Warner Brown is a 22-year-old Jamaican striker who plays for Arnett Gardens in the Jamaican Premier League. After failing to establish himself in stints in MLS Next Pro and the second tier of Slovenia, Brown returned to Jamaica and enjoyed an offensive explosion with 22 goals in just over 2500 minutes. These performances have led to Brown establishing himself as the first-choice striker for the Jamaican national team, ahead of options playing in significantly stronger leagues. So, I wanted to watch how Brown would perform against decent CONCACAF opposition and if bigger teams should give him a second chance.
Brown is listed at 5’10/1.8M and has a slightly more muscular than average build. Brown is quite quick when he gets up to speed but his acceleration is not that great, hindered by an awkward running style. Brown is a good jumper which leads to him getting a lot of headed shots and winning a reasonable number of flick-ons. However, he does not always use his physical traits in the most intelligent way, too often defenders are able to get body position on him and prevent him from doing anything. Brown’s movement in the box is mediocre. As previously mentioned he gets a lot of headed shots and shots from scrambles in the box. But it is not that common to see him deceive defenders with his movement. As a result, unless it is a rebound, he does not get a lot of super high-danger shots. Brown does not have particularly strong on-the-ball skills. However, his jumping ability and generally being around the box do mean that he sets up some chances through flick-ons, knockdowns, and layoffs. Brown’s first touch is pretty decent but he can struggle under pressure and he does not offer much if any danger through dribbling or ball-carrying.
Brown is a reasonably effective defender. He was quite good at tracking back and stripping midfield players of the ball. His speed was quite helpful for this. However, Brown is a bit lacking in balance and that can make turning slow if the ball gets past him.
It’s pretty clear that Warner Brown does not have the level to play in the top 5 leagues and probably not the level below that either. His technical level is too low and his physical and off-ball traits are not strong enough to make up for that. That said, it is pretty clear he could play at a higher level than the Jamaican Premier League. Trivante Stewart, another player who scored a lot of goals in the JPL in his early 20s has established himself as a pretty solid striker in the Serbian Superliga and I could see Brown playing for a smaller team at a similar level.
Target Scouting 