Sepp van den Berg

Sepp van den Berg
Image from: freelargeimages.com

Sepp van den Berg





Current Club: Preston North End (on loan from Liverpool)

Previous Clubs: PEC Zwolle

Loan Clubs: Preston North End.





International: N/A

Trophies Won: FIFA Club World Cup 2020, UEFA Supercup 2020.





The teenager has just joined PNE on loan as part of the deal that took Ben Davies to Liverpool and he desperately needs a run of games at adult level. At the moment he is defending like a bully at youth level, as he is strong and bulky for his age now, but he will not have that advantage in the Championship.



The worry is that he has based his game on using his bulk to ease attackers under headers to allow a partner to sweep up the ball behind, as that does not work when he is up against fully grown men. He needs to learn how to deal with a stronger forward, to know when to attack the ball, rather than just stop the attacker getting it or when to drop off and collect it.



Van Den Berg is not the tallest and is not particularly strong in the air either, he is more of a modern day ball-playing centre-back. He is very comfortable on the ball and has a good touch with either foot but, and it is a big but, he has a tendency to dwell on the ball and try overly risky passes which go astray.



He does have decent pace, but he needs that to make up for his positioning, which can be suspect, as he does tend to stray a bit too far forward at times. In all he reminds me a lot of John Stones when he was going through his bad patch. That same tendency to take needless risks and play himself and teammates into trouble trying to be too clever.



The same good touch and pace that often gets him out of trouble of his own making and the desire to play out from the back under heavy pressure. At just 19 years old he has plenty of time to develop his game and learn to be a better defender, but he is a long way off being ready for the Premier League at the moment.





Requested by - Livebird31