal averages 3.3 crosses per 90 which compared to elite players like Robertson and Trent who average 3.7 and 4.1 respectively shows the type of player he is when gets into the attacking third. Wijndal also has above 85% pass rate per 90 on the season which shows that he very smart and dangerous with his delivery.
Above we see that Wijndal has found himself in a good location on the pitch through his strong movement and tactical awareness but it is from these positions he is most dangerous. He is able to spot runners from deep and lift the ball into dangerous areas for his attackers to feast on.
Above is another example of the type assists Wijndal excels at. It is from these wide left spaces he likes to size up his opponents before picking out the late runners once again for what is an easy finish.
His deliveries are executed with good control and pace which makes it easy for his teammates and he has an understanding of when to deliver them at the correct time and not aimlessly spam crosses into the area.
Defending:
It’s all well and good looking at his attacking qualities and attacking output what about going the other way?
He plays for a Alkmaar team which boast the 5th best defence in the Eredivisie this season with 25 goals conceded so far in the 21/22 season. AZ average over 11.4 PPDA as well which indicated that they are side which do like to win possession back fairly quickly.
Taking this into account we notice that Wijndal can be caught easily in transition. When watching AZ a lot of counter attacks do originate down the left flank and this is because of the attacking output of Wijndal. This isn’t all his fault however due to the large attacking burden that he does carry.
However though, Wijndal is very good one on one defender. He is calm and collected and doesn’t dive into tackles and stalks his attacker waiting for them to make the first move. He also possesses as we already mentioned great speed. This allows him to make recovery runs and catch up to fast opposition players if he has a lapse in concentration.
Conclusion:
To conclude, Wijndal is very promising young fullback who has all the correct tools to excel in the modern game. He has great physical attributes, complemented by his advanced tactical awareness and his technical brilliance allows him to effect games from left back. He already has a strong understanding of the game which I feel has much more room to grow.
There are many rumours of the young Dutch man being linked to big European clubs which is understandable. His next step should be to be playing regular champions league minuted going into the 2022/23 season. He has great experience for such a young age and with a club like Ajax interested in the youngsters talents should tell you all you need to know about the potential for Wijndal in the years to come.
Thanks for reading :)
Post written by George.
