Frank Lampard is becoming well known for his trust in young, home-grown players as he has placed his faith in playing Tammy Abraham, Reece James and last year Derby loanees Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori. However, before Lampard took over Chelsea, he showed his belief in Jayden Bogle at Derby County and the youngster went on to win Sammy Crooks Young Player of the Year last season. Before Lampard’s arrival in the 2017/18 season, Bogle did not make one senior appearance for Derby. Nevertheless, Bogle flourished in the 2018/19 campaign when he played 43 times for the Rams. The 19-year-old full-back possesses a great mix between the old school full-back mixed with the attacking abilities of a modern-day wide-defender.
In this tactical analysis, in the form of a scout report, we will analyse Bogle’s current season at Derby with the use of tactics to see how he has been so influential to a previous ageing Derby defence.
Overview and play-style
Derby have predominantly set-up in a 4-2-3-1 this season. In this system, Bogle features as their right-back. However, he has played four times at right wing-back and he has even featured in a more advanced position at right-wing once this season. No matter Bogle’s starting position he has the licence to get forward on the wing. In the image below, it shows Bogle’s average positioning this season and it highlights his freedom to advance forward.
Derby’s fullbacks are fundamental in their tactics. They are instructed to stay high and wide to stretch the opponent’s defensive line which creates gaps for Derby’s attackers to exploit. This style of play suits Bogle perfectly and helps boost his strengths, as I will now go on to analyse.
Driving with the ball
One of Bogle’s biggest strengths is his ability to drive with the ball. He has the most dribbles for Derby (161) which is three more than Tom Lawrence and he ranks 27th in the Championship for this category, which is a high ranking when this is against attackers who are frequently taking on opponents.
When receiving the ball, his first intention is to see if he can go forward and attack the opponents. This is useful for Derby as it can help them escape trouble by getting out of danger in tight situations. In the image below, Bogle remains calm under pressure as he recovers the possession of the ball from the goalkeeper’s save and, instead of going long and risking losing possession, he retains it by dribbling it out of the box, even with an opponent on his back.
He is also disciplined with his positioning by keeping his width so he is always an option for his team. This is evident in the image below, as there is plenty of room centrally, yet, he is tight to the sideline. This is another benefit for Derby as it stretches the opponent’s backline and it also keeps the space for his teammates in the centre of the pitch to exploit.
Even though Bogle is starting at right-back, he is essentially operating as the winger for Derby. In the image below, Bogle hugs the sideline and he makes himself an outlet pass due to his positioning. In this play, Derby were passing the ball around the back but Sheffield Wednesday initiated a press when it reached Derby’s goalkeeper, Ben Hamer. The press cut off all of the short options for Hamer and all the long passes were being man-marked.
However, Bogle’s wide positioning helps beat the press and he was able to get in behind Sheffield Wednesday and utilise his ball-carrying ability to get into an area to cross. This resulted in Bogle crossing it into Chris Martin who set up Lawrence for the opening goal, which shows how quick Bogle can turn any play into attack in a matter of seconds.
Bogle is comfortable on the ball and he is efficient when driving at the opponents. Additionally, he is very good at exploding away from his marker in 1v1 situations. His role is to provide crosses into the box and we have seen him drive at defenders to get into this position, but, in a 1v1 situation, he approaches the opposition face first and he will swiftly shift the ball one way then quickly move it to the other side to wrong-foot the defender.
In the image below, Bogle draws in the defender and waits for his time to strike by luring him in. Once the opponent gets uptight Bogle changes direction with a piece of skill and loses him for dead, then he can pick out his cross.
Attacking phase
Part of Phillip Cocu’s tactics is for his fullbacks to play high up the pitch. This hugely benefits Bogle as he is free to move up and down the wing. Often Derby set up in their 4-2-3-1 shape, with Martyn Waghorn starting as the right attacking midfielder. This has benefitted Bogle as Waghorn will drift inside into a central role. Therefore, through this movement, it frees up space on the wing for Bogle to advance into. In the image below, Waghorn moves inside to receive the ball centrally which attracts the opposition’s left-back, Bogle smartly runs on the blind side of the Stoke winger and he doesn’t see his run and this allows him to use the space created by Waghorn.
In the two images below, it shows Bogle’s heatmaps against recent opposition Bristol City and Hull City. It is evident that Bogle spends a lot of his time in the opposition halves and he gets into positions where he can cross the ball or drive towards goal. Statically speaking Bogle is taking 3.41 crosses per game, however, only with a low 32% success rate.
As we can see, Bogle gets into advanced areas of the pitch, allowing him to cross the ball. One area that is a weakness for Bogle is his low crosses. Across this 2019/20 he has totalled 237 crosses, 97 of these were low crosses and a massive 84.5% were inaccurate. His decision making in the final third ultimately costs him.
In the image below, Bogle goes for a low driven cross that gets intercepted. However, one strength that we have already identified is his ability to carry the ball and exploit gaps. Here he had the chance to drive into the space and find himself in a better situation to cross but he drilled the ball low into the opponents.
Another example of this is shown in the image below, he opts for a low cross but there are no players inside the area and it gets cut out by the opposition. However, in the same passage of play Bogle receives the ball immediately and he takes more time to pick out a free teammate in the box with a looping cross to the back post where Lawrence is unmarked and it creates a big goal-scoring chance.
As we said above, Bogle’s decision making can be indecisive and as he produces the wrong cross in certain situations. On the other hand, there is a massive increase in his inaccurate high crosses which only 47.1% compared to his 84.5% inaccurate low crosses so there are signs of using the correct cross in certain situations.
For him to progress his attacking game even further it is now mixing his strengths (pace and dribbling) with his final third chance creation. He is such a pivotal part of Derby’s attack, yet, he has only one goal and four assists in the Championship this season. In the image below, he brilliantly bypasses the opponent and utilises the space in behind which allows him to have an attempt at goal. He did have another option to cut it back but he hit the target and tested the goalkeeper.
Bogle is still in the learning stages of his career as it is only his second full season at the senior level. It does show us his confidence and belief in himself to try new things in the early stages of his career as some may be ‘playing it safe’ and taking easier options.
Defensive phase
In the defensive phase Bogle naturally keeps his high positioning, allowing him to press the opponents high up the pitch and attempt to regain possession as quickly as possible. It helps suffocate the opposition inside their own half and forces the long ball as his quick pace and stocky build makes it hard to get past him in 1v1 situations. In the image below, Bogle has committed right up to Wigan’s left-back. He makes sure he gets tight as he knows he is quicker than most of his opponents (if not all). It results in him snatching the ball off the opponent and playing through Lawrence in behind the opposition’s backline.
This is also the same scenario when Bogle is in his defensive half as well. He likes to be on the front foot and look for an interception then start the fast break. Statically speaking he is intercepting the ball on average 4.06 times per game. In the image below, Bogle is anticipating the pass into the player who he is marking and he starts moving forward before the pass is played. However, in this play, the opponents recognise his movement and they slip the ball in behind him and get into a dangerous position.
By getting too close to his marker it leaves the space in behind for teams to utilise. Players are unlikely to beat him with pace but they can work simple one-twos around him to get in behind. In the image below, Hull worked the ball past Bogle with a simple one-two and got in behind Derby’s defence. This method by Bogle has high risk but also a big reward if he wins it back early he can start a fast break with his immense speed as shown previously.
Finally, in the transitional phase from attack into defence Bogle, as highlighted earlier in the scout report, is in advanced attacking positions. So against teams who counter-attack and look to go on fast breaks Bogle is often caught out of position as he isn’t given much time to recover and get back into his defensive line. In the image below, Hull are on a counter-attack and Bogle is still behind the ball when it is in his own half, the ball carrier exploits Bogle’s positioning and plays the pass out wide. This can hurt Derby as the opposition wingers can freely run at Derby’s defence with ease.
Conclusion
The young Englishman is unfortunate that there are other very talented right-backs, such as Reece James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold or he could be in line for an England call-up. Yes, there are still improvements to be made defensively and in attack, however, these are things that will come with more game time. Bogle has already shown signs of becoming an elite full-back and he has plenty of time to iron out these small mishaps. He is flourishing under Cocu and there is no surprise Premier League clubs have already identified him as a transfer target.
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