Reece Smith is a 21-year-old attacking midfielder in the National League for Maidenhead United after coming through their academy. He shows versatility and is comfortable across the pitch, but looks most confident playing centrally behind the striker or from the left where he can cut inside on his stronger right foot.
Smith has a small stature, lacks in upper body strength, and can be easily shrugged off the ball. Despite this, one of his strengths is his electric acceleration, low centre of gravity and good levels of agility, combined with a close control which make him strong in 1v1 situations as well as carrying the ball forward from deeper positions.
Smith scans well and is very aware of space across the pitch, particularly when spotting the opportunity to get in behind or across the defence, he reacts especially quick to a chance to get into a goal scoring position, which combined with his acceleration can make him extremely difficult to pick up. Once in and around the box he shows good levels of composure and is a strong finisher on his right foot. One of his finishing strengths is variation; with driven finishes when cutting in from the left, one touch finishes around the 6-yard box, volleys from the edge of the area as well as being able to slot the ball past the keeper when put through on goal.
Impressively Reece Smith poses a threat across the final third, capable of attacking the box from all angles and has the awareness to drop deeper, link play, before bursting forward to rejoin the attack. He can threaten when dribbling with the ball at his feet, uses his agility and close control to shift past defenders when 1v1 and create separation for his next action. But he will want to continue to work on his variation, especially when on the right side where he’s not as confident in cutting inside on his left foot and instead ops to dribble to the byline and get his cross in which can become predictable.
Smith gets his head up quickly and has strong vision, capable of seeing space to play the ball as well as moving into it himself. He can complete short flicks as well as passes into teammates in space in wide areas or behind the opposition, using his strong technique but will want to continue to work on the execution of his final ball and getting the line and pace correct, as well as keeping his concentration to complete a strong first action.
Without the ball Smith is aggressive in pressing from the front, shows a strong work ethic and uses his acceleration to again make an impact and put pressure on quickly, and consistently manages to pinch the ball away from the opposition in dangerous areas. He works hard to get back into a defensive position but when in more central areas will need to improve on how he tracks runners, occasionally being caught ball watching giving him little chance of recovering. Similarly, he shows a lack of defensive instinct with how he defends opposition who dribble at him, at times standing off and then not showing much timing in the tackle which can result in giving away fouls.
Reece Smith is an attacker with real potential, the quality of his finishing, awareness of space, getting into goal scoring situations, intense press and close control could offer a lot to many sides outside of the National League. Although he will want to continue to work on his end product and ball protection, he’s a player with the ability to produce match winning moments, and there should be sides further up the English Football League looking to gamble on his clear potential.
Target Scouting 