Jonathan David 2019/20 – scout report

Jonathan David is a 19-year-old forward playing for Gent in the Belgian First Division A. After a string of impressive performances from the Canadian teenager, this scout report will look to provide an insight into the young talent via objective, subjective and tactical analysis. Key contents will include an analysis of David’s background, Gents tactics, his playing style and data-driven comparisons with other players.

Background

Given David is still just 19 years old, his career history thus far is brief. David started as a 10-year-old for Gloucester Dragons in Ottawa, Canada. From there, he stayed in Canada, playing for Ottawa Gloucester Hornets and Ottawa Internationals for the remainder of his youth career. David turned professional as he signed for Belgian First Division team, Gent in 2018.

Given, David’s impressive performances, which will be discussed, it is interesting that Gent secured his signature as a professional, as opposed to an MLS team or another team from Europe. While the circumstances of the move and interest from other teams is unknown, credit is due to Gent’s scouting and recruitment team who identified the player as an emerging talent from a relatively unknown source and committed to signing him.

Since his professional debut at the age of 18, David has scored 16 goals and four assists in 38 appearances for Gent. He has established himself in the first team, far before many would expect given the adaptation and growth needed for a young player turning professional and moving country. When in the first team, he contributed significantly, as highlighted by his numbers, which will be delved into more later in the article.

Jonathan David’s rise in domestic competition has coincided with the rise of his international career, again highlighting the player as an exciting prospect. The attacker played three times for the under 17’s, scoring two goals, and twice for the under 23’s with no return. His call up to the senior squad in 2018 matched his professional signing and his best run of international form. To date, the Canadian has scored 11 goals in 10 appearances for the national team.

His role at Gent

Given his output of 16 goals in 38 appearances, one would assume that the player is a natural striker, however, David is an attacker who operates behind a central striker or striking partnership. Given his role and his output, he could also be termed a shadow striker. This is illustrated with Gent’s average formation below. Gent utilised a 4-2-3-1 system frequently, with alternatives including a 4-3-1-2 or 4-4-1-1, all supporting the use of David in the hole or number ’10’ role behind a striker(s).

18/19 season

By taking a look at the breakdown of Jonathan David on the 18/19 season, his first full season at Gent, we can see that his main contribution in terms of output is his goals. These stats will be presented in isolation in order to determine David’s playing style. Comparisons and rankings with alternative Belgian First Division A players will add more context later.

The player has sco