Canadian Premier League Scouting Database – Noah Jensen

With the illustrious midfield that Forge have at their disposal, Noah Jensen found minutes difficult to come by in his first season back in 2022. But whenever deployed, the Canadian midfielder always played an important role, often times perfectly replacing the long-range passing of Kyle Bekker in the Hammers’ midfield.

His role in last season’s Playoff Final signalled the trust that Forge have in him to play the part, even when they could have opted for more experience by pushing Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson back into midfield.

Now in his second season at the club, Jensen is persistently pushing for a place inside the first eleven, and continues to look phenomenal every time he plays. Here is what makes Noah Jensen one of the most promising midfielders inside the CPL, and why he could be destined for far greater times in the near future.

ATTACKING PRINCIPLES

What separates the 23-year-old from most midfielders in the league is his stunning passing range. Jensen pulls off remarkable long passes with ease, often with the perfect weight and timing.

After all, the art of the long pass is not only about the technical skill to finesse a switch of play from one side of the field to the other, but when to play a pass over top of a defense to catch the opposition off guard and match the movement of a forward into space.

Jensen accomplishes both magnificently, and he’s never afraid to play the riskier pass into space, knowing that not every single one is going to come off. What makes this more difficult is that it’s often soon after Jensen receives the ball, giving himself less time to get his head up and see all of his options.

As Forge prepare for life without Kyle Bekker, Jensen makes for the ideal replacement. He’s calm under pressure, tactically intelligent, and efficient at playing passes around the field. But he also operates with a greater mobility to go box-to-box and get about the pitch. He doesn’t have to be limited to just a tempo-setting role deeper on the field, but can instead go box-to-box and add dynamism to the attack.

This means that he can add some of the best qualities of Aboubacar Sissoko, such as the Malian’s ability to perceive space in the attacking half and make underlapping and overlapping runs down the half-spaces.

In fact, while the 23-year-old nicely comes in deep to receive the ball deeper on the field and form that Forge double pivot, he also loves to hang out in the half-spaces. Sometimes this means that he’ll receive wide and push his left-back forward, and other times it means that he’s prepared to cause chaos to the opposition’s defense.

Jensen also tends to be quite two-footed on the ball, which allows him greater ease of access away from defenders the moment he receives, and greater passing opportunities.

As he grows his game, the key to success for Jensen will perhaps be about slowing the game down. He’s often a frenetic, high-energy player that excels on the ball with a commanding speed of play. But as he evolves into that Kyle Bekker type, he’ll also need to know when to slow the tempo and keep the game ticking along.

On that note, while his long passing is exceptional and so often timed to perfection, there remains moments where the Hollywood pass becomes less advantageous, and no one will fault Jensen if he adopts more safety and simplicity into his cutting-edge game in the future without taking away that quality.

DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES

On the defensive end, the frenetic energy can sometimes continue. This can be awesome. It allows Jensen to have the mobility to cover spaces, and the fast feet to quickly get across the grass at crucial moments.

But that can also means he throws himself into tackles when less than advantageous. I would personally be working with the 23-year-old to help develop his awareness of how to angle his body to cut off passing lanes, rather than feeling he needs to press full force and then throw himself into the deep end.

Part of that comes with age and experience. 32-year-old Kyle Bekker has won nearly 71% of his defensive duels this campaign, compared to Jensen on 59%.

But again, with greater mobility to get about the pitch, Jensen is crucial to Forge in what tends to be a physical league.

As Forge defend in a 4-1-4-1 shape, he’ll be important in forming triangulations with his wing and full-back, cutting out the spaces that form in between the lines.

It’s just about developing more of a sense for when to use that physicality as opposed to when to hold rank and stay put. He has the strength shoulder off most midfielders in the league, and the warrior mentality to put his body in the way when needed.

In combining all his attributes, Noah Jensen must be knocking on the door for a regular starting birth this season, arguably acting as one of the team’s top performers in what has been a stop-start beginning to the season for the Hammers. If Forge aren’t willing to make him a regular starter, a host of CPL clubs would immediately improve through his services in the centre of the park. Looking down the road, that list of clubs may even be expanded to higher avenues.

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