Tyreece John-Jules – The ideal Championship partner to Jerry Yates?

Neil Critchley has delved into the loan market again and may well have picked out another gem in the form of Arsenal striker Tyreece John-Jules.

The 20-year-old forward has spent time at both Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers in the past two campaigns, albeit blighted by COVID and injury respectively.

Highly rated by those at the Emirates Stadium, they see this as another natural progression for John-Jules having showcased his talents at League One level.

Gunners boss Mikael Arteta has described him as “a very complete player,” no less which bodes well for his role in the Blackpool side in what will more than likely be as replacement for Ellis Simms who returned to Everton following his loan spell last season.

Whilst I imagine the Seasiders would have liked to have seen Simms return to Bloomfield Road, his injury picked up before the playoff final will leave him out for a few months more yet and the feasibility of a return may come about in the January window should it be required.

There was reported interest from AC Milan for the youngster in 2019, however this was quickly batted off and there appears to be a real progression plan for him to one day make the grade at his home club.

On the eye

It is clear from watching him play that John-Jules is adept technically, particularly in link up play, always looking to create triangles in and around the opposition box before turning in behind and finishing.

Looking at how Keshi Anderson and Jerry Yates link up together in the final third, adding another element into that who is capable of garnering that understanding will set Blackpool well going forward.

What stands out is the variety of his attacking play, he is happy to sit on the shoulder and run in behind, more often than not finishing calmly at the end of it too.

Yet, he will judge each phase of play on its individual merits.

If he sees an option on for a teammate he can efficiently play the ball through with smart flicks and quick turns tending to disrupt the opposition defence.

His hold up play is another benefit and standing at 6ft tall he has the stature to compete physically with opposition defenders, but there’s still a nimble athleticism to his play which allows him to dribble well with the ball.

He likes to front up defenders, dropping deep to pick up the ball at times, and driving towards goal whether through the middle or out wide, essentially reinforcing the ‘complete player’ tag from Arteta.

Another attribute is his ability to read the game in the final third, tending to peel off defenders into space at the right moments being available to scoop up should the initial attack be parried out from goal.

There are certainly still raw elements to his game, particularly when it comes to his positional sense off the ball, but joining Neil Critchley will certainly coach that side of the game into him.

What impresses most is his variety of goals, attacking movements and link up play all of which allow him to play in a number of systems and in a number of attacking roles when required.

What do the stats say?

In terms of his xG per 90 (Expected goals) for strikers in League One last season who played 1000 minutes or more, John-Jules is in the middle of the road with 0.32 although I would caveat that with the fact that the majority of his game time at Doncaster came following their downturn in form and loss of Ben Whiteman to Preston who tended to be the creative spark in midfield.

Comparing that with Ellis Simms at Blackpool last season with 0.52 it shows that John-Jules slightly lags behind in terms of the goalscoring positions he gets himself into but again Simms could rely on the creative play of others to enable him to stay in and around the box, rather than John-Jules who tended to fall deep to collect possession.

Credit: Wyscout

Generally that theme of being in the middle of the road with statistics continues with 3.1 dribbles per 90 and 0.1 xA per 90 (expected assists).

What has to be emphasised is that John-Jules has not had much professional game time and that Doncaster in the form they were in when he made the majority of his appearances, was not the perfect environment to cultivate progression in his game.

He was in the top 10 for touches in the opposition box per 90 with 3.96, evidencing his ability to get into the right areas at the right time and his five goals and three assists in 18 games is a good return given he only started on 13 occasions.

Where elements of his game shine through statistically is in the creative play, with 0.5 key passes per 90 level with Jerry Yates and in the top five strikers in the division.

Both him and Yates are smart with their movement in the final third and it bodes well should they work up a partnership.

He sits in the top three for deep completions per 90 with 1.3 which again highlights the earlier point that he likes to drop deep at times and carry the ball into the final third before linking up with his striking partner to cut through the last line of defence, with 1.22 progressive runs per 90 matching up with this.

Off the ball in a defensive aspect from the front line he made 2.76 PAdj interceptions per 90 (possession adjusted) which is a higher tally than any Blackpool striker last season and showcases his intelligence off the ball in a pressing sense.

All in all John-Jules has all the attributes on the eye to be a fine replacement for Ellis Simms this time out.

It is a big season for the Arsenal striker to finally get a full, uninterrupted season of professional football under his belt and that is why I premise the statistical side of things with the context behind it.

Simms no doubt outperformed John-Jules last season but looking at the key parts to his game, he looks a solid fit for Blackpool and more importantly Critchley will be able to iron out certain elements much like he did with Simms to make him the complete forward he is destined to be.

For me, this is another coup for the club in the loan market but he needs to be given time to settle into the system first before real judgements can be made of his ability given yet another step up this time to the Championship.

But, should a 3-5-2 be the way forward, he and Jerry Yates with Keshi Anderson behind them will be a very technically adept and intelligent forward line that will no doubt produce some great football on the eye this campaign.

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