The Athletic - EFL ones to watch: Hayden Hackney
- Thread starter Magic Man
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Magic Man
Well-known member
A miserable, never-ending season of defeats in 2021-22 must feel like a lifetime ago to Hayden Hackney now.
On loan at League Two Scunthorpe United, the central midfielder played a part in just two wins all season as they were relegated from the EFL and dropped into the fifth tier. It was a cruel first full campaign for the 20-year-old, but the lessons learned were invaluable if his performances in 2022-23 are any measure.
Fresh off the back of signing a new contract that will keep him at Middlesbrough until 2027 — smart business from his boyhood club given suitors have been flocking to the Riverside Stadium to watch him — the picture looks markedly different from the dour days he spent at Glanford Park.
Last year was Hackney’s breakthrough season as Michael Carrick took over as Boro boss in late October, with the team one point above the relegation zone, and turned the ship around, leading a surge up the Championship table to finish fourth. In the end, a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Coventry City in the play-off semi-final would stop the former Manchester United man pulling off a stunning feat in his first season in management — but they will be back this season and Hackney will be at the heart of things.
A product of the club’s academy, it is no coincidence that Hackney’s rise in the senior team has come in tandem with their progress. His smooth style and ability to execute line-breaking passes are his biggest assets and have led to comparisons to his Champions League-winning manager in the heart of midfield under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
The stills below from the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Coventry show one example of the type of pass Hackney has executed time and again since being handed a starring role in Carrick’s team.
After receiving the ball from Ryan Giles — who had a strong season on loan from Wolves, with an impressive 11 assists from left full-back — Hackney took a touch out of his feet and read the movement of Cameron Archer.
His delayed arrival at the top of the box made this move possible, but the weight of pass and execution from a position with limited options put Boro into a dangerous position, where Archer won a corner.
In 32 appearances in all competitions, Hackney provided four assists and scored three times, with his first senior goal coming a few weeks after his first start, against Wigan Athletic in October 2022.
After 31 appearances all season while on loan at Scunthorpe, being handed a chance last season was not a given for Hackney, with Carrick’s predecessor, Chris Wilder, not favouring him during a tricky start to the campaign.
Hackney has been highly thought of by senior academy staff, who pushed for him to be given a chance, but aside from a handful of cup appearances, it was not until caretaker manager Leo Percovich was in charge in the weeks before Carrick’s arrival that he was given a sustained run.
“I didn’t know a great deal about Hayden before I came in,” Carrick said. “Then I started watching him and seeing what he potentially could do. He played in a couple of the games before I came in and I saw them, but I could never have hoped for him to play every single game. You can’t really with a young lad. He went to Scunthorpe last year, had a loan, and you never really know with young boys until you give them a chance, a proper chance. But he’s just kept going, doesn’t really take much managing, doesn’t need much from me, just gets on with his business, a real pleasure to have in the squad.
“It’s easy to take for granted because he’s been so consistent. I’ve never really needed to guide him, I’ve let him develop and learn on the job. It’s obviously challenging for me to know how and when to help him, but he’s been fabulous and keeps adding to his game all the time. It’s a bonus when you get one like that, a local lad to have such an influence on the first team. It’s great, it’s what the academy is geared towards, what the club is geared towards. So many people work so hard to produce players like Hayden.”
As well as his new contract signed at the end of June, this season Hackney will wear the No 7 shirt having previously worn No 30 — with Grant Leadbitter, George Boateng and Nicky Barmby previously occupying the shirt. It’s a move that signals his importance.
Carrick’s influence on Hackney has been wholly positive, with the team’s use of wide areas becoming an asset in their entertaining style of play. Upon signing his new contract, Hackney said that during training, Carrick has “just been giving me little things that I can work on, like my body position. Obviously, there’s not many better to learn from”.
The stills below from a 2-1 win over Luton Town in December again highlight Hackney’s timing when joining an attack, his willingness to get on the ball and his composure to execute a dangerous pass. He receives the ball from Isaiah Jones at the top of the box and spots Tommy Smith, to the right of Jones, making a run on the overlap.
Hackney slots a pass in behind and suddenly Boro are both close to goal and on the front foot, with their attackers running at Luton’s back line from a position where they looked to be set up in a good defensive shape.
This type of pass is impressive but is not the only thing in his arsenal. He knows when to keep the ball moving during sustained periods of possession and is capable of carrying the ball and running directly at players to break into dangerous areas. His physical profile of strong and compact favours his position, where he’s playing alongside Jonny Howson — another experienced player with Premier Leagueexperience for him to learn from.
There are cases where still images barely do justice to the quality of some of his passes last season, like the one below that played in Chuba Akpom, also in the form of his life as he won the golden boot with 28 league goals last season, in a 1-0 defeat away to Rotherham United in May.
Looking at Hackney’s pass sonar below — which visualises the direction and distance of a player’s passes — it is unsurprising to see Hackney’s passes geared more from left-to-right, given his position in Carrick’s 4-2-3-1. While he does have a penchant for those progressive passes forward, Hackney’s bread and butter is sprayed passes across the pitch to keep the play ticking over — looking after possession with the fourth-best pass completion (89.2 per cent) of all defensive and central midfielders (with 900-plus minutes played) in the Championship last season.
In what is set to be a competitive Championship season in 2023-24, Boro are in a strong position of stability and have clear ideas to allow them to hit the ground running and chase promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
Whether Hackney will become a top-flight player with them or elsewhere is the only question regarding his future — the destination for a player of his quality holds little doubt.
On loan at League Two Scunthorpe United, the central midfielder played a part in just two wins all season as they were relegated from the EFL and dropped into the fifth tier. It was a cruel first full campaign for the 20-year-old, but the lessons learned were invaluable if his performances in 2022-23 are any measure.
Fresh off the back of signing a new contract that will keep him at Middlesbrough until 2027 — smart business from his boyhood club given suitors have been flocking to the Riverside Stadium to watch him — the picture looks markedly different from the dour days he spent at Glanford Park.
Last year was Hackney’s breakthrough season as Michael Carrick took over as Boro boss in late October, with the team one point above the relegation zone, and turned the ship around, leading a surge up the Championship table to finish fourth. In the end, a 1-0 aggregate defeat to Coventry City in the play-off semi-final would stop the former Manchester United man pulling off a stunning feat in his first season in management — but they will be back this season and Hackney will be at the heart of things.
A product of the club’s academy, it is no coincidence that Hackney’s rise in the senior team has come in tandem with their progress. His smooth style and ability to execute line-breaking passes are his biggest assets and have led to comparisons to his Champions League-winning manager in the heart of midfield under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
The stills below from the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Coventry show one example of the type of pass Hackney has executed time and again since being handed a starring role in Carrick’s team.
After receiving the ball from Ryan Giles — who had a strong season on loan from Wolves, with an impressive 11 assists from left full-back — Hackney took a touch out of his feet and read the movement of Cameron Archer.
His delayed arrival at the top of the box made this move possible, but the weight of pass and execution from a position with limited options put Boro into a dangerous position, where Archer won a corner.
In 32 appearances in all competitions, Hackney provided four assists and scored three times, with his first senior goal coming a few weeks after his first start, against Wigan Athletic in October 2022.
After 31 appearances all season while on loan at Scunthorpe, being handed a chance last season was not a given for Hackney, with Carrick’s predecessor, Chris Wilder, not favouring him during a tricky start to the campaign.
Hackney has been highly thought of by senior academy staff, who pushed for him to be given a chance, but aside from a handful of cup appearances, it was not until caretaker manager Leo Percovich was in charge in the weeks before Carrick’s arrival that he was given a sustained run.
“I didn’t know a great deal about Hayden before I came in,” Carrick said. “Then I started watching him and seeing what he potentially could do. He played in a couple of the games before I came in and I saw them, but I could never have hoped for him to play every single game. You can’t really with a young lad. He went to Scunthorpe last year, had a loan, and you never really know with young boys until you give them a chance, a proper chance. But he’s just kept going, doesn’t really take much managing, doesn’t need much from me, just gets on with his business, a real pleasure to have in the squad.
“It’s easy to take for granted because he’s been so consistent. I’ve never really needed to guide him, I’ve let him develop and learn on the job. It’s obviously challenging for me to know how and when to help him, but he’s been fabulous and keeps adding to his game all the time. It’s a bonus when you get one like that, a local lad to have such an influence on the first team. It’s great, it’s what the academy is geared towards, what the club is geared towards. So many people work so hard to produce players like Hayden.”
As well as his new contract signed at the end of June, this season Hackney will wear the No 7 shirt having previously worn No 30 — with Grant Leadbitter, George Boateng and Nicky Barmby previously occupying the shirt. It’s a move that signals his importance.
Carrick’s influence on Hackney has been wholly positive, with the team’s use of wide areas becoming an asset in their entertaining style of play. Upon signing his new contract, Hackney said that during training, Carrick has “just been giving me little things that I can work on, like my body position. Obviously, there’s not many better to learn from”.
The stills below from a 2-1 win over Luton Town in December again highlight Hackney’s timing when joining an attack, his willingness to get on the ball and his composure to execute a dangerous pass. He receives the ball from Isaiah Jones at the top of the box and spots Tommy Smith, to the right of Jones, making a run on the overlap.
Hackney slots a pass in behind and suddenly Boro are both close to goal and on the front foot, with their attackers running at Luton’s back line from a position where they looked to be set up in a good defensive shape.
This type of pass is impressive but is not the only thing in his arsenal. He knows when to keep the ball moving during sustained periods of possession and is capable of carrying the ball and running directly at players to break into dangerous areas. His physical profile of strong and compact favours his position, where he’s playing alongside Jonny Howson — another experienced player with Premier Leagueexperience for him to learn from.
There are cases where still images barely do justice to the quality of some of his passes last season, like the one below that played in Chuba Akpom, also in the form of his life as he won the golden boot with 28 league goals last season, in a 1-0 defeat away to Rotherham United in May.
Looking at Hackney’s pass sonar below — which visualises the direction and distance of a player’s passes — it is unsurprising to see Hackney’s passes geared more from left-to-right, given his position in Carrick’s 4-2-3-1. While he does have a penchant for those progressive passes forward, Hackney’s bread and butter is sprayed passes across the pitch to keep the play ticking over — looking after possession with the fourth-best pass completion (89.2 per cent) of all defensive and central midfielders (with 900-plus minutes played) in the Championship last season.
In what is set to be a competitive Championship season in 2023-24, Boro are in a strong position of stability and have clear ideas to allow them to hit the ground running and chase promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2017.
Whether Hackney will become a top-flight player with them or elsewhere is the only question regarding his future — the destination for a player of his quality holds little doubt.
anth25
Well-known member
Good read that. Thought he was absolutely brilliant particularly in the first half on Saturday. Was at the centre of everything we did. Going to be a huge season for him this year. Can see him knocking on the door of the full Scotland squad if he keeps progressing how he is which should be something for him to aspire to given they look likely to make the Euros
He might even have England ambitions now