Ronnie Edwards is a 20-year-old central defender for Peterborough United having transferred from Barnet FC in 2020 after graduating from their academy. Since then, the young defender has been an ever present for the League one side and has represented England at Under-19’s and recently captained the Under-20’s.
The ball playing defender stands at 1.85m tall and uses his upper body strength to his advantage marking tightly, dispossessing attackers that are trying to protect the ball using his long legs to poke the ball away, physical disrupting enough to cause a poor touch or engage with a runner stopping them being able to build speed and get into a position in behind the defence.
Edwards has good defensive understanding and a lot of that is down to how often he scans, he actively checks both shoulders whilst retreating and without being quick uses this reading of the game to react quickly to potentially dangerous situations making interceptions, covering the channels, and making goal line clearances that would have stopped a clear goal.
Edwards shows versatility, can play in a back 3 and despite being right footed looks comfortable playing on either side as a central defender in a back 4. He shows ability off both feet, capable of taking a control with one foot before playing forward off the other and often moves towards the touchline to create a passing angle before disguising a pass inside through the lines.
He shows composure and wants to play under pressure, can make headed passes when many would choose to clear and can play short passes forward off a single touch from a bouncing/ loose ball situation off both feet as well as being able to carry forward, shifting past the first line of pressure. But will want to work on the execution of his longer passes.
During the build up he will make an angle to receive the ball short, he shows intelligence in dropping deeper or moving slightly wider to drag an attacker away and create passing lanes centrally. Although he can take too many touches when receiving, and a strong press could dispossess him, fortunately he shows strong decision making with the ball and understands risk to a good level for someone so young.
Edwards biggest weakness is his ability in aerial duels, but this often looks to be a technical problem. He has the stature and strength to be more than capable in the air, but often focuses on disrupting his marker, forgetting the ball and ends in situations where he’s at a disadvantage moving backwards whilst the attacker has the momentum moving forward.
He looks a lot stronger when covering behind and has been caught out when moving out of the defensive line ending in a position where he isn’t close enough to his marker, leaves space behind and then gives him a longer distance to retreat when he already isn’t the quickest. And whilst he can cover in wider areas, he doesn’t have the agility to be effective in 1v1 situations and is often caught leaving his weight on one side which attackers use against him to create separation.
Ronnie Edwards has great potential to be a ball playing defender at senior international level and looks most comfortable from the right side. His reading of the game, ability with the ball at his feet and budding leadership qualities are some of the many attributes generating interest from teams in higher leagues in recent transfer windows.
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