Jenz and Jullien
Whilst it would be unfair to say the signing of centre back Moritz Jenz on loan from Ligue 1 side Lorient was met with indifference, it certainly didn’t generate the buzz of the Carter-Vickers or Jota recruitments.
Maybe the “loan” element is a factor The reality is Celtic have spent nearly £20m on incomings with little generated from players sold. It is unlikely there will be further significant purchases without some being moved on and fees recouped.
The signing fills an obvious gap. With Starfelt long-term injured and Jullien looking to leave, Celtic are down to Carter-Vickers, Welsh then the untried Lawal. Therefore, with the serious action just over a week away, bodies were needed in this area.
The “loan to buy” market is also a smart one for Celtic who are always limited in their transfer dealings in terms of hard cash given the limited funds generated from Scottish football. Celtic can assess his fit in terms of personality, style of play without committing to buy. If they like what they see, then it becomes a relatively low risk outlay providing the deal is right.
Jenz in 21/22
Ligue 1 is clearly a high standard but Jenz had a difficult season at Lorient following his move from Lausanne Sport. He started there as first choice centre back and played 7 of the first 8 league fixtures.
A thigh problem then intervened and he missed 5 matches. He then played 90 minutes in the next 6 games before losing his place and making only 4 more appearances over the season.
So, how to assess what Celtic have in the 23-year-old German?
For an excellent summary of the young German’s strengths and weaknesses I strongly recommend this piece with a Swiss scout who knows Jen well on 67 Hail Hail.
Benchmarking
Listeners to the Huddle Breakdown (please subscribe) will constantly hear us talk about benchmarking. Coming up with some data that allows a comparison to assess what “good” looks like.
It so happens there are striking similarities between Jenz’s situation and that of the last French centre back recruited from Ligue 1, Christopher Jullien.
In 18/19, Jullien’s Toulouse finished 16th with 36 points, conceding 57 goals and -22 goal difference.
In 21/22, Jenz’s Lorient finished 16th with 36 points, conceding 63 goals and -28 goal difference.
We know how Jullien turned out, so is this a useful benchmark?
Jenz vs Jullien
If you listen to the Hail Hail 67 piece linked above the summary of Jenz’s strengths and weaknesses are:
Strengths:
Strong in the air;
Good range of passing;
Composed on the ball;
Good concentration;
A very well-rounded man with strong leadership traits.
Weaknesses:
Lacks real pace;
Exposed on the turn.
That sounds a lot like Jullien to me!
Let’s compare their data from the two seasons mentioned.
Appearances
Jullien was more experienced and integral at Toulouse as the young German lost his place over the season at Lorient.
Defending
Jenz seems less involved in duels, but had less clearances than the Frenchman.
Jullien is vey aerially dominant (when he signed I wrote about that here). Whilst Jenz looks a little safer in possession, Jullien was more of a duel winning monster.
Encouragingly, his error rate was much lower than Jullien’s, but he was dribbled past more as alluded to in the weaknesses above.
Both players are not averse to a card. Welcome to Scotland, Moritz!
Heatmaps
Here are the relative heatmaps from the two seasons:
Jenz 21/22
Jullien 18/19
Jenz played predominantly off the left centre for Lorient and was happy to make forays over the half way line. He also covered the right side on occasion. He is also drawn wide more often than Jullien. Some of this may be due to team shape and style.
Jullien’s is quite similar but seems denser in the right centre back position with less forays into enemy territory. But more opposition box touches!
Passing
Arguably more important in domestic football, especially with Postecoglou’s sides hogging the ball.
This is where the similarities start to be such that you suspect someone has been scouting using data!
These are incredibly similar passing capabilities and we know from watching Jullien for 1.5 seasons he has a surprisingly potent range of passing. This is important for Celtic, especially with quick breaking forwards.
Attacking
Neither player is going to replicate Ajer’s brining the ball out with feet.
In struggling sides in the benchmarked seasons, neither did too much in front of goal with 1 each and 0.1 per game. But we know that in a dominant side, Jullien was extremely dangerous in both boxes.
Summary
I was probably like many in that the Jenz signing left me a bit meh.
Watching the Hail Hail 67 feature convinces me that once again Postecoglou has recruited a good man and a strong leader with impeccable professional ethics and work rate.
The data comparing Jullien and his last Ligue 1 seasons for very similar sides shows that it is very much the Jullien mould that Celtic have scouted for. They profile very similarly.
That is not to say Jenz will be as good as Jullien – he is much younger.
However, the recruitment makes sense in terms of supplementing the squad with coherent skills.
Welcome to Celtic, Moritz.
This article was written using data from SofaScore and Transfermarkt.