Ah yes, we’re back to scouting Eredivisie talents, because there’s something to be said about the wild variance that comes with scouting young talents in Holland. We’ve already taken a look at four Eredivisie talents plying their trade in some form: Mason Mount, Hirving Lozano & Justin Kluivert, and David Neres. All of those guys brought their own strengths and weaknesses to the table, but the totality of their talents made it that it wouldn’t be hard to imagine them having success at a tougher league if/when they make their next career move, even with the worries that come with scouting young Eredivisie talents.
Mount has tantalizing close control along with smart off-ball presence to position himself for shooting opportunities, giving off the feel that it was like watching a young Frank Lampard transported into football in 2018. Lozano is really fast without the ball which made his off-ball runs that much more dangerous in breaking behind opponents defensive lines. Kluivert and Neres both have extremely impressive on-ball coordination, but Kluivert’s elite athleticism in short bursts + vague chance of two footed ability made him more of a natural inverted winger and potentially higher rated prospect while Neres had his struggles creating space as a RW.
On the basis of his resume, Steven Bergwijn deserves to be mentioned alongside those other talents, one of the key figures behind PSV’s bid to regain the Eredivisie title after their disappointing 3rd place finish last season. An intriguing prospect last season from the statistical point of view, Bergwijn has followed that up with an impressive season where he’s averaging 0.67 non-penalty goals + assists per 90 minutes alongside an impressive rate of 5.6 shot contribution per 90 minutes, albeit it does help that PSV are averaging around 20 shots per game this season in league play. There have been links with the likes of Tottenham and Everton in recent weeks, and in the form he’s been on since the new year, it could very well be that PSV will have a hard time keeping hold of their other starlet for 2018–19.
So just how good is Steven Bergwijn?
Athleticism
Very much like Hirving Lozano, Steven Bergwijn is fast off the ball, which should help him once he makes a move out of the Eredivisie. He can get on the end of throughball opportunities and turn them into high quality shot attempts, though it’s fair to argue whether his top end speed without the ball would be elite at a tougher league. What separates Bergwijn from Lozano is that in addition to his off-ball athleticism, there’s a certain fluidity that he possesses which Lozano struggles with. It’s arguable that he has greater coordination of touch, and it allows him to maneuver in tighter areas in greater frequency. His top end speed while carrying the ball is pretty solid. Alongside his ability to create separation off dribbles, there’s evidence to suggest that Bergwijn is an above average athlete both with the ball and off the ball.
On-Ball Threat
One thing that’s immediately clear with Steven Bergwijn is that he has an interesting intersection of dribbling ability and athleticism. In wider areas, he’s able to create separation from his opponents and even pull off multiple dribbling sequences where he flummoxes his opponents. The end result is that on a number of occasions, he can create shooting opportunities either for himself or his teammates. Some of it is due to the fact that he’s playing on the best team in the Eredivisie, which allows him the opportunity to not waste energy constantly taking on opponents from deeper areas, but he’s still quite effective nonetheless.
Wingers like Leon Bailey and Malcom provide extra value in comparison to other wide players because of their ability to constantly drive their teams past zones in the pitch with their solo dribbling acts. In teams that don’t have a set structure in attack, this could provide immense value because it’s an avenue to get into advantageous areas in the pitch. I don’t think that Bergwijn is at that level, which isn’t a knock on him per se because those two guys are elite in this area, but there’s evidence to suggest that he can do it from time to time.
In terms of situations where he has the ball in the prototypical final third area, he’s good but I don’t know if he’s as good in that part of the pitch as he is from the wide areas. He’s quite clever in the sense that he can do flick on opportunities for himself, though the next action that happens afterwards is usually a turnover to the opponent. At his best, he can definitely pull off intricate dribbling past opponents.
You could simply look at Steven Bergwijn’s 3.6 dribbles per 90 minutes and 65% dribble success and conclude that he’s a good dribbler just from that, and that’s a fair way to look at things when the numbers are that stark. The video certainly doesn’t disprove that notion, though I’m curious as to how good he’ll be in congested areas once he makes a leap to a tougher league. I think a good number of his dribbling exploits will translate against tougher competition, but I’m not sure that all of it will.
The good news is that in addition to his dribbling, Bergwijn has shown the capabilities to be a good creator for teammates. He could be described as an ineffectual crosser of the ball, but it does help that in its place, he’s shown to have other ways of creating chances. Whether it be outside the foot throughball attempts or simple cut-backs. Very much like his dribbling, the diversity to his chance creation is something I would be cautiously optimistic about as he continues to accumulate experience.
You wouldn’t confuse Bergwijn for being a two-footed shooter. On a scale of David Neres to Ousmane Dembele, he’s much closer to the former. 46% of his shots have come from outside the area, which is an increase from the 32.5% he was averaging last season. Perhaps because of the incredible volume that PSV have in their attack this and the added usage + minutes he’s having, it’s allowing Bergwijn to have indulgences in his shot selection. He’s also 20 years old so there should be some slack given for any imperfections in the shots he takes, especially considering he’s above 50% on the portion of shots he takes within the 18 yard area.
There’s a lot to like with Steven Bergwijn. The fluidity in is movements with the ball combined with real evidence of high level playmaking would have me intrigued if I was a club scouting him. His shot selection doesn’t seem to be too big of a problem considering his age and could be tweaked as he matures, as well he’s shown diversity in how get his shots off as well whether it be assisted or non assisted.
Translatability
With Eredivisie attacking players, especially ones who play at Ajax and PSV, you have to factor in that the gap in quality between those two clubs and the ones at the bottom is about as massive as the Atlantic ocean. There will be certain matchups where Bergwijn is playing competition that’s arguably equivalent to Championship or even League One players, one of the reasons why the Eredivisie is such a polarizing league for scouting potential young talents. But I think that a lot of what Bergwijn does should be able to work in other leagues. It’s fair that he plays with such an advantage compared to others, but he looks to pass the eye test in ways that not a lot of wingers his age do by being dual threat on and off the ball.
It’s undeniable that Steven Bergwijn has had a solid season, with his form particularly ramping up since the new year averaging a 0.93 non penalty goals + assist per 90 rate in 579 league minutes. This is symbolized with him winning Eredivisie Player of the Month with his performances in February, including his impressive work against Feyenoord with Hirving Lozano out because of suspension. He’s got the intersection of athleticism and coordination needed to be a success outside of the Eredivisie, which helps explain why his form has been reportedly noticed by Premier League clubs. His ability to be an efficient dribbler from multiple areas of the pitch alongside the understanding and capabilities to create chances for others makes him quite the intriguing prospect.
If we assume that the Premier League is his next destination, that’s where things get interesting. One of the problems with the decline of the PL middle class this season is that it would’ve been an easy route for him to go. Get your feet wet at a club of that level and then eventually make the way up to a club like Arsenal or Tottenham in 1–2 years, all the while the club selling his services would make a sizable profit. Sadio Mane had two productive seasons at Southampton and then left for Liverpool for large sums of money, that could’ve been a pathway for Bergwijn. Perhaps you can argue that with Claude Puel at the helm, Leicester will be the one team to emerge from that malaise and smarten up a bit so they could become that club who takes a chance on a winger like Bergwijn in the hopes of his potential being realized.
Considering the chaos in the PL middle class, the one club within the top 6 that could be an interesting fit for Bergwijn would be Arsenal. If you want to use the summer of 2014 as the point where Arsenal regained their financial standing as a club, they have put a scarce amount of resources into the 18–22 age group in terms of transfer. It could be argued that this is Arsene Wenger’s greatest failing over the past 4–5 years because it’s led to them having an old squad that’s in dire need of a massive tune up. Here are all of Arsenal’s transfers from 2014-Present for age 18–22 players at the time of their move:
- Konstantinos Mavropanos
- Takuma Asano
- Rob Holding
- Calum Chambers
- Krystian Bielik
If you want to extend it to 23 and under players, it’s not getting appreciably better with the likes of Danny Welbeck, Granit Xhaka, and Mohamed Elneny. Arsenal haven’t done anywhere close to as many upside bets as they should’ve, and with the ones they’ve done, it’s not worked out in the slightest. And now we’re at a point where Arsenal clearly have the 6th best team in the league and need a lot of help getting back into the top four. They need to take more gambles on young talents, and Bergwijn would fit the profile. Add to it that Arsenal have a lack of wide players who can stretch opponents with their speed, and there’s a fit to be had here as long as what PSV would demand in a transfer isn’t anything obscene.
Steven Bergwijn is a really intriguing 20 year old talent who passes the bullshit test in regards to whether a club outside of Holland should put resources into scouting him. He has impressive mobility off the ball as well as the ability to maneuver in tighter areas. Combine that with his ability to create separation from his opponent on the wing and the diversity in his chance creation, and you can see why numerous people tipped him for stardom before even making it onto PSV’s first team. While Hirving Lozano has gained a lot of headlines for his performances this season, there’s an argument to be had that Steven Bergwijn is actually the more intriguing talent of the two young PSV starlets and has a chance of being a dynamite players once he hits his prime.
