Analysing Jensen Weir: The Cambridge United loanee looking to follow in his father’s footsteps

While Jensen Weir’s experience of senior football is scarce at best, the 19-year-old is considered by many to be the jewel in Brighton’s academy.

Weir was born into a football family. His father, David, made 235 appearances for Everton and earned 69 caps for Scotland over the course of a playing career that spanned 20 years. There are hopes that Jensen can follow in his footsteps and fulfil the immense potential that he has.

The Warrington-born midfielder joined Wigan’s academy as an eight-year-old, becoming the club’s youngest ever player when he made his senior debut against Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy in 2017. However, he’d have to wait another year-and-a-half to make his first Championship appearance, coming off the bench in the Latics’ penultimate game of the 2018/19 season against Birmingham.

Of course, Wigan’s eventual nosedive was well documented. They entered administration in the summer of 2020 and were eventually given a 12 point deduction that sealed their relegation from the second division in a season that was heavily delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to survive, the club’s main assets would have to be sold, and Weir was clearly going to be at the front of the queue.

Premier League outfit Brighton submitted a bid of £500,000 plus add ons in order to ease Wigan’s financial pressure. Weir sealed a move to the Amex Stadium and joined up with the Seagulls under 23 team. Tottenham Hostpur and Aston Villa were reportedly “desperate” to recruit him, but his father’s position as loan manager at Brighton made the move inevitable.

While Graham Potter has yet to give him his senior debut for the club, he was named as an unnamed substitute in their shock 1-0 win against Liverpool at Anfield in February 2021. His former manager, Paul Cook, said that he thought Weir would “go a very long way in the game.”

While he was performing exceptionally at youth level, it became clear that the 19-year-old was still a way off of breaking into Brighton’s first team squad. Throughout the 2020/21 campaign, the Seagulls sent ten players out on loan to EFL clubs, and the obvious next step was for Weir to do the same.

Cambridge United manager Mark Bonner had long since made his intentions clear that he was after a new midfielder ahead of the club’s League One return next season. They announced the loan signing of Weir on 13th July, allowing the youngster to join up with the first team squad ahead of their training camp in South Wales.

While Wigan and Brighton fans have only positive things to say about him, his lack of senior football has left U’s fans with more questions than answers about the midfielder. Although the upcoming friendly matches will undoubtedly provide a platform for them to analyse his ability, here’s a look at what supporters can expect from Cambridge’s newest loan signing.

Strengths

Weir is a very versatile player. Although he is largely considered to be a midfielder, he’s played in a variety of different roles for both Wigan and Brighton. He’s comfortable on either side of midfield, although generally gravitates towards the right side as a predominantly right-footed player. He’s also dropped deeper to play as a right sided centre-back and even played in a more advanced role on the right flank.

That being said, his presence is best utilised in midfield. Standing at 6’0, he often towers above teammates and opposition players at youth level. In a more advance setting, height often restricts a player’s movement, but Weir’s positional awareness is incredibly impressive for such a young player.

When out of possession, he makes sure to stay in his position. More often than not, this is as a deep lying midfielder. Weir always plays in a midfield partnership, working on the right side of a double pivot in Brighton U23’s default shape. The Seagulls favour a 4-2-3-1 formation, and while Cambridge are unlikely to play in the same system, there are signs that he can flourish alongside Paul Digby in midfield.

The 26-year-old will likely be playing as a defensive anchor in Bonner’s side next season, which means that much of the creative burden will be put on Wes Hoolahan. However, at 39 years old, he won’t be able to manage that pressure by himself. That’s where Weir comes in.

While he will be expected to drop deep when out of possession, he will have the license to move further forward when Cambridge are on the ball because Digby will remain in a much deeper position. This will benefit the 19-year-old, who is incredibly comfortable on the ball.

Considering his age, his composure is immense. He uses his height to his advantage, shrugging off opponents and shielding the ball with calmness that you wouldn’t expect from a seasoned professional. Of course, doing this at youth level is one thing, but doing in consistently in League One will be a much greater task.

Rather than challenging with a sliding tackle, which can often result in a booking, the majority of Weir’s ball recoveries come from counterpressing. This means that when his side lose the ball, he immediately presses his opponents into giving it back rather than adopting a defensive position. It shows that he should suit Bonner’s high intensity football that has been implemented at Cambridge.

Of course, as a midfielder, Weir’s passing range will be highly scrutinised. When in possession, he can favour making forward runs, especially down the left side. However, he prefers making cross-field progressive passes to wide areas. Once again, this should benefit the U’s, who’ve focused much of their recruitment strategy this summer on signing wingers.

Weaknesses

Weir is a young and inexperienced midfielder. While there is no denying his quality, there is a significant step up in terms of intensity in going from youth football to League One. With Cambridge’s lack of midfield depth, it seems likely that Bonner will heavily rely on the 19-year-old, and that will be a colossal burden given that the U’s are tipped to struggle next season.

The departure of Paul Mullin will be a huge blow for the club, and Bonner has encouraged the rest of the team to improve their attacking contributions to make up for his absence in order to ease the pressure on Joe Ironside and Sam Smith. This message will be aimed at Weir as well, although his output isn’t overly impressive.

As a box-to-box midfielder, he’ll naturally favour taking shots from outside the penalty area. However, he often struggles to get enough power behind the ball, and his efforts often bobble wide as a result. All four of his goals (including one penalty) have come from inside the penalty area, while only around a third of his shots from outside the box have ended up on target.

His fortunes inside the box are somewhat different, and his impeccable first-time finish against Blackburn Rovers U23s last season shows that he does have an eye for goal. But his recorded number of dribbles in the final third is incredibly low, and only one of them saw him take a shot at the end. If he really wants to impress out on loan, he’ll likely need to add to his goalscoring tally over the coming months.

The same counts for his creative contributions, as he is yet to register an assist. Most of his shot assists come from an incredibly deep position, and while part of the blame will have to fall to his teammates, his expected assists (xA) has never been higher than 0.16 for a single pass leading to a shot.

This criticism may come across as incredibly harsh, and his quality cannot be ignored. He is still an incredibly raw and inexperienced talent, and the way he always looks up to find a progressive pass or run is a promising sign. The next step is turning that attacking intent into goals and assists, which should be possible with an extended run of first team football at Cambridge.

As previously mentioned, the intensity of senior football is much higher than what Weir will be used to when playing with Brighton’s U23 team. Cambridge will be finding themselves on the back foot against much stronger opposition, which means that he’ll have to up his game both in and out of possession.

This will likely mean that Weir will have to drop into his own third more often than not, and his defensive contributions will be crucial. Of course, alongside 6’4 powerhouse Digby, that pressure will be eased, but his record of duels in defensive areas may be a concern.

Just over half the times that Weir lost a defensive duel, the opponent who won it was able to take a shot. This includes four times in his own penalty area and one that lead to a goal being scored from outside the box. That being said, his disciplinary record in these situations (and in general) is incredibly impressive.

Summary

Weir is an incredibly talented young midfielder, and his reputation at youth level is tremendous. Bringing him to The Abbey on loan is a great move for Cambridge, who really need an extra spark to boost their threadbare midfield options.

As a box-to-box midfielder, both his attacking and defensive efforts will be heavily scrutinised. His ability when out of possession will be crucial, as the U’s are unlikely to hold much of the ball against third tier opposition. Similarly, the lack of creativity in the squad (outside of Hoolahan) will mean that he’ll have to contribute going forward too.

Perhaps that’s where the main concern lies. Of his 30 shots, just 12 (40%) have been on target and four (13.3%) have ended up in the back of the net. Those figures will hopefully improve to coincide with the step up to regular senior football.

Playing under Bonner will be perfect for Weir in terms of his development. The 35-year-old has spent the vast majority of his career holding a variety of positions in Cambridge’s academy, and his knowledge of youth football will be invaluable over the course of next season.

The 19-year-old has all the qualities needed to reach the top, and now he needs a platform to gain experience in order to refine his skills. He may not be the perfect player at this stage, but the U’s can play a crucial part in his journey and he can repay their faith by helping them to retain their third tier status.

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