Can't Start a Fire - George Abbott Analysed
- Richard Ogando
- May 19
- 6 min read
George Abbott will leave an indelible imprint in the memories of Notts fans when he heads back to Spurs following an impressive first season of men’s football on loan at Notts County.
Just a couple of days after arriving at Meadow Lane, Abbott, 19, played 8 minutes as a late substitute in an away victory at Swindon Town. Nothing out of the ordinary you would think but it’s perhaps a testament to his unassuming and likeable demeanour that David McGoldrick, in the twilight of his own very successful career, insisted on Abbott performing the celebratory fist pump with the travelling Notts fans.
On the face of it this appeared nothing more than McGoldrick showing his bashful side, having netted both goals in the 2-1 victory, and being gracious in his success. But equally I’d like to assume it was more to do with the impact Abbott had imparted on the squad in such a short space of time.
A week later Abbott was named in the starting line up at home to Accrington Stanley. This was a decision that left many Notts fans questioning the inclusion, after all with just 8 minutes in men’s football it did represent a potential risk, but they needn’t have worried.
Abbott took to life in League Two like a duck to water and produced a performance that belied his young age and established himself as a first XI starter for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.
In the regular season Abbott made a total of 40 league + 2 play off appearances and 2 FA Cup appearances for Notts, with the cup defeat at Peterborough providing him with his first senior goal, an outrageous effort lobbing the Posh keeper from 40 yards out on the right touchline.
Those 44 games saw him net 6 times and turn provider with 7 assists in total, all from a predominantly defensive midfield position.
Abbotts numbers for this season are not to be sniffed at and with this in mind it felt only right that we take a closer look at his season and analyse the metrics that suggest Spurs are getting back twice the player, one that left them a boy but now returns a man.
Positional Analysis
Abbott has spent most of the season playing as one of the two central midfielders in a predominantly 3-4-2-1 formation, generally as the right sided player in that central two.
Notts like to play with wingbacks, this means that Abbott’s positional play will be determined by phases of play in and out of possession as well as the defensive and attacking transitions.
When building from the back he will often drop deep to make himself available to the back three as a passing option. Receiving the ball deep Abbott will look to progress the ball quickly, allowing himself to move into a more advanced position in support of the attacking phase.
In possession his link up play is often with the RCB and RWB, supporting their attacking transitions but also looking to pull the opposition out of shape to help create the necessary space in between the defensive lines in order to progress the ball.
The link up play between Abbott and the wide players is usually pivotal in playing through the defensive lines. Additionally he is not afraid to switch it if need be and look to link up play from that right side with his central midfield counterpart, Matt Palmer, the attacking midfielders and even out to the opposite flank.
From attacking set plays Abbott is usually the player that stays deep, covering for the centre backs, especially from corners. This is of course to provide defensive cover if the set play breaks down and possession is lost, but it has also proven to be an attacking threat. Abbott is a great striker of the ball and Notts have benefited on more than one occasion from his clinical right foot from just outside the box.
Out of possession Abbott covers the ground well and has a natural ability to anticipate and cover the spaces in behind the wide and attacking midfielders enabling him to make successful interceptions and pick up on loose second balls.
The Data
The following chart shows how Abbott compares to other League Two midfielders for this season. The bars represent his percentile ranking. The data included players who had played a minimum of 1,000 minutes. League and play off matches only.
It’s clear from the chart that Abbott scores well in most areas. These areas are split into Defending, Passing and Attacking metrics.
Attacking
Despite playing a slightly deeper midfield role Abbott has proved himself to be a threat going forward.
He ranks well in all attacking actions measured, especially with shots on goal, assists and progressive runs.
His ability to play from deep and be the lynchpin in the attacking transition is definitely one of his strengths. This is evident in the clip below in a recent game at home to League two Champions Doncaster Rovers where all of his progressive attributes are displayed.
From picking up the deep ball to releasing the wingback was approximately 15 seconds and saw Abbott have 15 touches, 3 completed passes, 2 progressive runs and 1 cheeky nutmeg.
We talked earlier about Abbott’s threat from attacking set plays despite being the player providing the defensive cover.
Here we see just how technically gifted Abbott is with the goal that won him League Two goal of the season at Accrington Stanley.
Possibly a set piece straight off the training ground but the gamesmanship he applied again emphasises his overall awareness and smarts that accompany his technical abilities and it's this technical ability coupled with a clinical right foot that makes him a truly versatile attacking threat.
Defending
During his youth development at Spurs he was very much utilised as a defensive player, and no stranger to both full back roles.
This has provided him with that underpinning knowledge of what is needed of a defensive player and has perhaps influenced his propensity to drop deep when in a more advanced position.
You can’t argue with his defensive numbers, winning over 65% of his defensive duels but also ranking highly in the percentile rankings for possession adjusted interceptions (PAdj).
In the clip below we see a glimpse of Abbott's defensive reading of the game and his ability to intercept and turn over possession.
This is a side of his play that he is obviously very comfortable with, one that sees him defending from advanced positions. It also confirms the metrics mentioned earlier and his natural ability to anticipate and cover the spaces in behind the wide and attacking midfielders enabling him to make successful interceptions and pick up on loose second balls.
Overturning possession in advanced areas as well as breaking down opposition attacks in his own half suggests Abbott is a player who wants to impact his authority on the game in both halves.
Passing
Abbott’s passing data is very impressive. Notts are very much a possession-based team so no surprise he displays high percentile rankings in this area.
Much of Notts County’s passing under Stuart Maynard is constructive and patient, working the ball from right to left, waiting for the opportunity to release attacking and wide players into space in dangerous areas. Unfortunately over recent months that play has become predictable and easy to defend against.
In Abbott’s case it’s the passing metric that he records his worse percentile rankings that actually provide a greater insight into his progressive play.
Abbott is a player that wants to progress the ball quickly and he will often try to do this by making progressive passes into high-risk, high rewards areas. Despite having a lower ranking for this action, 65% of his progressive passes still find their desired target, and it’s his bravery on the ball and desire to make things happen that have made the Spurs youngster stand out amongst his peers.
The clip below shows Abbott again as part of that link up play on the right side but also provides evidence of his ability to execute line breaking accurate passes into final third danger areas.
Conclusion
Abbott has been one of the standout performers in League Two this season. His technical ability, physicality and reading of the game are clear to see and even more impressive given this was his first season in men's senior football.
Mentally Abbott appears to be level headed but there have been instances where his age and inexperience have got the better of him seeing him see yellow on 8 occasions.
One of the impressive things is how Abbott has continued to be consistent in his play and application. Notts have suffered with more than their fair share of injuries this season meaning team selection and tactics have been a little more than fluid and Abbott has coped well with the changes when he has had to.
It is also worth noting that Notts sold influential play maker Dan Crowley in January meaning that Abbott has also had to share some of the burden in filling this gap as Crowley was never really replaced.
All in all it has been an impressive season for Abbott, one in which he has equipped himself well. As a Notts supporter myself I can say that watching Abbott develop throughout this season has been an absolute joy and I will continue to monitor his progress in what should be a very bright future, one that should see him playing at Championship level next season, if not pushing to be involved in Spurs' first team set up.
Written by Richard Ogando | @notts_stats
Data and video from HudlWyscout
Player Radar originally designed by Joe Payne | @ShrimperStats
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