Adam Wharton – a very special talent in the Championship by Saul Morris

This report is going to be analysing Blackburn Rovers’ Adam Wharton. This will be focusing on his strengths and weaknesses as well as assessing both his current ability and potential ability. 

Biography:

Name: Adam Wharton

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: June 2^nd, 2004

Height: 1.82m (6”0)

Strong Foot: Left

Current Club: Blackburn Rovers

Position: Centre Midfielder/Defensive Midfielder

Value: €3.5m

An extremely promising English midfielder that is currently flourishing in an expansive Blackburn Rovers team that has aspirations of a playoff push. Wharton is enjoying his first season as a starter at Blackburn following his breakout season in 22/23. He is playing for his hometown club, under a manager who is more than happy to give youth a chance in John Dahl Tomasson and also playing alongside his older brother Scott, this all is providing Wharton with the best platform to learn, grow and become the best player he can be. 

Career Summary:

Wharton made his senior debut in the 22/23 season and went on to make 18 appearances in the Championship, as well as 4 in the EFL cup. This season he has cemented himself as a starter playing in all 5 Championship games so far, playing the full game in 4 of them. He has also played 6 games for the England Under 19’s and it should not be too much longer before he gets appearances for the above age groups.

Style of Play:

Adam Wharton is a box to box player who has the stamina and work rate to be equally as effective on both ends of the pitch. On the ball he has fantastic technical ability and is more than capable using both feet with no reduction in quality. His aggressive nature and strong desire to win the ball and his lovely technical ability when breaking the lines with either his passing or strong ball carrying solo runs are all very similar to a young Jack Wilshere when he was breaking through and rising at Arsenal before injuries derailed his career. They both display such confidence despite their age to take on any battle and challenge and want to be the orchestrator for attacks whilst also defending well when needed. Wharton tends to stay fairly central, defending the middle of the pitch and the half spaces but does not tend to drift out wide and defend the flanks.

As this heat map shows, Wharton has the role of a deep lying playmaker as he starts from his own half and likes to progress the ball but does get up to join in with the attacks he orchestrates.

Wharton’s main strengths would be; Vision, ball carrying, work rate, defensive aggression and IQ. He likes to pick the ball up from the backline and his excellent ball carrying and vision allows him to break the pressing lines with his drives forward and his pinpoint passes. This helps to launch quick counter attacks and progress the ball up the pitch with speed and efficiency. His work rate is excellent, it allows him to contribute to attacks and defensive transitions with full effectiveness for the whole game to ensure there are no gaps in the midfield the opposition can exploit. His defensive aggression show how eager he is to win the ball back whenever Blackburn lose it, he chases down every loose ball and gets stuck into every challenge always giving 100%. His IQ is the most impressive thing, this is something the young players struggle with more than the experienced ones but Wharton has wonderful football IQ. He seems to always know the right pass to make, the right position to be in and it is shaping him up to be a fantastic leader in the future.

In terms of his weaknesses, there are not many. He is becoming a complete midfielder however no player is without room for improvement and Wharton is no different. His main weaknesses would be; casual approach to passes in defensive third, naivety in 50/50 challenges and covering the wide space. Wharton can be too casual when trying to play out very deep into his own defensive third and due to his excellent passing ability, more often than not it works out fine. However when it does not and his casual approach leads to a pass being too short and intercepted it puts his side in danger. His naivety in 50/50 challenges can lead to him being beaten far too easily on occasions. He dives in when unnecessary which lets the attacker skip past him, he needs more defensive discipline to know when to dive in and when to stand up. Covering the wide space is not so much a weakness as more of another thing he could add to his game. As a central midfielder the wide spaces are of course not his territory however when the opposition are overloading one flank he should come over to at least plug the gap and prevent his fullbacks and wingers from being doubled up.

Potential:

Adam Wharton has an extremely high ceiling; his game is very different to the traditional English midfielder which sets him apart from the rest. Blackburn Rovers provide a good platform for him to get a very good amount of minutes and be an integral part of the team week in week out. This is his first full season as a starter so from 2024 onwards there will be Premier League clubs coming calling for him and the England senior team call up will not be too far behind them should that happen.