Player Profile
Nationality: England 🏴
Age: 20yrs
Height: 6’3’’
Position (s): CB/RB
Preferred foot: Right
Who is Jarell Quansah?
Jarell Amorin Quansah is a 20-year-old English Warrington-born centre-back who plays for Liverpool which he joined when he was just 5 years of age, And he is also eligible to play for Ghana and Scotland too.
Quansah came through the youth ranks at Liverpool and captained the U18s team to the FA Youth Cup final in 2021, Quansah featured regularly for Liverpool’s U21s and was twice an unused substitute for the first team.
Quansah has also represented England at youth level, winning the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He was named in the Team of the Tournament and played in every game and scored in the semi-finals.
He also had his first exposure to men’s football and started 15 of possible 16 games for the struggling Bristol Rovers in league one and all he received was praise from Joey Barton, Bristol Rovers manager, who was vocal about his admiration for the young player. He stated, “The sky’s the limit for him, he can be whatever he wants. Jurgen Klopp doesn’t feel the way he feels about you, training with the first team unless you’re a good player.”
Quansah is considered to be one of the most promising young defenders in England. He has been compared to Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Colwill whom he shares the traits I’m going to share in this report, he has the potential to become a top player for Liverpool and England.
Note: The data I am going to use in this report is from Wyscout and it’s for the time he was on loan with the League One side Bristol Rovers where he featured in 15 games and played for more than 1000 minutes.
“Man Mountain” “Has potential” “Promising”… Why use these words?
Here is why;-
• Pace
Quansah has an above-average pace for a young central defender, which allows him to catch up with attackers and cover for his defensive partners. His quickness is an asset in one-on-one situations, during counter-attacks and covering huge spaces which is a good trait for a defender whose future might end up playing as an RCB in Liverpool’s new system which uses back-3 who has to cover the inverted RB and he is averaging 11.5 recoveries per 90.
• Tackling
Jarell Quansah is a strong and precise tackler. He can win the ball cleanly from opponents without committing fouls. His tackling technique is impressive for his age, and he has the potential to become even better as he matures, Quansah also loves tackling and his long legs make it even easier for him to cleanly tackle runners but what makes it more of a beauty when he does it is his timing for the tackles, he averages 5.84 defensive duels per 90 with a success rate of 60% (remember this his first encountering senior football).
• Heading
Standing at 6’3’’, Quansah is a good aerial presence in the defensive line. He is strong in the air, winning most of his duels and clearing high balls effectively. His ability to score from set-pieces is a bonus and we have seen him save his teams both national (England U19 Vs Italy U19) and club team in crucial games through his headers he averages 4.49 aerial duels per 90 with a success rate of 45.45% which is decent for a 19 years old who was having his first team experience for the first time against real men.
• Ball-playing ability
Quansah is a confident ball-playing centre-back. He is comfortable in possession and can initiate attacks from the back with accurate long passes or by dribbling forward. His composure on the ball is commendable for a player of his age and it’s his strongest attribute as of now, he is comfortable playing for the back and he is someone you can trust to be pivotal in the first phase if you want your team to build from the back, and his diagonals to wide areas have Virgil’s blueprints though not that perfect, he passes all types of passes be it short, long or medium but his most type is long ones and switches, he averages 8.89 progressive passes per 90 with average progression distance of 339.87 meters and this is in a team that was struggling to retain possession.
You can’t speak about ball playing and you leave out dribbling, he is a dribbling centre-back who doesn’t shy away from dribbling past a pressing centre-forward like prime Messi averages 0.47 dribbles per 90 with a success rate of 62.5%.
• Positioning and Anticipation.
Jarell Quansah has a natural sense of positioning and can read the game well. He anticipates the opponents' moves and cuts off passing lanes effectively. His ability to intercept the ball is crucial in preventing opposition attacks, this was more effectively done by him with the Liverpool U21s though it hasn’t been that of his thing on his loan there could be some reasons for it being so like tactical tweaks and maybe adoption reasons but I strongly believe it’s among his attributes cause without it he wouldn’t have got the Virgil (Aura king) comparisons.
• Leadership
Though many say a player being a captain for the academy level doesn’t prove anything but Jarell is different he has been a captain for all his academy levels from U18s to U21s, and he possesses a lot of leadership qualities that aren’t common with his age group and they are more visible in how he commands the backline and he has also been doing the same with his loan side Bristol Rovers.
Areas to Improve
• Strength
While Quansah is strong with an imposing physique, he can still improve his overall physical strength to better cope with the rigours of top-level football. Even though the loan might have helped him he still needs continued strength and conditioning work which would help him excel against more physically gifted forwards who becoming a trend in the Premier League.
• Concentration
Like many young players, Quansah could improve his concentration levels throughout the game. Minimizing lapses in focus will help him to maintain consistent performances and avoid costly mistakes which he occasionally made like some off-target back pass to the goalkeeper, and rushed tackling leading to him being exposed in 1v1s but which is part of development.
• Experience
Quansah has so far had only 15 games in senior football, Gaining experience through another loan spell to either Championship or have some playing time in the first team since Liverpool is going to play Europa League and will face teams that can provide a chance for him to get to play some games which will help him develop further.
• Potential
Jarell Quansah is a highly promising young centre-back with excellent potential. He possesses a combination of physical and technical attributes that make him a standout prospect for the future. With the right guidance and opportunities to gain experience, he has the potential to become a key player for both Liverpool FC and the English national team, if you are wise stock in him, we will be here to talk about his successes or either say what could have been but we won’t have it both ways.
