Barcelona”Frenkie de Jong is in his element prime“. With this anglicism – which is fashionable and which, applied to people, is used to say that someone is going through a moment of glory–, Barça promoted the Dutch midfielder this Monday on the X social network. With another anglicism, in this case that of MVP (most valuable player), was recognized by the League as the most valuable player of the suffered triumph (1-2) at Sadar. But, despite De Jong garnering praise, Xavi Hernández believes he still needs to improve in some aspects.
On the offensive side, the ex-Ajax man rubbed the goal with a shot at the post when the match had just started and was the author of the assist to Lewandowski that ended with the Pole causing the penalty for the victory He has also taken more risks on the ball after the departure of Busquets to Inter Miami. The formula that the coach opts for to squeeze the Dutchman’s potential is to place a defender like Oriol Romeu next to him.
“We found him the place. Now he has more freedom, without the need to guard the position as much as he likes: go to receive where the ball is, make drives… He is in a great moment. Physically he is a beast and he feels confident,” they told the ARA from the dressing room. From the Ciutat Esportiva, where the triumph achieved against Osasuna was highly valued because it is considered a feud where “all the teams will suffer”, the desire to improve of the 21 Blaugrana also stands out. “He is the first to self-criticize and to be aware of where he can improve.”
In front of the Navarrese team, a constant thorn in the side of pressure, De Jong was the footballer who came into contact with the ball the most times, with 125 interventions, according to TdT data. To put that into context, Busquets often hovered around 100 tackles per game, especially against close and defensively-minded opponents like Osasuna. However, making a lot of contact with the ball is not enough. It is also necessary to be right and, above all, to be transcendent. De Jong was with the assist prior to Lewandowski’s decisive penalty. But Xavi – and the team needs it – wants more and it is necessary to connect the Dutchman with Gündogan much more, to take advantage of the talent of both.
Regarding the pass, Frenkie was the player – from Barça and from the whole match – who made the most (107 of a total of 586 from the whole team that reached the goal). Kounde, who is making a remarkable start to the season, was second, with 86. That de Jong is more of a protagonist than Romeu in the ball exit is also evidenced by the numbers: Ulldecona distributed 60 accurate passes. It should also be noted that Romeu was substituted in the 80th minute and Frenkie played the whole match. The difference in roles between the two is also obvious. In terms of passing accuracy, the Dutchman achieved 93% effectiveness (107 successful passes out of 115 attempts).
In fact, his reliability and his ability to break lines through drives – not always profitable for the team – explain why Xavi decided to place him centrally against Cadiz in Montjuïc. “We were looking to take more risks. He is one of the best players we have, fixing and dividing. Breaking lines. We ask the central players to be more daring and to participate in the game from the inside,” explained the coach at the time. This daring is also very much asked of Christensen. And it is in one of the facets in which Eric Garcia stands out the most, that, precisely, after seeing how De Jong passed him as a central against Cadiz, he ended up seeing his departure clear.
De Jong, a discreet leader whom Xavi wants to change the way he defends
Behind his reserved and shy nature, De Jong increasingly feels like the leader of a dressing room where he arrived in the summer of 2019, after being awarded as the best midfielder in the Champions League that edition. The European semi-finalist with Ajax has experienced a long process of adaptation to Barça, where the various changes of coach have not ended in his favor either. He is a footballer from whom more is still expected.
Although Xavi is very satisfied with the role of a player that Barça tried to transfer to Manchester United last year – he has one of the highest fees in the squad -, he also believes that he has things to improve in defence. In fact, according to ARA, before the match against Osasuna, the coaches prepared a specific video focusing on these issues that he must develop as a pivot. “He has always been very used to marking the man. This is what he did both with Van Gaal in the national team and with Koeman,” they argue from the dressing room.
In other words, De Jong has a habit “of chasing players who they bite into space and lose his position in the double pivot”. Instead of coming out to press, he often has a habit of falling back and positioning himself next to the centre-backs, which allows opponents to push forward more comfortable and leaves Romeu more alone in the pressure.This is the main cardinal sin that the coaching staff trust that the Dutchman will end up correcting.
Against Osasuna, this became evident in several actions, in which, faced with drives from the rival midfielders – especially Aimar Oroz –, he ended up chasing the rival midfielder who took the clearance to the position of the central players. And, indirectly, it forced the entire defensive line to retreat.
All in all, De Jong goes through a sweet moment. He is the third captain, behind Sergi Roberto and Marc-André ter Stegen, and ahead of Ronald Araujo, established as the natural leader of the youngsters in the house. In the dressing room, Frenkie is part of the northern clan, headed by Lewandowski and which has meant a change of guard since the departure of Leo Messi and other sacred cows.
2023-09-04 19:40:28
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