Young Brits Abroad: Reece Oxford

Name: Reece Oxford

Current Club: FC Augsburg

Age: 22

Position: Centre Back/Defensive Midfielder

Club Football

Oxford made his first competitive debut in West Ham’s first team aged 16 when he started in a 3-0 win against Andorran club Lusitanos in the Europa League first qualifying round, which made him West Ham’s youngest ever player. He made his Premier League debut a month later in August 2015 when he started a 2-0 away win to Arsenal.

After signing a new four-and-half-year deal on his 18^th Birthday at West Ham, Oxford went on loan to Reading in 2017.

Then in 2017 and 2018 he had two loan spells at Borussia Möchengladbach.

In January 2019 he joined Augsburg on loan until the end of the season where he made nine appearances.

Following the season, Augsburg signed Reece Oxford on a four-year deal.

Since his signing, he made twelve appearances in the 2019/20 season and has already made twelve appearances in the current campaign, where he features in a back three and he looks to have settled into his role.

International Football

Reece Oxford has played at numerous age groups levels for England. He has played for the u16s, u17s, u18s, u19s and u20s.

Amongst those appearances he captained the u17 side at the European Championship in 2015.

Style of Play

Oxford was once described as having the playing style like that of ex West Ham man Rio Ferdinand.

Oxford seems to have found his form in the back three of Augsburg’s defence.

His passing has improved with his passing accuracy now up to 85.4% for the current campaign, which is an increase from 65.6% in his previous season. His short to medium range passing has also been effective this season, with a short passing accuracy of 88.2% and a medium passing accuracy of 93.8%.

He has also shown his improvement in using both feet, though it may be a small thing to note, the ability to move the ball onto either foot to pass effectively is important when being pressed by an opposing player. He has attempted 20 passes with his left foot this season, more than another single season he has completed.

His overall passing game has improved this season, with 316 completed passes already, with his next highest completed passes coming in at 233, which was in the 2018-19 season.

This improvement could be due to Augsburg having more of the football at the back with the 3 centre backs passing the ball along the back line, but also shows that Oxford has found a system that demonstrates his passing qualities and history as a defensive midfielder.

Oxford’s tackling has also seen an improvement this season, as he has seen an increase in tackles in the defensive third and he has already made the same number of tackles as last season.

One area Oxford will want to improve his game is in the air where he has seen his successful aerial duels drop off. In the 2017-18 season, which is a useful comparison as its similar to number of aerial duels he has attempted this season, he had a successful duel percentage of 61.3%, where this season his percentage has fallen to 52.4%. A positive is this season is the most he has been involved in the air and it is likely the more aerial duels he contests the more successful he will become.

Reece Oxford is a player to keep an eye on as he is showing the quality that he promised when he was a young player at West Ham. He has now settled in at FC Augsburg and has found a home in the back three and will be looking to have a positive second half to the season.

At only 22, there is still time for Oxford to continue to develop into a high-quality footballer.