Tajon Buchanan: World Cup one to Watch
Excitement is starting to build all over the world of football as the 2022 FIFA World Cup is mere days away.
For the players, such huge tournaments are the biggest stages they can get to showcase their talents. Nowhere does this ring truer than for under-23 talents.
Therefore, we will be taking a look at a number of young talents who are primed to impress in Qatar this winter.
Today Patrick Caskie joins us to discuss Tajon Buchanan.
International sides often have a single or series of players that symbolize their abilities and style. The player and the group’s identities align, usually as a precursor for “success”, whether that be winning the trophy, outperforming pre-tournament expectations, or putting the country’s name on the map.
It can also work the other way when that player or posse is emblematic of everything wrong with the national team setup, however for Canada, they’re luckily part of the former's camp.
Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies are the star names of the Canadian national team and, to a greater extent, European football itself.
Still, it’s the third amigo who also plays in Europe and best represents all that the national team has to offer, Club Brugge’s Tajon Buchanan.
Tajon, like his teammates and Canadian football as a whole, is exciting, driven, and after years of steady progression and hard hours, is ready to put his name on the footballing map.
Physical and Statistical Profile
Buchanan is long.
His long limbs make him appear taller than he is, but even without this appearance quirk, the fact that he is 6 feet tall makes him in the upper reaches for any winger (his primary position for Canada), or wing-back (his primary position for Club Brugge).
Buchanan is speedy. He has a long stride pattern and long legs, which allow him to cover ground quickly. It’s a tool he uses when both attacking space and defenders in possession.
Out of possession, his speed enables him to maintain pace with opposition wingers and offer insurance in the form of recovery runs.
He's relatively strong, likely helped by his balance, but he isn't the strongest and does struggle against stockier wide target-men. Luckily, he's unlikely to face many of these types of forwards at the World Cup.
Statistically, he’s not without weaknesses, but he certainly also has distinct and consistent strengths.
Above we can see Buchanan’s statistical profiles from his time in Belgium and below his performances for Canada during the Qatar 2022 qualification process. I would be remiss not to note that his club data is filtered against fullbacks and wingbacks, whilst his national team numbers are against wingers, as his primary position for each side differs.