As we enter the second half of the Premier League season, one of the most exciting outfits thus far has certainly been Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth side.
The Cherries are currently in a lofty seventh place, having recently achieved a club-record eight-match unbeaten run at the highest level.
Whilst they have a wealth of exciting talent across the pitch, one of the key standouts has been one of their youthful summer signings, which they may not have expected to make such an impact at this early stage of his Bournemouth career.
Dean Huijsen is a name on many people’s lips.
The Amsterdam-born Spanish defender has provided some quality performances when deputising for the injured Marcos Senesi.
Having signed from Roma this past summer for around £15 million, Huijsen’s unique build and play style have perfectly matched Iraola’s chaotic and expressive Bournemouth outfit.
At just 19 years old, Huijsen’s defensive maturity and overall composure have caught the eye of major teams across Europe, with the likes of Real Madrid already looking towards the future for a complete central defender to add to their ranks.
With discussions around a senior international call-up on the cards under Luis de la Fuente, our scout report and analysis will begin to highlight why Huijsen has been so impressive in Iraola’s system.
Dean Huijsen Ball-Playing Tendencies
Huijsen has adapted nicely to this excelling Bournemouth system, and his talents are exhibited when his sides are looking to advance the ball from their own third.
The young Spaniard certainly fits the bill of the modern ‘ball-playing defender’, with the confidence to evade pressure and match his manager’s preferred method of ball progression.
Bournemouth’s chaotic and energy-driven build-up play under Iraola has been characterised by an intent to be incredibly direct, moving the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible and at the earliest opportunity.
For this reason, Huijsen has recorded an impressive 4.79 progressive passes and 6.41 long passes per 90 this season, placing him within the 84th and 93rd percentiles, respectively, for Premier League central defenders.
Huijsen’s long passing ability is not just an example of his impressive range; it also highlights what would appear to be his ideal method of progression, which Bournemouth have utilised to control possession in more advanced areas of the pitch quickly.
Huijsen’s positioning in the early stages of build-up often resembles that of a quarterback in American football, especially when facing sides that prefer to press high and intently.
He has been known to drop slightly deeper alongside Zabarnyi to increase his field of vision and assess short-to-medium-range passing options to relieve pressure.
However, he can also target the final third to instigate important attacking sequences quickly when stepping forward.
This was evident in Bournemouth’s resounding win against Manchester United, where we see Huijsen advancing through the left channel before clipping a ball through to Dango Ouattara along the left flank.
These passes into the final third spark important transitional attacks for Bournemouth, catching the Manchester United defenders off guard.
Ouattara can take the ball in stride and deliver it into the box, where Evanilson has split Maguire and Martinez.
It must be mentioned that Huijsen’s proficiency with both feet is a key reason why he is so dangerous when playing out from the back.
Being deployed on the left side of Bournemouth’s defensive line, Huijsen’s competence when using his right foot was imperative to finding Ouattara on the left wing.
Ugarte’s defensive positioning initially blocked the optimal passing lane for a left-footed ball player.
The introduction of Huijsen has seemingly had a positive impact on some of Bournemouth’s key creative figures so far this season, especially when forming a partnership with Milos Kerkez on the left-hand side.
Huijsen’s defensive strengths have allowed him to slide across and cover more space between the central area and the flank.
This has allowed Kerkez to adopt a more advanced attacking position, where he can interact closely with Bournemouth’s midfield and attack.
Against Everton, this allowed Huijsen to pick out Kerkez high on the left flank with a line-breaking long ball.
This completely bypassed Everton’s passive press, forcing Young to slide across and engage in an aerial duel with the Hungarian.
Bournemouth’s key element is how this commitment to throwing players forward can result in some rapid and well-designed attacking moves.
Kerkez can then knock the ball down into the path of Ouattara, who can affect the left half-space.
Their ability to further unsettle the Everton defence only results in a wide range of passing options when breaking into the box.
Kerkez’s underlapping run further highlights how Bournemouth are effective in creating defensive confusion.
Now, Huijsen is far from the finished product and still incredibly raw, with only 84.1% overall pass completion.
Still, his distribution has already emerged as an important feature that Iraola can rely on as we enter the second half of the season.
Dean Huijsen Progressive Carries
When faced with opposition pressure, Huijsen has shown impressive passing range.
He can also advance the ball directly, aiming to drive into opposition territory.
This element of his game was much more prominent during his spell with Roma.
The Spaniard drove from his own half against Frosinone, gliding past multiple opposition defenders before striking past the keeper from the edge of the box.
While the goal-ending carries have not arrived yet, we see how Huijsen can drive the ball forward to support Bournemouth’s ideology of operating at a greater positional depth.
In fact, Huijsen currently touches the majority of his balls within the middle third of the pitch (36.04 per 90), enabling him to achieve 1.32 progressive carries per match (93rd percentile).
We saw how this translated into some offensive pressure away at Old Trafford.
Huijsen took advantage of Bruno Fernandes’ relaxed defensive nature by driving into the heart of the Manchester United half.
With Kobbie Mainoo having to cover immense ground to slide across and deter Huijsen, the Spaniard could effectively pick out either the overlapping run of Kerkez or even slide the pass-through to Ouattara, further bolstering Bournemouth’s threat from the wide positions.
Dean Huijsen Defensive Duels
When observing some of the more traditional aspects of Huijsen’s central defensive role, it is clear that he flourishes much more when partnered with a secure ball-winner like Zabarnyi.
Knowing that the Ukrainian defender can offer substantial defensive support, Huijsen is free to be proactive and look to eliminate opposition progression as soon as the ball breaks through the midfield line.
In these instances, we start to see that whilst Huijsen has taken to the Premier League extremely well, there are still clear signs of weakness that can be improved over time.
The first example is his defensive positioning against Ipswich.
We see how Huijsen was proactive in his approach and stepped forward to intercept within the middle third.
This only adds to Bournemouth’s ability to generate high turnovers and quickly fire their forward players into counterattacking scenarios, taking advantage of a misaligned defensive structure.
In their match against Crystal Palace, we saw Huijsen once again being proactive and aiming to neutralise Mateta’s physical presence through the central area of the pitch, shepherding the forward towards Bournemouth’s midfield support.
However, the crucial moment for Huijsen was his inability to read play quickly enough and return to a more solidified defensive position as the play continued, allowing Sarr to receive in space between the lines and the Spaniard forced into a cynical foul.
These are the moments in which Huijsen’s age and relative inexperience at the top level really come to light, especially when having to deputise in a much wider defensive position.
With Kerkez caught high up the pitch in transition, Huijsen has looked to slide across and provide more defensive support as a left-back.
However, this often results in an increased number of opposition crosses and opportunities to break into the final third.
Huijsen’s saving grace is his mobility, which is an incredibly useful asset when defending against counterattacks.
He was able to reposition himself to complete a timely challenge on Dominic Solanke when Tottenham looked to break quickly.
With potential defensive weaknesses appearing to be relatively non-detrimental, Huijsen’s mobility should perhaps be praised as an example of his positional intelligence and ability to recognise moments where Bournemouth’s defensive setup can be exploited.
This was evident in their match against Brentford, where Bournemouth’s overload on the right flank was quickly bypassed as play was directed towards Nørgaard through the middle.
With Lewis Cook dropping deeper to create a 3v2 against Brentford’s most dangerous attacking outlets in Mbuemo and Wissa, Huijsen recognised the opportunity to spring forward into midfield and deny Nørgaard the time and space to carry forward and launch a controlled attack.
Instead, the Dane could only cede possession with an inaccurate flick-on, further emphasising Huijsen’s ability to affect play across the pitch with his proactive defensive style.
Dean Huijsen Aerial Strength
Standing at around 6’5”, it may come as little surprise to mention that Huijsen is excellent through the air at both ends of the pitch.
In the Premier League this season, Huijsen ranks within the 88th percentile for aerial duels won, completing around 3.05 successful aerial duels per match.
In this example against West Ham, Huijsen uses his vertical superiority to cut out play as soon as possible, rising above everyone to direct the long ball back into the opposition’s third.
Whilst Huijsen doesn’t necessarily stand out as the most physically strong central defender, he is able to utilise his tall frame to compete against the league’s most prominent true number 9s.
On the offensive side of the ball, Huijsen’s attacking influence has been on display consistently for Bournemouth, who often look to target the young defender from opportunistic set-piece opportunities.
In fact, Huijsen’s direct goalscoring ability has resulted in crucial headed goals on the way to huge wins against both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Whilst the attacking metrics of a central defender might not be the most impactful set of statistics, Huijsen is currently generating a league-leading 2.24 shot-creating actions across players in his position.
He also leads the way with an impressive combination of 0.22 non-penalty expected goals and expected assists, further underlining Huijsen’s presence within the opposition’s penalty area.
Conclusion
Huijsen has grabbed the opportunity to regularly start in the Premier League with both hands, and Bournemouth are beginning to see the benefits associated with his cool and composed presence.
It has been great to see how he has grown in confidence when securing regular play time, allowing his progressive and direct passing play to emerge more and more.
Despite attracting the interest of huge clubs around Europe, Huijsen’s present opportunity to learn under Iraola within a truly exciting and eye-catching Bournemouth side is probably the best position for him as he continues to familiarise himself with the physical demands of the Premier League.
He is definitely a name to watch out for as 2025 progresses, as the 19-year-old aims to help guide the Cherries towards a heavily-contested European berth.
