Sebastian Barton-Ginger is a 20-year-old winger who plays for Western Suburbs in the New Zealand National League. He has seen a major uptick in production this season, with 10 goals in about 1000 minutes at the time of writing. He has also made 8 appearances for New Zealand’s U-20 national team.
Barton-Ginger is a small player, listed at 5’6″ (1.71 m) on Transfermarkt. He is a left-footed player who plays on the right for Western Suburbs. Barton-Ginger is a very strong ball carrier thanks to speed with the ball and fairly strong close control. He draws a lot of fouls, thanks to the aforementioned skills and his small stature. However, Barton-Ginger’s 1v1 dribbling is quite inconsistent. He runs into opponents fairly often and he is not particularly strong so he loses the ball quite a bit. Barton-Ginger is certainly faster than the average semi-pro New Zealand player, but he lacks elite speed and probably would not stand out as particularly fast at the professional level, at least not at first. However, Barton-Ginger does attempt a lot of take-ons and he does have some decent technical skill, so he is going to beat players in dangerous areas eventually, even if he is not very efficient. A major weakness in Barton-Ginger’s game is his passing. He is constantly mishitting or misplacing passes, further contributing to his frequent giveaways. He is a good ball striker and can put some tantalising deliveries into the box. His left foot is certainly stronger but he can also cross with his right reasonably well. However, his decision-making in wide areas needs significant work. He frequently puts crosses in from areas that are very wide or when there are very few targets in the box. Barton-Ginger’s decent pace makes him a threat for balls in behind. His ball striking also makes him a goal threat when cutting inside onto his left foot.
Barton-Ginger is not particularly active defensively. He does intercept the ball from time to time thanks to some decent defensive positioning. His ability to win fouls does make him an outlet and helps him relieve pressure.
Barton-Ginger has a lot of traits that could contribute to a successful career at a higher level. However, a general lack of efficiency on the ball and sub-elite pace are significant limiting factors. If he could improve his passing and final third decision making, I could see him being successful in a smaller league in Europe or as a solid player in the A-League. But in the immediate term, I do not think he would be a star player at even a low level of professional football. He could be a project for clubs in small countries like Estonia or Latvia, but any club that signed him would have to commit to developing him a bit before he would become a high-impact player.
Target Scouting 