Frenkie de Jong: Believe the hype

This post originally featured on our sister site barcelonaanalysis.com, which provides the most comprehensive tactical analysis from the Spanish giants.

The Dutch production line never sleeps and the latest generation of super talents is the definite proof of that thesis. Although the Netherlands has experienced a couple of setbacks over the years and their success on the international stage has somewhat diminished, their young prodigies are about to set the world ablaze. Frenkie de Jong, a 21-year old midfielder leads the line as he is already approached by most of the biggest European teams who look to secure his signature. If the media is to be believed, Barcelona are (still) in the driving seat as the Catalan capital is the dream destination for this Dutch wunderkind but just who exactly is Frenkie de Jong and what kind of a player is he? Central midfielder? Defensive midfielder? Or even a centre-back?

In this tactical analysis, we will try to determine what some of his strengths and weaknesses are, along with statistics, in order to discover what makes him so special and appealing to almost every titan of the footballing stage.

A man of many talents

Frenkie de Jong is a unique player, what for his talent, skill or confidence in such a young age but mostly because he is one of those footballers who is not tied to a single position on the pitch. At this point, you could put Frenkie anywhere on the field and his one of a kind skillset would probably let him adapt and eventually master his new role. Still, as of this moment, de Jong has been played all over midfield and in the backline for Ajax. Last season, the Dutch titan has preferred two system to all others: 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3. The former is the clear favourite this season, with it being used a large total of 84 % of the time, while the latter was preferred last season with a high percentage of 72. With some of the new players arriving at the club, Frenkie has been tasked to (mostly) occupy the deep-lying positions, either in midfield or all the way in the back. He does thrive on that left side of the pitch, where he is most effective and where he spends most of his time. This season alone, he has been active in five different positions: CB, RCB, DM, LDM, and RDM, with the one of a defensive midfielder (either side) being the most prominent one (61 %, 11 out of 18 games). Overall, his positioning throughout his career can be tracked down to four positions: CB (14 %), DM (20 %), LCM (13 %) and RCM (27 %).

On the ball

Although a player of such potential is bound to join a big(ger) club in the future, Barcelona’s interest, in particular, comes as no surprise at all. Seeing how they do need a long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets, as he is the only clearcut defensive midfielder in the team, and Frenkie being an absolute monster on the ball, this seems to be like a match made in heaven. Funnily enough, de Jong’s most prominent trait is not his passing, even though the Catalan side takes that stat as the most important one. The thing that really stands out when it comes to his skill set is actually his dribbling. Only last season, Frenkie completed 54 out of 58 dribblings which resulted in an unreal rate of 3.12 successful ones per 90 minutes played. When we take a look at his overall career dribbling, it still stays incredibly high at 87.1 % (3.64 per game). Just a side note: Lionel Messi, who is the best dribbler on the planet, sits on 81 % but with a much larger sample of attempted dribbles with 11.45 per game. Still, being compared with Leo when it comes to dribbling is already a huge success. What’s even more encouraging is the fact that he does this everywhere and with more or less the same result. The percentage of successful dribbles remains high up, as can be seen in the chart below.

Stats ca