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
- Biography
- Seasonal stats
- Positions/roles
- Defensive actions
- Ball progression
- Dribbling
- Key passing
- Assisting
- Shooting
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Zonal Pressing 