Rhys Healey 2021/22 scout report: ‘Our Jamie Vardy’ – Connah’s Quay kid turned Toulouse talisman

In a recent interview with The Mirror, Toulouse forward Rhys Healey (180cm/5’10”, 72kg/158lbs) explained “it was a dream come true” for him when he replaced former Manchester City, West Ham United and Liverpool attacker Craig Bellamy to make his EPL debut for Cardiff City in the final day of the Welsh club’s unsuccessful 2013/14 campaign. The right-footed Manchester-born attacker would have to wait until the 2018/19 season to appear once more in the English Premier League, with Healey making a total of just three appearances for Neil Warnock’s side that term.

While Healey was seemingly deemed below par for Warnock’s first-team plans in 2018/19, the then-Cardiff boss did speak fondly about the Englishman who moved to the Cardiff City Stadium from Connah’s Quay in Wales’ second-tier back in January 2013, dubbing the forward: “a little rash because he never leaves defenders alone” and declaring that Healey’s “honesty will make him a good living” in football.

Warnock’s ‘little rash’ left Cardiff permanently to join MK Dons in 2019, having spent part of the 2018/19 campaign on loan at Stadium MK, and since then, his career has gone from strength to strength. He scored 11 goals in 19 games for MK Dons in 2019/20, playing a key role in helping his side to secure a 19th-place finish and avoid relegation that term. In the summer of 2020, Healey then secured a move to Toulouse, who had been relegated from Ligue 1 at the end of 2019/20, with the ex-Connah’s Quay man being recruited to boost Toulouse’s bid for an immediate return to the top-flight.

Though a strong Toulouse side failed to earn promotion to Ligue 1 last season, Healey made a good impression on Les Violets’ supporters by scoring 14 goals — ending the season as Ligue 2’s joint-fourth highest goalscorer — earning the affectionate moniker: “our Jamie Vardy” from Toulouse, and French football, fans. Regardless of whether or not Healey prefers this nickname to the one Warnock bestowed onto him, Les Violets’ Jamie Vardy hasn’t let the adulation go to his head, as he’s started the 2021/22 season in fine form, scoring seven goals in his first 14 appearances this term, making him Ligue 2’s joint-second highest scorer, at present.

This tactical analysis and scout report aims to highlight the Connah’s Quay academy product’s greatest strengths, looking at his role within Philippe Montanier’s strategy and tactics at Stadium TFC and how it’s suited to the 26-year-old’s best qualities. I aim to highlight both what Healey is, through analysis of what he brings to the table, and what he isn’t, by looking at some deficiencies and potential areas of improvement within his game.

The striker could be regarded as a late bloomer bursting onto the scene in France’s second-tier or as an asset who’s just now accentuating his best assets while masking his weaknesses to great effect thanks to his role under Montanier. Either way, with just over 18 months on the 26-year-old’s Toulouse contract, I feel that Healey is one that clubs of a higher stature — particularly in his native Britain — should be keeping tabs on, as if the striker decides he wants to leave France at the end of his current run with Toulouse, he could represent a shrewd bit of business for, say, a second-tier English club.

Offensive positioning and movement

I’ll kick off this scout report by looking at Healey’s offensive positioning and movement — which are key aspects of his game that are very important to be aware of in order to develop an understanding of his overall game as a striker.

In the last calendar year, Healey’s scored more goals (21) than any other player in France’s second-tier. Additionally, he’s generated the best xG (19.46 — which he’s overperforming) of any Ligue 2 player. While, as mentioned previously, Healey is currently the second-highest scorer in Ligue 2 with seven goals, he’s also got the highest xG in the league this term (6.86).

These numbers don’t just tell us about his prolific nature in front of goal — they also tell us about the quality of chances he’s enjoying and his efficiency at converting chances over the past year. Healey also outperformed his xG by a considerable amount during the 2019/20 season at MK Dons and this consistent overperformance effectively paints the picture of a pretty efficient finisher. His relatively high (for a Ligue 2 striker) 15.909% conversion rate further backs this up.

When Healey plays, Toulouse’s main aim in attack is essentially to get the ball to the Englishman in high-value positions where he can use his impressive finishing ability to great effect. Les Violets are very good at doing this, hence why Healey has taken the third-most shots (3.27 per 90) of any Ligue 2 striker this term and why he’s scoring so many goals right now.

Healey’s positioning and movement plays an important role in this strategy. It’s not just on his teammates to build the attack and lay chances on a plate for him — he also needs to create space for himself and position himself well, in those previously mentioned high-value areas, to receive the ball and be able to finish quickly. His role in the side requires a good understanding with his teammates and intelligence in terms of what he does on the ball (which is usually in the box) and off the ball.

Healey doesn’t tend to get heavily involved in the attack, on the ball, outside of finishing chances. Even when his team has progressed into the final third, Healey doesn’t get heavily involved in the play. His primary role during this phase is to create space for himself and get in a good, high-value goalscoring position — not link up with teammates.

Figure 1 shows an example of Toulouse in the ball progression phase of play, with Les Violets looking to build into the opposition’s half, while the opposition are sitting in a mid-block, with a well-organised backline sitting just beyond the centre-circle. Joining Auxerre’s back-four here, in the very middle, is Rhys Healey, who we see taking up a very typical position for him during this stage of an attack.

Whereas you’ll find some forwards dropping off to exploit space in between the lines and receive the ball to feet in this phase and you’ll find some forwards backing into a defender to use their body to hold up the ball in this phase, Healey looks to get between defenders. He aims to enjoy some freedom, with no one particular defender picking him up, by getting between the defenders with a fairly similar distance between him and each defender. This can create some uncertainty over who’s man he should be.