In a transfer that was announced early, and while the season was still ongoing, 21-year-old Swiss international midfielder Ardon Jashari is joining Club Brugge from Swiss Super League side FC Luzern for a fee in the region of €6 million. Jashari has been one of the best defensive midfielders in Switzerland this season, with his potential box-to-box capabilities making him an intriguing midfield option for the Belgian Pro League side next season.
This tactical analysis will be in the form of a scout report, and will analyse Jashari’s skillset and strengths, as well as any potential weaknesses and what he may bring to this Club Brugge midfield.
Positional overview
When talking about where Jashari tends to play on the pitch, the heat map graphic above gives us a little bit of an idea of the areas around the pitch he tends to end up in most often. The 21-year-old has been ever present in the Luzern side this season, playing as the central defensive midfielder in the Swiss side’s typical 4-3-1-2 formation. Jashari also wears the #6 shirt for Luzern, highlighting the defensive midfield role he tends to play in.
However, as we can see from the heat map, while Jashari tends to be most active in the middle and defensive thirds of the pitch, he also will drift forward at times and contribute in the attacking half, highlighted by his five goals and three assists for Luzern this season in the Swiss Super League. These moments, however, are few and far between, with his most likely role at Club Brugge playing as part of a double pivot in their preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, with Jashari potentially being deployed as the more defensive-minded of the two deeper lying midfielders.
Ability on the ball to break down opposition low block defensive shapes
When watching Ardon Jashari’s performances for FC Luzern, it is hard to look past the Swiss international’s distribution and ball progression as likely his biggest strength. While he plays in a defensive midfielder role, he is the engine for Luzern, with most of the Swiss side’s attacking builds going through the 21-year-old.
The graphic above shows Jashari’s progressive passes this season in all competitions for Luzern, with the pink arrows highlighting progressive passes played into the penalty area. As we can see, this is an area of his game where Jashari has tended to excel. From a statistical standpoint, Jashari has played 52 through passes in the Swiss Super League this season, the most by any player in the division. The 21-year-old also displays just under an 80% progressive passing accuracy while also averaging 6.75 passes to the final third per 90 minutes.
Jashari does not look always to force the ball forward, he will play it sideways and backwards if needed, but his forward ball progression ability from this deeper lying midfield position is why he was the bridge between the Luzern defence and attack during build-up phases. He could play a similar role with Club Brugge next season.
This image above shows a great example of the vision and ball progression ability that Ardon Jashari possesses. In this attacking phase from Luzern, the Swiss international finds himself in the attacking half of the pitch, operating in the right half-space. He receives the ball from the wide player, making an overlapping run beyond him, with this movement affording Jashari the space to move into a more central area and look up to find a passing option.
Jashari spots the centre-forward looking to make an in-to-out run between the opposition centre-backs, with the left side of the opposition’s defence detached and operating in a wider position. The defensive midfielder spots the forward’s run and plays a perfectly weighted through pass beyond the opposition defence, splitting the left-sided centre-back and left fullback. It results in an attempt on goal for the forward, showing how Jashari’s progressive passing ability can catch opposition defences out quickly.
This figure above shows another example of Jashari’s vision and ball distribution. In this phase of play, again, Jashari is operating in the attacking half of the pitch and drives into a similar position like the previous example. We already talked about how the Swiss international led the Swiss Super League this season in through passes, and here is another example of why he excels in this regard.
As the midfielder drives into a more central area, the opposition defence looks to get tight and compact, with Jashari beginning to get closed down by two opposition players. Jashari is able to spot the run on the weak side of the winger, with the opposition fullback trying to step up to trigger the offside trap. However, it did not work, with the 21-year-old playing a ball straight through the opposition defence calmly under pressure, with the winger able to run onto the pass and round the goalkeeper before finishing into an empty net.
Ardon Jashari also has the ability to play passes over the top of the defence in the attacking half as opposed to just on the ground. In this phase of play above, the 21-year-old is possessing the ball in the attacking third, with the opposition defence operating in a low block defensive shape. With no opportunities for Jashari to play through the opposition, he looks to play over.
He spots the wide midfielder making an out-to-in run centrally into the penalty area. The Swiss international proceeds to play a looping pass over the top of the defence and between the right-sided central defender and right fullback. The ball lands just outside the six-yard box, preventing the goalkeeper from coming to claim and allowing the attacker to get a shot off on the volley, just missing a goal.
As this section has illustrated, Ardon Jashari’s biggest strengths are likely his vision and ball progression ability. The 21-year-old midfielder has plenty in his locker to break down and play through opposition mid and even low-block shapes while in possession.
Growing into a goalscorer
While usually deployed as a defensive midfielder by Luzern, Jashari has turned into more of a threat in front of goal this season compared to previous campaigns. This campaign, the twice-capped Swiss international has managed six goals across all competitions for the Swiss side, with his previous highest tally being only 1 goal, achieved in both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns.
The graphic above shows the total number of shots attempted by Ardon Jashari in all competitions this season, and highlights that while the 21-year-old does not find himself in goalscoring positions often, he has had an increase in his contribution in this area of the pitch this season. The majority of the midfielder’s shots have come from outside the penalty area, with not many of them being put on target. All 6 of his goals have come from inside the penalty area, usually from late runs into the box from deeper lying positions to exploit a gap in the opposition’s penalty box defensive shape.
Most of Jashari’s goals have come from late runs into the penalty box from deeper areas, as we already discussed, but in general, most of his goals come from his movement off the ball that allows him the opportunity to score. This set of figures shows a good example of this. In this first image, Jashari is driving forward with his teammate, who is in possession. The Swiss international uses his innate movement off the ball to run across his teammate and into the half-space to make a run beyond the defence and into the penalty area, isolating them 2v1 against the opposition full-back and giving the defender a decision to make.
As the phase of play progresses, the opposition fullback decides to stay at home, allowing the player in possession to continue driving towards the edge of the penalty box. Jashari’s overlapping run beyond allows him the space to be played into by his teammate, with the midfielder’s first-time shot with his left foot bent into the far corner past the diving goalkeeper.
In general, Jashari will not be coming into Club Brugge to be a goalscoring threat. Jashari is likely being brought in by the Belgian club to supplement their defensive midfield position, with Raphael Onyedika really being the only standout bona fide defensive midfielder currently at the club. However, if Jashari is able to continue to improve his goalscoring output next season after moving to Belgium, then Club Brugge could put out a starting XI with goalscoring threats all throughout the midfield areas
Making his presence known on the defensive side
Jashari has also begun to make his presence known more often on the defensive side of the game, with the Swiss midfielder not afraid to get stuck into challenges with opposing players. The Swiss international has averaged 6.02 defensive duels per 90 minutes in the Swiss Super League this season while being successful in just under 59% of his defensive duels.
The graphic above shows the defensive territory of Ardon Jashari this season, highlighting the ground that the 21-year-old midfielder is able to cover in the defensive phase of play. Most of his defensive actions occur in either the middle third or defensive third of the pitch, typical of a player operating as a defensive midfielder. A potential concern is that Jashari has committed two fouls inside the penalty box this season, which, of course, means he was directly responsible for conceding two penalties. However, he did not commit many fouls in the middle third of the pitch this season, which at least shows he demonstrates plus defensive ability, even though in possession is where he tends to excel.
From a defensive standpoint, there is not much to mention in regards to how Jashari looks to play in the defensive phase. The 21-year-old is a plus player from a defensive perspective, at least when it comes to ground duels. This phase shows how the Swiss international looks to defend, with Jashari tending to opt for a more passive approach defensively, which is shown by his minimal amount of fouls committed in the middle third of the pitch.
Jashari looks to force the opposition player in possession into their own mistakes, which then allows the midfielder to win possession back without as much fear of committing a foul. In this phase of play above, we can see the initial challenge when the opponent receives possession. Jashari puts pressure on him when his back is to goal, giving him a slight nudge forward to attempt and put him off balance.
We can see in the image above what happens after Jashari’s pressure on the opponent from behind when his back was to goal. The slight nudge that Jashari gives is able to put the attacker off balance, with the ball getting slightly away from him as he goes to turn and drive towards goal. This slight error is what Jashari is able to take advantage of, with the Swiss international able to win possession and start his side off on a counterattack.
When it comes to the defensive side of his game, Ardon Jashari is not much of a destroyer as a defensive midfielder. He tends to be more patient in 1v1 defending or in loose ball duels, with the 21-year-old looking for the opposition player in possession to make an error that he can capitalise on, or using tight pressure to allow him to opportunity to get a foot in on a challenge without risking fouling the opponent.
Potential areas of weakness
When analysing potential areas of weakness for Ardon Jashari, the most glaring one is probably his lack of presence aerially, with 5’11” midfielder not the strongest when it comes to aerial duels. In fact the Swiss midfielder only attempts 0.82 aerial duels per 90 minutes, showing his lack of ability in this area of his game.
This lack of aerial presence is probably his greatest area of weakness and one that opposition forwards will look to take advantage of in the Belgian Pro League next season. This is an area of his game that has the potential to at least be slightly improved, and he likely will have the capability to slightly improve it come his move to Belgium this summer.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis and scout report has been able to illustrate, Ardon Jashari was a very smart signing by Club Brugge. They were quick to sign him and announce his signing before other clubs got into the race, with rumours of Premier League clubs being interested in him at one point. Getting his signing over the line early allows him to have a full preseason with his new team, get used to the tactics, and hopefully allowing him to settle in sooner so he can hit the ground running when the Belgian Pro League gets back underway for the 2024/25 season.
