I AM still a bit confused and surprised that I am somehow writing an article profiling a prospective right-winger for Rangers in November of 2022.
It’s been pretty clear for about two seasons that the Ibrox club are fundamentally lacking a left-footed dynamic threat on the right wing but for one reason or another, the club are yet to fill that void.
Nonetheless, I write, and I will profile another fun and effective right-winger for Rangers to consider. This time let’s take a look at Silkeborg’s Sebastian Jorgensen, who has been one of the Danish Superligaen’s more underrated youngsters.
Jorgensen’s personal fortunes largely match that of his club side Silkeborg. He broke into the first team in the 20/21 season at the age of 20 in Denmark’s 1. Division. He and his team alike made light work of the league and have thrived in the Superligaen ever since, even looking like a credible title challenger this year in the absence of a dominant FC Copenhagen, Midtjylland or Brondby.
Physical and Statistical Profile
One of the slight drawbacks of Jorgensen’s game is his physical profile. He has a reasonably expansive frame, generally comparing in height with his defensive matchup rather than to other wingers. He’s certainly not an exponent of break-neck pace, although he does have a good motor and a decent top speed, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t decelerate when assuming possession. Jorgensen lacks an extensive injury history, missing only 11 games in the past three seasons, two of which were due to a covid infection, and no absences in the past two calendar years.
Jorgensen’s statistical profile can be described as a little bit of everything Rangers are missing. For what he lacks in the ability to consistently beat his man with the ball or provide accurate crosses, Rangers have in droves. What he does have, importantly, is the ability to generate high-quality chances for himself and others and score goals consistently.
Jorgensen’s profile has remained relatively similar to the one above for all his three seasons of professional football, demonstrating that, as a footballer, he knows what he does well and consistently does that. Encouragingly you would expect that in the event Jorgensen moves from Silkeborg to a side like Rangers, who enjoy a far greater dominance domestically, replicating his numbers shouldn't be too much of an issue, and there is indeed scope for them to improve, somehow. Jorgensen has also taken to European football well, being one of Silkeborg’s standout performers in the UEFA Conference League group, managing two goals and two assists.
Goals, Goals, Goals
As mentioned earlier, Jorgensen has been able to scale his output vis-à-vis Silkeborg’s rise. He’s shown off an incredibly consistent goalscoring prowess for his tender age and what is typically expected of young wingers in front of goal.
In 2022/23 so far, Jorgensen is averaging 0.49 goals and 0.33 xG p90, his equivalent numbers in 21/22 were 0.4 and 0.4 p90, and for his debut 20/21 season, it was 0.48 and 0.38. Each of these seasons in isolation is incredibly impressive, but given that he has three quality seasons at just 22 bodes well for his goalscoring body of work.
A lot of Jorgensen’s success in front of goal is born out of his optimal shot selection. Above, we can see his shot map from the past calendar year. Like any winger or midfielder, there are a plethora of attempts from outside the box. There is a considerable mass of shots in the box, reminiscent of a striker. Inherently he’s left-footed, so the right-corner bias is natural and often leads to some spectacular curling efforts, like the one seen below.
Jorgensen’s ability to make something out of nothing is commendable and indeed a string to his bow; however, his more replicable skill and more profitable is his attacking movement and positioning. It’s cliche, but it’s striker-esque. An excellent example of this can be seen below. Here Jorgensen has drifted into the box from the left half-space, adding numbers to a promising attack for Silkeborg. He doesn’t receive the ball initially, but a poor touch from an FCSB defender leaves the ball free; Jorgensen is the first to get there and then sticks the ball in the back of the net.
A different example of Jorgensen’s ability to slip past the defender and extract value out of space can be seen below. Here Jorgensen identifies the pass between his two teammates and immediately shifts forward to offer the third chain in the link. The Horsens’s defenders are preoccupied with ball-watching, so Jorgensen is slipped in without much fuss. He then slots the ball into the bottom left corner.
Jorgensen’s valuable manufacturing of space around and in the box, as the last two examples have shown; however, he is also very effective at taking advantage of swathes of space proxy late third-man runs. This shot-and-chance type is often seen at Rangers, with the typical architects being James Tavernier or Scott Arfield. Here we see him move from the left half-space centrally, arriving at the edge of the box as his teammate hits the byline. He is then played in and slots the ball into the top corner.
At Rangers, Jorgensen will undoubtedly score goals. His methods and abilities match well with what this current and any Rangers side do well, and the increased possession and shot quantity should excite the Dane.
Passing
What drew my attention to Jorgensen was his goal-scoring; that’s just natural, but what led me down this rabbit hole is his role in possession and chance-creation abilities. Despite scoring plenty of goals, Jorgensen is perhaps better at setting up his teammates, and as such, the tag “goal-scoring” winger does reign true; it maybe sells Jorgensen short.
For Silkeborg, Jorgensen is a central tenant of their build-up play, so much so that he receives a greater number of passes p90 than any other attacking midfielder in Denmark. He is almost a proxy number 10 at times, inhabiting the central channels and half-spaces. Below we can see his general passing tendencies. He’s reasonably accurate over the piece, plays the ball often inside and behind when on the wing, whilst preferring a more proactive and vertical approach when central.
A good example of his vertical central play can be seen below. Here we see him thread in his left-winger who is trying hit the byline.
If we look at his horizontal play whilst on the wing, the most common form this takes is switches of play. Below we can see a great example of this being effective; Jorgensen sends the ball to his opposite winger, which results in an overload when combined with the centre-forwards position.
As we’ve established Jorgensen is comfortable in possession in the middle third; his effectiveness and influence only compounds as we enter the final third. Below we can see his shot assists from the past calendar year. Here we can we see a great mix of vertical and diagonal box entries and a healthy stream of successful right-sided corners.
A great example of a vertical box entry is seen in the screenshot below. Here, Jorgensen identifies a large swathe of space in front of him and a teammate running towards it. He plays it with perfect weighting and placement, sliding past the help defender and providing his teammate with a relatively open shot on goal.
The most straightforward evaluation is that Jorgensen retains much value on the pitch even when he’s not scoring. His consistent ability to find teammates and comfort with lots of possession should see him transition well into a side like Rangers, who enjoy a significantly high possession share.
Dribbling
Jorgensen is not the world’s best dribbler, but he is intelligent and has clean technique. He’s very cute, sometimes overly utilising a range of flicks and body feints in an attempt to beat his defensive matchup. He’s also very comfortable receiving the ball with his back to the goal or backed up on a defender.
Jorgensen is effective at gaining yardage akin to a running back in American Football. It’s less about straight-line speed and more about breaking down angles for Jorgensen. We can see an excellent example of this when Jorgensen identifies that he can quickly push the ball in front of the defender, beat him, and then be in on goal.
Despite being an effective outlet and target to progress the ball, Jorgensen is better and more comfortable when on the ball in and around the penalty box. Below we can see his dribbles in the final third from the past calendar year. No surprise to see almost all of the moves starting on the right side, as he loves to cut in on his left. What’s most impressive is Jorgensen’s ability to transform a basic dribble move into a shooting opportunity, there is always a purpose to his movement, and that is either to shoot or find someone who will.
The perfect example of this is seen below, where Jorgensen slips past three Randers defenders before smashing the ball into the top corner.
Similarly, we see him below pick up the ball in the FCSB box before slaloming past a few defenders towards the right side of the box, where he knows he will be able to get a shot off.
Jorgensen differs from the vast majority of Rangers' existing wingers. He’s neither as flashy nor rapid as Ryan Kent or Fashion Sakala, but his utility and intelligence allow him to be as effective if not more than the aforementioned duo.
Fit and Feasibility
Yes to both. Sign him as soon as possible for a good price before he goes to Germany, Netherlands or Belgium and kills it.
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