Since Andrew Robertson’s meteoric rise as one of the world’s best left-backs since joining Liverpool in 2017, the position is producing a hotbed of young talent in Scotland. Behind Robertson in the Scottish national team is Kieran Tierney who made his move to the Premier League last summer signing with Arsenal. So arguably, Scotland’s two best players both play in left-back. Adding to this headache is the emergence of an exciting young left-back, Aaron Hickey.
The 17-year-old left-back started in the academy ranks with Hearts. Having impressed in the youth setup, Celtic signed the left-back. Having spent a few years in Celtics academy, Hickey then forced a move back to his boyhood club Hearts in 2018. Since making his move back, the 17-year-old has established himself as a regular in the first team and with each passing appearance, Hickey improves, impresses and excites the Jam Tarts faithful.
Hickey has stood up and been the shinning light amidst Heart’s relegation fight this season. His consistent performances have sparked the interest of some Premier League clubs, as Hickey looks to follow in the same trajectory as Robertson and Tierney. This scout report will provide a tactical analysis of Aaron Hickey’s breakout season at Hearts. Showing how the young left-back has the attributes of an exciting full-back.
Defensive contributions
The first fundamental task at being a full-back is they must excel defensively. Hickey certainly has a good foundation in this area. The young left-back may appear slight but he is tenacious in the tackle being quite active defensively where the Scottish defender faces around 6.9 defensive duels per 90 mins winning 61% of those duels.
While predominately playing at left-back this season, Hickey has shown his versatility by featuring at right-back as well as covering as a centre-back in a back three. What is impressive is that his performance level does not drop from this change in positions and that is a huge testament to his mature character at only 17.
What is striking about the young Hearts full-back is his athleticism namely his pace and his ability to cover a lot of ground which he used to great effect against league leaders Celtic in December. With the quality, Celtic have they can exploit a defence like, Hearts, as shown below. However, Hickey does tremendously well to make up the ground and cover Odsonne Édouard. Unfortunately, the ball breaks to Oliver Ntcham who tucks the ball away. Even though the move ended in a goal against Hearts, Hickey’s desire to get back and cover shows he had the right mentality and application to defend.
Another area that Hickey impresses, despite being only 17, is that he reads the game very well and has great anticipation. The Scottish full-back is a proactive defender which is illustrated in his 4.9 interceptions per 90 minutes. Acquiring this skill so early in his development is really impressive, this is a skill that most players tend to master later on in their careers.
With such great anticipation, the young defender has a great sense of where the danger is and so he prevents certain goals as a result. A great example of Hickey’s great anticipation preventing a certain goal was late in the game against Celtic. The 17-year-old recognises the danger and so he leaves his marker and tucks in marking Édouard. The timing of his sliding challenge is perfect as he blocks the Celtic strikers shot from hitting the back of the net from six yards out.
