Three years ago in the Scottish Premier League Cup final, Hearts faced traditional rivals Celtic, and with Hearts unable to play due to a succession of injuries to their star players, then manager Craig Levein was forced to use his youth team players.
The young man who was appointed to wear the No. 51 jersey surprised everyone in the final by launching wave after wave of attacks from the left side of the field and running around the pitch like nobody's business.
Before the final whistle had gone, Craig Levein was already calculating that the youngster would have to appear more frequently in the starting lineup next season .......
The skipper then wrote the name Aaron Hickey in his notebook.
Basic information
Name: Aaron Hickey
Birthday: 2002/6/10 (20 years old)
Height: 185cm
Nationality: Scottish
Field position: LB, LMF, RB
Similar style players (personal thoughts): Rafael Guerrero (Borussia Dortmund), Valentino Livramento (Southampton)
Strong desire to attack
Aaron Hickey often carries the ball all the way forward in the game, an average of 1.76 attempts to disclose the ball and 0.89 times disclose the success of the first 90 minutes, belong to the middle class is not particularly outstanding, but in the attraction of fouls (Fouls Drawn) in this data to reach 2.39 times, second only to the current playing for Lazio Manuel Lazzarri's 2.55 times, in the other data SCA （Shot Creating Actions (SCA), Aaron Hickey in the disk in the creation of shooting opportunities although only 0.06 times, but the PR value also has an average or above, is a side show that Aaron Hickey in the disk does give the opponent defense a lot of trouble, you have to rely on the fouls in order to stop.
Spreading out the Scotsman's advanced data on the offensive side of the ball, the 0.67 shot ranking is only the average of all wingbacks, but in the number of shots on goal 0.47 directly delivered a PR value of 80 performance, the percentage of shots on goal has also come to 61.9%, is almost more than the performance of all the wingbacks in this data (PR 95). And in watching Aaron Hickey's game video or online personal essence, will inevitably be his sudden cut shot some surprise, after all, we are generally more common situation, is that the wingback will be in the disk after the simple cut ball to the middle, and the front teammates to do one-two pass or cut directly into the halfspace, overlap, Underlap and so on, causing the opponent's defense in a short period of time confusion; although Aaron Hickey's cutting and shooting is relatively not according to the cards, but perhaps also because of this to achieve the effect of surprise attack, so that the team in the attack is also one more option.
A little reminder, as his inside shot is really impressive. Out of curiosity, I have wondered if Aaron Hickey played as a winger during his youth training, but for as long as records and statistics have been available, Aaron Hickey's position on the field has always been as a left winger (I can't find any information on his youth training that is older ......).
The Iron Wall of Defense
As a competent wingback, not only do you have to get forward on offense to cause pressure on the opponent's side of the road, but the defense is even more important in stopping the threat of opposing wingers. In terms of stats, defensive stats such as 1.44 tackles, 1.24 interceptions and 1.47 clearances per game are not top notch, and most are even in the bottom half of the rankings. However, in the Dribbled past (Note 1) and Blocks (Note 2) two data is 0.35 and 2.11 respectively, in the overall side linebacker PR also came to quite excellent 99 and 69.
Let's pull out one of the finer items of Blocks to look at blocked shots, which is an even better 0.48 per 90 minutes with a PR of 87. Side by side, Aaron Hickey's good positional sense and speed is not lost on other teams' wingers, and I think that these abilities can save Aaron Hickey from having to do some of the more risky breakaway moves, and perhaps explain why Aaron Hickey's numbers on some of the basic breaks, clearances and scoops are below average.
Annotation:
1. Dribbled past: Number of times dribbled past by an opposing player
2. Blocks: blocking the opponent's passing path (Number of times blocking the ball by standing in its path)
strategic decision
Despite having excellent dribbling and breaking ability on the wing, Aaron Hickey's ability to create on the wing is kind of a glaring drawback, often getting caught in a ruck after a break or having to rely on his own individual ability to make another break.
concluding remarks
Aaron Hickey has been nominated for two consecutive years as one of the candidates for the European Golden Boy Award, which is a great honor for a youngster who has just turned 20 years old. But compared to other early stars, it's hard not to like Aaron Hickey's humble and non-complacent personality, which was evident in his first interview with Brentford.
Very much looking forward to what kind of way Aaron Hickey will signal the entire league about his arrival in the opening game of the Premier League in the near future.
