Best Alternatives to James McConnell

Top 3 Alternatives to James McConnell

1. 1.Kees Smit82% DNA match·AZ€22.0M
2. 2.Jerdy Schouten81% DNA match·PSV€22.0M
3. 3.Youri Regeer82% DNA match·Ajax€5.0M

Ranked by AI DNA similarity — 768 dimensions across playing style, pressing intensity, and tactical fit.

Playing Style Analysis

A Ball-Winner. Statistically, he stands out as wins the physical battle (62% duel success). Note: this profile is based on 567 minutes of playing time this season. The three most similar players to James McConnell by playing style are:

• Kees Smit(82% match) — A Box-to-Box. Statistically, he stands out as an elite creator (1.6 key passes/90), meticulous in distribution (88% pass accuracy), heavily involved in play (67 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.5 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions. However, he loses possession under pressure (1.6 dispossessed/90).
• Jerdy Schouten(81% match) — Schouten is the kind of midfielder who makes a team's possession game feel inevitable rather than effortful—a metronome who rarely wastes a touch and almost never wastes a pass. His 92.3% pass accuracy and 75.3 passes per 90 both sit in the Eredivisie's top five percent, meaning he isn't just accurate, he's relentlessly active with the ball. The 10.32 passes into the final third per 90 is the counterintuitive number here: for a player who reads as a deep-lying anchor, he's consistently threading the needle forward, ranking top ten in the league.
• Youri Regeer(82% match) — A Ball-Winner. Statistically, he stands out as an aggressive ball-winner (3.0 tackles/90), meticulous in distribution (92% pass accuracy), wins the physical battle (62% duel success), heavily involved in play (70 touches/90) and a high-intensity presser (press score 3.0/90), constantly disrupting opposition build-up.

Similarity is calculated using per-90 performance data across multiple playing style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →