Van Fitzharris is a 17-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Tauranga City in the New Zealand Northern League. Fitzharris has played 4 times for New Zealand U-17, putting up 2 goals and 4 assists at last year’s OFC U-17 championship. He made a pair of cameo appearances for Tauranga last season but has established himself as a fairly regular starter this season.
Fitzharris is generally deployed on the left wing for Tauranga but he also plays centrally sometimes. He played centrally more frequently for New Zealand U-17 and I believe his skill set lends itself better to playing in the middle long term. Fitzharris is reasonably tall for a winger, standing around 5’10″ (1.77 m). He is not particularly muscular, though we should remember that he is only 17 and is likely to fill out over the next couple of years. Fitzharris is right-footed so most of what he does is cutting inside trying to pick apart the last line of defence through either passing or dribbling. Fitzharris definitely shows flashes of a dynamic attacking player but he lacks consistency. He is a very direct player, always looking for the killer pass in behind the opposition’s defence. He has good vision and can pull off some impressive line-splitting passes and balls in behind the defence. But his success rate is not particularly high. His dribbling is similar, he can sometimes beat fullbacks with feints, but he is lacking in pace and power which means he is frequently getting knocked off the ball or simply not moving fast enough. When he can beat his man, his decision-making could improve. He takes a lot of shots from sharp angles and from distance, where he has little hope of success. He does not get a lot of shots through receiving passes in the box, though it did happen once or twice so this might be a skill that develops over time.
Tauranga play a very low block so the role of the left-midfielder is mostly to hold their position. Fitzharris did that well and did a good job of tracking back to help the left-fullback. He did not necessarily win a lot of tackles, but that was partly down to Tauranga’s very passive defensive set-up. His lack of physical strength is also a bit of a limiting factor.
Fitzharris looks very much like a skilled player who has reached a level where the game moves a little too fast for him. If he was going to be a world-class player I think he would be showing more against NZNL-level players at this stage. But still, he is playing against men at 17 and showing some positive skills. So I think there is a good chance he can reach a higher level eventually. Like all NZNL players, he has the big advantage of being free since he is technically an amateur player. He could be a smart gamble for clubs in Europe that can offer competitive reserve football or for low-level professional teams. I could see him making it to a mid-level European league.
Target Scouting 