With Owen Wijndal leaving AZ in 2022, it was a big question of who would step up to the plate and make an impact for AZ, as they were continuing to develop. And someone did: Milos Kerkez became a sensation both in the Eredivisie and in the Conference League. This saw him getting his transfer to AFC Bournemouth.

In this article, I analyse his performances in the 2022/2023 Eredivisie where I focus on data and video. The data and video has been collected on July 25th, 2023, and comes from Wyscout. The event data comes from Opta.

Contents

1. Biography
2. Seasonal stats
3. Ball progression
4. Key passing
5. Dribbles
6. Shooting
7. Final thoughts

Biography

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• Name: Milos Kerkez
• Date of birth: 07–11–2003
• Nationality: Hungarian
• Position: Left-back
• Current club: Bournemouth
• Previous clubs: Rapid Wien(Y), Hodmez (Y), Gyor (Y), Milan (Y), AZ
• International: Hungary (8 games)

Kerkez is a very attacking-minded full-back who played on the left side for AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie. He loves to progress in the wide areas and interact with both the winger and the strikers, in order to create more goalscoring threats through his progression on the ball.

He has a good ball-striking ability and always tries to come in a situation to either provide a key pass or shoot himself. His crosses are of a high quality and that has provided fruitful, as he was often involved in the attacking phases of the game.

In terms of defending, he definitely needs to learn more. Especially, now he went to Bournemouth and isn’t one of the dominant teams — he will need to improve in defensive action and defensive cover.

The data visuals and video below will show what Kerkez is capable of.

Seasonal stats

In the image above you can see the percentile rank radar of Milos Kerkez and the distribution, based on his defensive data profile. This is in comparison with his peers during the Eredivisie season in the same position. He scores in the high average on most metrics, but as you can see he needs to work on his progressive passing, his interceptions, and his shot-blocking.

In the images above you can see the attacking data profile of Milos Kerkez compared to his peers in the Eredivisie. As you can see he scores high in successful dribbles, touches in the box, aerial wins, non-penalty goals, and expected goals. This gives an indication that Kerkez is a very attacking-minded left-back and that his key qualities lie in that area.

This data does explain a bit about his overall scores in comparison to his peers, but how and where does he make these actions? I will attempt to illustrate that below.

Defensive actions

Kerkez seems to be doing not so great in the defensive metrics compared to his peers, but he does have defensive actions of course. So where does he conduct these defensive actions?

In the visual above you can see where Kerkez conducts his defensive actions, and we can see that his ball recoveries and interceptions are mostly on the own half with a tendency to go into the half-spaces. His tackles, however, are wider and focused close to the line and are spread out more in the defensive third, and middle third.

So how high does he score when looking at the defenders in the league? You can see that in the scatterplot below.

But how does he defend? We have seen where he defends, but what do successful defensive actions look like?

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In the video above you see a compilation of his defensive actions with AZ in several games against top sides. They showcase his ball recovering ability, and how complex (or not) these are.

Ball progression

The modern fullback isn’t only concerned with defending and producing defensive actions — but he/she also needs to be comfortable on the ball and progress play from it.

In the scatterplot above you can see the progressive metrics of progressive passes per 90 and progressive runs per 90. Kerkez does pretty well here as he scores above average in progressive runs, but under average in progressive passes per 90.

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Ball progression can have via different aspects of the game, but I wanted to look at his abilities on the long ball. He can use it to connect with the attacking third or to get out the press of the opposition.

Kerkez uses these balls to progress the play, sometimes to beat the press and sometimes just as a link-up option, but he uses the long balls to progress play on the same flanks.

Key passes

Every player makes passes in a game, but which passes actively contribute to the progression and construction of an attack? You can see some of these metrics in the beeswarmplot below.

As you can see in the graph above, Kerkez scores high in most metrics, and this is compared to all players in the Eredivisie with at least 900 minutes played. Especially his key passes per 90 and the passes to the penalty area per 90.

What’s interesting is how he makes through passes. He scores in the high average, but the intent of his through passes does tell a lot about how he can help in an attack.

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Dribbles

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Kerkez is known to get forward a lot and into the wide areas of the final third. He is quick, agile, and knows how to beat his direct opponent in a 1v1, but also carries the ball into the half-space to orchestrate play from there.

Shooting

In the shot map above you can see where Kerkez has conducted his shots in the 2022/2023 Eredivisie season. He had 25 shots of which 3 went in goal. He generated a total xG of 2,52 — the latter meaning that he is overperforming with +0,48.

Apart from shooting in the box, he loves to shoot from zone 14 and left from that zone — as that is the zone where comes frequently and tries to shoot from a distance. But most shots come from inside the penalty area, just like where he scored his goals.

Final thoughts

In this data-heavy article, we have looked at some of his key qualities on the ball and it’s quite evident that he was one of the best in the Eredivisie when it comes to how he attacks. His passing game and attacking tendencies were one of the best, but his defensive qualities in terms of tackling, ball recovering, and interceptions — can definitely be improved. If he does that, he might be a successful player on Premier League level.

Tijjani Reijnders has been of the revelations of the Eredivisie 22/23 season and as one the best players too. The AZ midfielder has shown how well he can do in a strong AZ team, that performed great at times — both domestically as also in the Conference League.

There have been rumors and everything but confirmation that the midfielder will sign with Milan in Serie A.

We will use data to illustrate how Reijnders has done in the Eredivisie 2022/2023 and we will focus on the winger position on the right flank. It’s interesting to look into this profile, as he is quite particular in his attacking actions.

Contents

1. Biography
2. Seasonal stats
3. Positions/roles
4. Defensive actions
5. Ball progression
6. Dribbling
7. Key passing
8. Assisting
9. Shooting
10. Final thoughts

Biography

• Name: Tijjani Reijnders
• Date of birth: 29–07–1998
• Nationality: Dutch
• Position: Central midfielder, defensive midfielder
• Contract expires: 30–07–2026
• Current club: AZ (close to signing for Milan)
• Previous clubs: PEC Zwolle (Y), FC Twente (Y), CSV’ 28 (Y), PEC Zwolle (Y), AZ (Y), RKC Waalwijk (L), AZ
• Current international: Netherlands U21

Tijjani Reijnders’ versatility is one of his most notable traits. He is primarily a midfielder but has the versatility to play in a number of midfield positions, including as an attacking winger. This versatility not only demonstrates his adaptability but also makes him an asset to any team because he can successfully contribute to various playing styles and tactical setups.

Because of his exceptional technical skill, Reijnders is highly regarded. He can control the pace of the game from midfield thanks to his exceptional ball control, dribbling, and passing abilities. He is a creative force on the field because of his adept ball distribution and capacity to pierce defenses with incisive through passes.

Furthermore, he can easily evade opponents thanks to his close ball control, which enables him to move through confined spaces. Tijjani Reijnders has exceptional vision and football intelligence. He has an innate awareness that allows him to anticipate moves and make wise choices on the field.

Season stats

In the visuals above you see how Reijnders performs against peers in the defensive midfield during the Eredivisie season. It focuses on the attacking abilities of the player and what we can see in the percentile ranks and distribution is that the scores high on progressive carries, accelerations, shots, smart passes, second assists, assists and expected assists. Also his cross completion and short passes, he scores high in comparison to his peers.

In the visuals above we see the defensive profile of Reijnders in comparison with his peers. He stands out in the passing and ball progression metrics, but not so much in the more defensive metrics. This indicates that he is a more of deep-lying playmaker or central midfielder over a defensive midfielder, even if he plays this specific position.

Roles

There are three different data profile roles I’ve looked at in midfield. Box-to-box midfielder role, deep-lying playmaker role and the attacking playmaker role. Below we will look at how Reijnders fits those profile compared to all midfielders in the Eredivisie.

When we look at the sample of 128 players, we find that the fit for the role of box-to-box midfielder is quiet high. From the top 10 fits in this role, Reijnders scores third with 97,7% just after Zerrouki and Gutiérrez.

In terms of the deep-lying playmaker role, Reijnders scores 88,22% fit. That’s the 20th on the list above, which means he still a very good fit — but perhaps not his best fit.

In terms of the attacking playmaker role or the “number 10” role, Reijnders scores in the top with a role fit of 94,78%. This is his second best role after the box-to-box role.

Defensive actions

Reijnders is a defensive midfielder or did play in that position a lot, so his defensive actions are very important and we have seen he doesn’t score the highest. Nevertheless, they are still important.

So where does he conduct these defensive actions?

As you can see Reijnders does recover many balls in the defensive and middle third ot the pitch, especially in the central zones. In terms of reactive defending — meaning tackling — he does that in the middle third in the right half-space. He is more productive and proficient in the proactive defending area, as we can see in the volume and locations of the interceptions.

So how high does he score when looking at the defensive midfielders in the league? You can see that in the scatterplot below.

If we look at the scatterplot above and we see the sliding tackles vs interceptions, indicating reactive vs proactive defensive actions. In both the metrics Reijnders scores above average with 0,56 sliding tackles and 5,09 interceptions. , but it’s safe to say he is not a big performer in these metrics and this isn’t one of his strongest areas.

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In the video above you see a compilation of his defensive actions with AZ in several games. They highlight his ball-recovering ability, his strength in defensive duels and in defensive awareness of Reijnders.

Ball progression

The modern defensive midfielder isn’t only concerned with defending and producing defensive actions — but he/she also needs to be comfortable on the ball and progress play from it.

In the scatterplot above you can see the progressive metrics of progressive passes per 90 and progressive runs per 90. Reijnders does pretty well here as he scores above average in progressive runs, but slightly under average in progressive passes per 90.

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Ball progression can have via different aspects of the game, but I wanted to look at his abilities on the long ball. He can use it to connect with the attacking third or to get out the press of the opposition.

In doing so, Reijnders not only proves his defensive worth — but also manages to show the worth he has in terms of the progression of the attack and connecting the defensive lines to the attacking third.

Dribbling

In the visual above you can see the metrics of dribbles per 90 and the successful dribbles in %. What you can you see is that compared to all players with 900 minutes, Reijnders scores above average in both metrics and is largely surrounded by attackers.

Key passing

Every player makes passes in a game, but which passes actively contribute to the progression and construction of an attack? You can see some of these metrics in the beeswarmplot below.

As you can see in the graph above, Reijnders scores high in most metrics, and this is compared to all players in the Eredivisie with at least 900 minutes played.

What’s interesting is how he makes through passes. He scores in the high average, but the intent of his through passes does tell a lot about how he can help in an attack.

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When Reijnders comes higher up the pitch, he can be the player with the through pass that is a pre-assist/second assist. He opens up the play with his through passes.

Assisting

In the visual above you can see the metrics of expected assists and assists compared.

Reijnders scores above average in both metrics with 0,2 expected assists per 90 and 0,15 assists per 90, meaning that he is slightly underperforming his assists per 90 minutes, but still quite close.

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Shooting

Reijnders does come in the position to shoot, but how does he do in the quality of shooting?

In the visual above you can see the metrics of expected goals and goals compared.

Reijnders scores above average in both metrics with 0,15 expected goals per 90 and 0,11 goals per 90, meaning that he is slightly underperforming his assists per 90 minutes, but still quite close.

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Final thoughts

Tijjani Reijnders is a highly skilled midfielder who can play in defensive midfield, but also in central midfield. His defensive qualities aren’t the best for a defensive midfielder, but on the ball he is one of the best players in the league with his passing vision and football intelligence.