Modern central defending has changed.
Centre-backs still must defend their box, win duels, and clear danger.
But most teams nowadays ask them to start the attack in the first phase, to vary their passing, to be comfortable under pressure, and to solve problems with the ball as much as without it.
Under coaches like Pep Guardiola, Julian Nagelsmann, Mikel Arteta, and, most intricately in the Premier League, Roberto De Zerbi, that brief has become the norm rather than the exception.
Jan Paul van Hecke, 25, fits that profile for Brighton.
He has made them cleaner and more purposeful in possession, shaping how they build from the deep and break pressure, while retaining the defensive baseline the position demands.
This Jan Paul van Hecke scout report offers a deep look at how he got here, what he does, where he is improving, and what his skill set adds to Brighton and Hove Albion’s game model.
Jan Paul Van Hecke Background
Brighton signed van Hecke in 2020 with a plan.
He went straight to Heerenveen for senior minutes and then to Blackburn Rovers.
As shown during his time at Blackburn, he demonstrated his on-the-ball qualities.
On many occasions, he was able to skip the middle third and play long diagonals to Ryan Nyambe.
This would lead to high-quality opportunities.
In addition, Jan Paul van Hecke was also a danger in the box during his time at Blackburn and would find himself at the end of set-piece opportunities.
This is also evident in the league this season, with three goals.
As shown against Bournemouth, Jan Paul van Hecke is dominant in the box, winning headers and scoring.
In 2021/2022, he became the first loanee to be named Blackburn’s Player of the Season.
That recognition spoke to presence as much as to metrics.
The 2023/2024 season became his real Brighton breakthrough.
He moved from prospect to first choice, frequently dislodging the long-standing Lewis Dunk–Adam Webster partnership.
By 2024, his performances were rewarded with a Netherlands senior call-up, a big step given the country’s depth at the position with Virgil van Dijk, Micky van de Ven, and Sven Botman among the options.
Jan Paul Van Hecke In Possession
Jan Paul van Hecke is at the centre of Brighton’s first-phase actions.
He averages 70.27 passes per match, placing him among the highest for involvement among his peers.
The shows Van Hecke receiving facing play, then playing a pass straight into Georginio Rutter’s feet.
Rutter returns a bounce for Mats Wieffer, who can now drive/play a pass into the final third.
The entire move is enabled by Jan Paul van Hecke’s initial line-breaking pass into Rutter.
He is always looking for the forward option but also knows how to keep the ball moving to find the spare man.
This is shown by his playing 6.7 progressive passes per 90, but his influence is also seen in the middle and final thirds.
This year alone, he has averaged 7.28 passes into the final third, which places him in the 96th percentile of positional peers.
When Brighton want to play through pressure, he is comfortable threading the interior at precisely the moment a marker opens his hips; when the interior shuts, he is just as comfortable placing the following action where the pressure is thinnest.
Furthermore, he has a good passing range.
When the near side becomes crowded, and the opposition shades their block toward the ball, he shifts play with a diagonal that arrives on time and to his team’s advantage.
Jan Paul van Hecke averages 0.89 switches per 90.
In the league fixture versus Manchester City, Van Hecke recognises João Pedro holding the last line against City and drops a long diagonal into the space just ahead of him.
Far enough to run onto, not so far that Ederson can sweep.
The weight is perfect, letting Pedro take it in stride and accelerate through on goal, while denying the recovering defenders the time and angle to intervene.
Jan Paul van Hecke’s comfort level with the ball also extends to ball carrying.
He is able to carry the ball and recognises space to advance into.
This is to adjust the picture just enough to make the pass inevitable.
He averages 2.17 progressive carries per 90 (98th percentile), which makes him one of the very best at this particular trait.
As a result, he draws 1.11 fouls per game (90th percentile), which is high for a centre-back and a byproduct of how he invites pressure on his terms.
In the video below, Van Hecke receives the ball and appears to look like he is going to pass the ball back to Wieffer.
Instead, he drops his shoulder and carries the ball in between the two West Ham United players.
The carry is usually a half-step across the striker’s path, a feint that tempts a lunge, and a slight separation that opens the lane through a cover shadow.
If the trap arrives a beat early, the foul resets the phase and removes risk.
Jan Paul Van Hecke Out Of Possession
In all eras of the game, the best centre-backs tend to be dominant in the air.
Van Hecke does win a fair share of his aerial duels, winning 61.8%.
For the most part, he is able to judge the flight of the ball and sets early in order to make the first contact.
There is room to improve on this, especially by being more resistant to shoulder contact in the air.
As shown against Arsenal, David Raya launches the ball, and it is contested between Van Hecke and Andre Harriman-Annous.
Van Hecke wins this duel and heads it far enough to lead to a chance for Brighton to move further up the pitch.
When it comes to tackling and engaging with the opposition, Van Heck can be aggressive.
While it is good to show that when engaging in a tackle, the timing is equally important.
There are times when Van Hecke does not read the situation well and ends up lunging into a tackle, or the opposition finds it easy to dribble past him as he has overcommitted.
This is shown where Van Hecke has chosen to dive into a tackle against Harvey Barnes, giving a free kick away in a dangerous position against Newcastle United.
In addition, transition defending remains the area with the most natural room for growth.
He has improved his first steps and recovery angles over the last season and has cut down on individual errors as minutes have accumulated.
Those are refinements that tend to come with experience.
Jan Paul Van Hecke In Fabian Hürzeler Brighton Tactics
What this profile gives Fabian Hürzeler and Brighton is coherence.
The plan is to draw pressure into the basement of the pitch, to escape it without panic, and to arrive higher up with the structure intact so that, if the attack stalls, the counterpressure is already in place.
A centre-back who can play into midfield when the option appears, flip the game to the far touchline when the near side suffocates, or carry just far enough to shift a marker is essential for that plan.
He provides each of those solutions.
This is shown in the images below, where Van Hecke plays a penetrative pass between Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, and John McGinn into Danny Welbeck.
He releases it on Welbeck’s back foot with enough pace to beat the cover shadow, splitting the midfielders’ lane-to-ball angle so neither can recover to press from behind.
Van Hecke can also step toward that left-sided midfield pocket when required; the patterns do not become predictable.
Fabian Hürzeler gains options.
The six can hold his line or drift to release pressure.
Full-backs can stay wide to pin wingers rather than always inverting out of habit.
The exits change without the rest defence becoming weaker.
The smaller details matter, and in van Hecke’s case, they accumulate.
The pass weight that allows a receiver to step onto the ball.
As shown against Sheffield United, Van Hecke looks at his options in possession and could have slipped a pass into Facundo Buonanotte.
Instead, he drives into the open space ahead, reshaping the picture and drawing a defender before releasing a precise pass to João Pedro.
Pedro thrives in these pockets, using tight-space control and ball manipulation to make quick decisions under pressure.
The pass arrives to his feet, he creates a yard, and he finishes.
That carry before the release alters the defensive angles and removes the cover shadow on Pedro’s lane.
The timing of the pass prevents the centre-back from fronting Pedro and preserves the shooting window.
In addition, Van Hecke’s first touch shows pressure but protects the ball, and the second touch opens the passing lane without signalling it.
These are the small acts that turn possession into one of the reasons Brighton tend to have high possession levels.
They are also why Van Hecke’s numbers look the way they do.
High involvement because he is one of the main parts of the phase.
Conclusion
Van Hecke’s rise has been patient and well-coached, and his on‑ball qualities would travel to the highest level.
As he continues to be a mainstay at Brighton, the question is less whether he fits Brighton’s idea of football.
It is more about how much of that idea now relies on what he does with the ball, where he stands without it, and how reliably he can put those two sides of the game together.
