Jamie Donley

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View: https://twitter.com/samw1t/status/1699506483153518716?t=XUBTJ22g8IVP_NpRtFnLJw&s=19

Jamie Donley, the next in Lilywhite to break through?

At the time of writing the u21s have won all four of their PL2 games, scoring 15 and only conceding 1.

18 year old Jamie Donley (the focus of this thread) has been instrumental in our early good form, picking up 2 goals and 6 assists in his four starts.

To get the obvious out of the way, this is a young striker who has clearly grown up on Harry Kane - the playstyle and aesthetic similarities are uncanny, the most striking difference between the two is Jamie being left-footed.

Although naturally a striker, Donley's creative prowess has seen him dropped into a deeper role this season with two more traditional #9s in Lankshear and Soonsup-Bell rotating ahead of him, with the u21s attempting to mirror the first team's system.

He plays the ‘interior’ role as you'd expect Harry Kane to, all the way down to his posture.

He's so technically proficient that he can receive with a man on his shoulder and jostle him without disrupting the rhythm of what he's doing with the ball, and always seems to be winding up a hooked pass into runners either back across his body in central areas, or in the channels.

However Donley can be overly-direct, which is also something you could accuse Kane of being.

Like our former talisman, there can be a slight overreliance on his medium-long range passing. But the quality is top, top class.

Jamie's awareness is phenomenal and his teammates know to make early runs when he receives the ball under pressure, such is their confidence in Donley's ability to find them - akin to Son's partnership with Kane over the years.

Compared to more traditional interior profiles like Maddison, Odegaard, Gundogan etc. he's not got the nimbleness or quick turning with the ball typically associated with those players, he instead invites duels with his back to goal rather than looking to spin away from markers who have pushed up to face him.

He's a slightly awkward-looking but effective dribbler and is a capable ball-manipulator in tight spaces even if not to the level of typical #8 profiles like the ones mentioned, although he is smaller and more agile than Kane.

It's pretty clear that he's creatively exceptional but plays the attacking midfielder role in a slightly unnatural manner.

His slow turning radius and general build will hamper his ability to play between-the-lines consistently and he may end up dropping deep to get on the ball more often than Ange would like his number 8s too, especially against a deeper block.

But the quality when he does get on it is outstanding.

He can play slipped passes behind oppo. backlines from the edge of the box, he can create separation for himself and play a variety of crosses from the wide channels and his delivery is equally as good in the half spaces.

Donley is evidently not a traditional #9 (who appear to be coming back in fashion) hence Lankshear and Soonsup-Bell being used as alternating strikers for the u21s thus far.

Although lacking pace, he’s still a cultured and varied finisher who times his runs on the last line well and is a good box presence.

Although he does seem to have an issue with first-time shots, often scuffing them.

All in all, whilst Jamie may not be a natural fit for either of his preferred roles in Ange’s system, his vast skillset and willingness to take huge responsibility with the ball, I believe could make him an effective option in a multitude of attacking roles for the first team moving forward.

[@LillyWhiteLab]
 
SpiderSpurs said:

View: https://twitter.com/samw1t/status/1699506483153518716?t=XUBTJ22g8IVP_NpRtFnLJw&s=19

Jamie Donley, the next in Lilywhite to break through?

At the time of writing the u21s have won all four of their PL2 games, scoring 15 and only conceding 1.

18 year old Jamie Donley (the focus of this thread) has been instrumental in our early good form, picking up 2 goals and 6 assists in his four starts.

To get the obvious out of the way, this is a young striker who has clearly grown up on Harry Kane - the playstyle and aesthetic similarities are uncanny, the most striking difference between the two is Jamie being left-footed.

Although naturally a striker, Donley's creative prowess has seen him dropped into a deeper role this season with two more traditional #9s in Lankshear and Soonsup-Bell rotating ahead of him, with the u21s attempting to mirror the first team's system.

He plays the ‘interior’ role as you'd expect Harry Kane to, all the way down to his posture.

He's so technically proficient that he can receive with a man on his shoulder and jostle him without disrupting the rhythm of what he's doing with the ball, and always seems to be winding up a hooked pass into runners either back across his body in central areas, or in the channels.

However Donley can be overly-direct, which is also something you could accuse Kane of being.

Like our former talisman, there can be a slight overreliance on his medium-long range passing. But the quality is top, top class.

Jamie's awareness is phenomenal and his teammates know to make early runs when he receives the ball under pressure, such is their confidence in Donley's ability to find them - akin to Son's partnership with Kane over the years.

Compared to more traditional interior profiles like Maddison, Odegaard, Gundogan etc. he's not got the nimbleness or quick turning with the ball typically associated with those players, he instead invites duels with his back to goal rather than looking to spin away from markers who have pushed up to face him.

He's a slightly awkward-looking but effective dribbler and is a capable ball-manipulator in tight spaces even if not to the level of typical #8 profiles like the ones mentioned, although he is smaller and more agile than Kane.

It's pretty clear that he's creatively exceptional but plays the attacking midfielder role in a slightly unnatural manner.

His slow turning radius and general build will hamper his ability to play between-the-lines consistently and he may end up dropping deep to get on the ball more often than Ange would like his number 8s too, especially against a deeper block.

But the quality when he does get on it is outstanding.

He can play slipped passes behind oppo. backlines from the edge of the box, he can create separation for himself and play a variety of crosses from the wide channels and his delivery is equally as good in the half spaces.

Donley is evidently not a traditional #9 (who appear to be coming back in fashion) hence Lankshear and Soonsup-Bell being used as alternating strikers for the u21s thus far.

Although lacking pace, he’s still a cultured and varied finisher who times his runs on the last line well and is a good box presence.

Although he does seem to have an issue with first-time shots, often scuffing them.

All in all, whilst Jamie may not be a natural fit for either of his preferred roles in Ange’s system, his vast skillset and willingness to take huge responsibility with the ball, I believe could make him an effective option in a multitude of attacking roles for the first team moving forward.

[@LillyWhiteLab]
Click to expand...


Can he run fast though?
 
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