Jason Tré (’98) RB — Stade Lavallois

Welcome! In my first piece scouting lower league talent across Europe, I analyse French Championnat National 1(Division 3) full-back Jason Tré. Enjoy!

Jason Tré currently plays for Stade Lavallois who compete in the French 3rd tier.

As an attacking full-back that offensively is one of the strongest full-backs in the division, Tré certainly has the potential to be a success at Ligue 2 level. However, he needs to make some important defensive improvements if clubs higher up are to recruit him, as outlined below.

In Possession

Tré has a tremendous combination of acceleration over five yards and balance that enables him to progress the ball whilst isolated. As shown below, Tré’s ability to quickly change direction combined with very good technical ability makes him a progressive threat.

The consistent quality of his first touch enables him quickly open out before being closed down by an opponent, a key factor in him being able to progress.

The strength of his attacking play in comparison to other National 1 right-backs is shown in this diagram. Whilst he attempts a low number of progressive passes, they are mostly accurate.

In addition, the high number of progressive runs and successful dribbles further highlights the strong technical and physical components of his game highlighted in the previous clip.

These technical and physical strengths are clear when looking at the video, clearly highlighting him as physically one of the most dynamic and explosive players in the division.

The second clip to the left also shows the awareness that he demonstrates of where his teammates are in relation to him, an attribute that is backed up by the accuracy of his progressive passes.

The clip below highlights this accuracy. Once again, the quality of his forward passing is not just a result of good passing technique, but a positive first touch that immediately opens out the pitch, and then good awareness to find his teammate in behind.

So, Tré is one of the most well rounded and threatening full-backs in the division, using a combination of physical dynamism, awareness and strong technical ability to create opportunities and make successful progressions for Laval this season.

Out of Possession

Whilst Tré is one of the best full-backs in National 1 in possession, he has very important deficiencies defensively that needs to correct before he is able to step up a level.

The scatter graph above shows Tré as being quite unsuccessful in defensive duels, whilst making a relatively high number of interceptions when adjusted for possession. Let’s explore this using the video.

Tré’s area he needs to develop the most is his positional understanding in the back four. The clip below shows Tré attempting to cover the inside space between himself and the RCB:

Tré initially makes the right decision by facing inwards to cover the inside channel in an attempt to force the pass wide. However, he leaves the gap too wide and then fails to react quickly to the through ball attempt and the pass is able to get through.

Once again, his poor positional understanding is shown in the clip above. Tré does not attempt to cover the area behind the CB’s at the back post, and is not alert to any potential blindside run towards the far post. With the ball wide on the far side, he must get into a position to cover the cross at the back post but fails to do so.

Tré also shows a tendency to step up onto an attacker when it is not necessary, which could partially explain his poor duel win %. In the clip above, Tré steps high to press the opposition forward who has dropped deep, even though that is the CB’s job, allowing the winger to run in behind into the space that he has vacated.

In the clip above, he is able to recover and stop the attack, however if he is to step up to Ligue 2 he won’t be able to make up for his poor positional understanding and decision making with his strong physical attributes.

This tendency to rush out onto attackers, demonstrating a poor reading of the game, explains the high number of defensive duels he is involved in per game, and since some of these are misjudged he subsequently loses more duels than most other right-backs in the National 1.

His 1v1 defending also has issues. Despite his physical dynamism in possession, he struggles to use it consistently whilst defending 1v1 situations as shown in the clip below. This would point once again to a poor overall reading of the game and in this case a failure to identify and react to quick changes of direction from the opposition.

So, despite having strong physical attributes that undoubtedly aid his defending, these make up for poor general positional and defensive decision making in his game that is shown in his low defensive duel win %.

Overall Thoughts

Tré undoubtedly has the core physical and technical attributes that gives him the potential to play in Ligue 2. This area of his game is at Ligue 2 level, however his defensive positional understanding and reading of the game is holding him back from taking that next step.

Whilst he is definitely most suited to playing as a wing-back in a 5/3 at the back formation, Laval consistently use a back 4 which is good for him in developing his positional understanding which is what is needed if he is to step up.

Thank you for reading! I hope this informed you about the strengths and areas for development of Stade Lavallois right-back Jason Tré!

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