Diamonds in the Rough: Faustino Anjorin

Chelsea’s academy teams of recent seasons have been so good that I’ve seen their games described as “boys against men against Anjorin.”

Such is Faustino Anjorin’s dominance, even amongst all-conquering Chelsea youth sides, he’s put in a category all of his own, head and shoulders (literally and figuratively) above the rest.

When you watch him, that starts to make sense.

A towering player who is still somehow co-ordinated and fleet of foot, Anjorin is a complete mismatch for defenders in youth team football.

Anjorin’s another one off the Cobham production line, having progressed through their various age groups from the age of 7. He made his senior debut at the age of 18 in the 7–1 win against Grimsby in the Carabao cup earlier this season and followed that up by making his Premier League debut off the bench in the final game before football was suspended in the UK.

Moments after being subbed on for Willian and achieving something he’d undoubtedly dreamed about since he was a boy, the ball bounced to Anjorin about 30 yards out and… he ballooned a shot into the stratosphere. Not exactly the most auspicious of starts but you have to admire the audacity of someone who is brave enough to take on a shot like that with literally his first touches in senior league football.

He was steady, if unspectacular, throughout his 20 minute cameo and was ultimately outshone by Billy Glimour, who was also making his Premier League debut in that match. There were a few glimpses of the type of player that Anjorin is sprinkled throughout that game but you can get a better idea from some of his youth performances.

Movement and Dribbling

One of the most striking things is how he moves; for someone so tall, Anjorin glides across the pitch, dancing between defenders and breezing through the lines with the ball at his feet:

He’s quick off the mark and once he gets going, it’s incredibly difficult to stop him:

And it’s not just driving runs from deep that he has in his dribbling repertoire — he can navigate his way through tight spaces, pirouette around defenders, and bulldoze anyone in his way:

Anjorin’s not an attacking midfielder who is content to sit in the hole and thread passes through — he wants to get forward and score goals himself. Footage is more scarce for youth football but in the game against a strong Swindon side in the Leasing.com trophy earlier this season, you can see how eager Anjorin is to provide a goal threat:

First he arrives late on the edge of the box and is cool enough to slot home a finish with his right foot after a blocked shot (featuring a cracking pass from Billy Gilmour in the process):

…then, as his striker drops off, he runs beyond his team-mate to spearhead the attack and steers home a first-time finish with his left foot:

And that’s what his game is all about, really. This goal against West Ham encapsulates him:

He finds a pocket of space, has a rapid check over his shoulder before he receives the pass, plays it out wide, fills the box, finds the finish. It’s class.

Despite his height and strength, there’s a grace to the way Anjorin plays football. Throughout these clips from an England u-19 game, you can see how Anjorin uses his body to shrug off defenders…

… and how elegantly he takes the ball on the half-turn with both feet on what looks like a difficult surface:

Allowing the ball to run across his body before he controls it so he can dribble into space is a textbook move when he drifts into wide areas. The chipped pass doesn’t come off with this one but it’s a nice example of the way Anjorin helps his team change gears in the final third.

His physique is a major asset as it gives him the ability to play with his back to goal and function almost as a withdrawn target man. Although he gives the ball away with a sloppy pass here, you can see how much trouble he causes when he pins his body against the defender:

It’s also encouraging to see him working to press from behind after the turnover to win possession back for his team high up the pitch.

Out of Possession

He’s not a passenger defensively and is capable of putting in the hard yards to win back possession for his team.

Given the way he plays and the frequency with which he tries to dribble through the middle of the pitch, he’s a bit prone to losing possession in dangerous areas. But he works hard to compensate for errors and supports his backline by chasing the player in possession…

… and is willing to drop in to act as the ball winner in deeper areas if he needs to. Once possession is regained, he offers himself for a pass to alleviate the pressure on his defence, rather than immediately running back up the pitch by himself.

Mostly, though, he does his defending in the opposition half. Here he slightly clumsily bullies a Norwich City defender to nick the ball away and then scores from the turnover:

Against Arsenal he closes down an errant back pass, capitalises on the defensive mix-up his pressure causes, and then scores:

Here he presses Liverpool’s right-back, forces the mistake, gets the return pass from Batshuayi, throws in a step-over, slaloms between two defenders, and then scores:

“…and then scores” is a common refrain with Anjorin. There aren’t manys 10s with his build and that really sets him apart. Given their physiques and the club they play for, Ruben Loftus-Cheek feels like the easy and slightly lazy comparison, but Anjorin’s thirst for goals is perhaps more reminiscent of Abdoulaye Doucouré’s role at Watford under Nigel Pearson or maybe even early Poch-era Dele Alli?

Whenever a physically dominant player excels in academy football, there are inevitably doubts about how well that will translate to the senior game, where he’ll be faced with playing against grown adults every week. It becomes a question of parsing out how much of that dominance is down to physical mismatches and how much is a reflection of skill and ability. Some of those doubts will linger but the physical side of the game shouldn’t be an issue for Anjorin — he’s obviously built for senior football already.

The bigger question is just what Chelsea have planned for him. Given their approach thus far under Lampard and the uncertainty over the summer transfer window, there’s a case to be made that sticking around at Stamford Bridge is the best bet for him. But dislodging Mason Mount in his favoured position will prove difficult and with Chelsea in an almost unique position of strength in the transfer market, thanks to last season’s ban, the number 10 role feels like an area they may choose to strengthen in.

Anjorin’s skillset as a goal-scoring midfielder/10 is extremely valuable and there should be no shortage of suitors should Chelsea decide he needs some extra development before playing in the Premier League. Generally speaking, taking players on their first loan is a bad idea because it rarely works out — often that first loan is the first time these boys will have spent any time away from home, in a new place away from their friends and family and the familiar environment of their parent club. As such it usually takes them a while to find their feet and adapt. Utilising the club’s relationship with Swansea would seem like an obvious option, but with Conor Gallagher already there performing a similar type of role to Anjorin, they might end up impeding each other’s growth slightly.

Regardless of where he ends up in the next 12 months, Anjorin is an exciting prospect who is on the cusp of making a big break through.