Ben Doak - a football throwback in Boro's little lightning bolt
In the era of inverted wingers, football could benefit from more Ben Doaks.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a fanzine piece for Fly Me To The Moon. It was all about Ben Doak.
I was, of course, waxing lyrical about how refreshing he is. He is like the first dip into the North Sea after a heat wave. Why? Because football has a raging boner for inverted wingers. Yes, I’m going to whinge about them again. At the top level… you know, when the players are at the appropriate skill level to make cutting inside and shooting effective, it can work. At Championship level, you can get your Manuel Benson’s, but mostly you’ll just get Sammy Silvera’s.
Lots of play is funnelled narrow, which is largely fine, I guess. But when you have a player of Ben Doak’s ilk, who can cut inside but is more inclined to take it around a full-back, it reminds me that football - at its core - is a sport built on fun and expression. In addition to that, it is flawed. I love that. Doak’s end product may not always be perfect, but if you strive for perfection you won’t allow yourself to enjoy the very moments that make football fun.
And fun he is. When he’s on the ball, there’s only one thing on his mind: find the space. First, there’ll be a teasing few step overs, and then he’s off. His acceleration is phenomenal. Within a blink, he’s at near top speed. He makes it so difficult for defenders to stop him because he’s already a yard ahead of them before they know it.
I’d previously likened him to Adama Traore because of three traits - speed, strength, and inconsistent end product. The speed part has already been touched upon, but for somebody that is the same height as me in platforms (5’6) he has great physical tenacity. He’s also improved that final ball of late. He seems - at least in his current form - much more measured with his decision making than Adama was. He’s not afraid to recycle the ball if need be. He doesn’t have tunnel vision like Adama did.
Ben Doak Highlights Reel
Click below to watch Ben Doak in action. All clips taken from Wyscout.
He is Boro’s little lightning bolt, for now. And that’s why I’ll sit on the edge of my seat and enjoy his talents for the time we have him.
He’s created 45 shot actions so far this season, behind Finn Azaz (73) and Hayden Hackney (49). He has, however, played about six less games than those two, so if you filter it per 90, he’s top of Boro’s ranks (5.93). Almost six moments of shot creation per game which, of course, is very good.
For the whole of the Championship, only Luton’s Alfie Doughty can match Doak for shot creating actions per 90. Notice that Boro have two players in the top three. Also very good.
In fact, if we look at Doak’s data this season, his rankings for the league are as follows:
Shot-Creating Actions per 90 - 1st (5.93)
Goal-Creating Actions per 90 - 2nd (0.92)
Successful Take-Ons per 90 - =2nd (3.03)
Progressive Carries per 90 - 1st (8.55)
Carries into Penalty Area per 90 - 1st (5.13)
You can gauge from this the type of player Doak is. His standout attributes pertain to being a menace with the ball, basically. Just ask Callum Doyle how his afternoon was on October 24th. He’s not a jack of all trades, but he doesn’t need to be. That’s kind of what makes him fun. He’s very, very good at a few things - and that is enough to make him one of the Championship’s most exciting talents.
When Jurgen Klopp was in charge of Liverpool, he said this about Doak:
“Special boy. Really confident, has something nobody else delivers really, this kind of dribbling, this kind of straight-forward bravery, all these kind of things.”
I do think it’s worth mentioning that Doak has only just turned 19. He suffered a serious knee injury at the back end of 2023, which sidelined him for six months before he returned to full training in June of this year. So, this is a young player very much still developing as an athlete, as well as getting back into the thick of it after an extended period out. There may be rough patches to come, and Boro will have to manage his game time smartly.
Right now, I’ll enjoy a footballer that reminds me that, underneath the meticulous tactics of the modern game, football is still just a bunch of fun.
