James Hill is making the most of his loan spell from Bournemouth to Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. He’s technically a center-back, but this season he has been deputized at right-back as well. Check out more on the 22-year-old defender, and how he can be a great asset for Bournemouth and Iraola when he returns.
Hill's History
James Hill was born, (January 10, 2002), in Bristol, England to two English parents. His father had a long playing career in the lower leagues, which may have been the inspiration for James, and his brother to play professionally.
Hill came through the Fleetwood academy before joining Bournemouth in 2022. Since then he has been on loan twice. (Hearts & Blackburn)
He stands at 1.84m making him physically competent to play in the English leagues, and a fair comparison could be the likes of Joe Gomes from Liverpool.
James Hill Playstyle
The physically dominant defender often facilitates helping teams play out from the back with his good abilities on the ball. Albeit maybe not elite, but you feel comfortable enough when he has it. Lastly, he's great in the air, and has a knack for winning defensive duels at a rate high enough to be great.
James Hill (22) stats this season: (Championship)
- 18 Matches played (14 Started)
- 3 Clean Sheets
- 1 Goal + 3 Assists
Lockdown Defense
Since Hill has played both right-back, and center-back, we are comparing his defensive stats to other center-backs in the next 7 leagues.
As you can see he is ranking among the top 10% for tackles all over the field, as well as interceptions. But, that could be skewered by the fact he is getting to run about more often.
Secondly, his defensive duels are a great sign that he is winning his matchups regularly. It’s hard to find pain points when there aren’t many significant flaws to his defense.
Defense Rating
Modern Day Defender
Since he has an unfair advantage of game time out wide, we will compare his passing metrics to other fullbacks.
Generally, compared to other fullbacks only, he does very well in some metrics. Just in terms of passing, he is far beyond other fullbacks in volume, accuracy, and progressiveness.
He’s managed to find himself in some good situations playing the final pass every couple of games. However, that’s not the type of wing-back he is. Hill is more of a classic right-back if that needs to be explained.
He can be relied upon, but I wouldn’t compare him to some other young ballplayers such as Todibo, or Scalvini.
On The Ball Rating
James Hill FInal Remarks
Overall Rating
The 22-year-old defender has a long career in front of him, and he seems like a great fit for Iroala, who is looking to continue to evolve Bournemouth. They play a great free-flowing style that requires everyone on the field to be committed, as well as comfortable in different situations.
Altogether, just make sure you keep an eye on him and Blackburn because they seem to be putting together some decent young players.
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