Daniel Ballard: Scouting Report by Juan Pablo Pereira
Name: Daniel Ballard
Age: 24
Height: 1,87cm
Main position: Centerback
Club: Sunderland
Nationality: Northern Ireland/England
Preferred Foot: Right
Market Value: €3.8 million
Player Comparison: Harry Maguire
Key Strengths:
Pass Completion
Positioning
Aerial Duels
Improvements:
Progressive Passing
Background Info:
There are few players in the EFL Championship that excite me more than Daniel Ballard, a 24 year old center-back for Sunderland. Born in Northern Ireland, Ballard was shipped from Arsenal to Sunderland in 2022, and he has been a consistent starter for the Championship side since. Ballard also has some international experience, playing 10 games for the Northern Ireland National Team.
Style of play:
Ballard plays with confidence and a good feel for when to clear a ball. While his tackling ability needs some work, he is generally about to stop attacks by holding his ground and cutting off passing lanes. When in possession, Ballard shows an above-average ability to dribble forward and advance the play that way. However, his progressive passing isn’t the best and he usually circulates the ball between the backline to relieve pressure.
An underrated aspect of Ballard’s game has to be his heading ability. When in the air, he is one of the best in the Championship. Offensively, he is a CB who gets a lot of touches in the opponent’s penalty box. Most of the time, he is there for set pieces or to strike any loose balls that find him. In that regard, he is very similar to Michael Keane and Harry Maguire.
The data shows that Michael Keane and Daniel Ballard are eerily similar players when it comes to their play in the opposing side’s penalty area. However, Ballard shows a higher level of skill in defense, particularly in blocks and tackles.
A better Premier League comparison to Ballard would be Harry Maguire. Aside from a couple of discrepancies in tackles, shot-creating actions, and pass completion, Maguire and Ballard both use their decent stature and build to win aerial battles while taking advantage of loose balls in the box. They both attempt a similar number of passes, but Ballard is usually more accurate. However, comparing players in two different tiers doesn’t do either of them justice, but I will admit that the skills that Ballard possesses usually transfer over to the top leagues; players with his intangibles can win aerial battles anywhere.
So what’s next for Ballard? Staying at Sunderland would be a good option, but I think that a move to the Premier League is not out of the picture. Teams like West Ham, Brentford, and Fulham could be teams that would fare well with an aerial defender like Ballard. A move abroad to the Bundesliga or Serie A is unlikely, but would be cool regardless. Nevertheless, Ballard is one of the more underrated players in the EFL Championship, and I believe that he could be a solid rotation player or even a starter for a team in the top-5 leagues.
With all that said, I don’t believe that his style of play would work on a team like Man City, Brighton, or Arsenal. Many top clubs nowadays favor a more technical CB who can expand and compress positionally as the system sees fit. Ballard is more of a one-dimensional player, and there is nothing wrong with that. Many great players are one-dimensional because they were able to master one key aspect of football. I think Ballard has the talent to do just that.