June 2024

After being rumoured to join for well over a year, signing number five is finally through the door! At last, former Torquay United striker, Aaron Jarvis has signed on the dotted line, to complete a move to the Glovers’ which has been a long time coming. The 26 year-old forward has signed a 2-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2026.

In this article, I will be doing an analysis on Aaron Jarvis. The article will include:

• Player Profile
• Previous History
• Key Strengths
• Areas To Improve
• Key Stats – 23/24
• How he suits the “Mark Cooper System”
• Conclusion

Enjoy the read! Any feedback would be massively appreciated as I continue to analyse every signing the Glovers’ make this summer. I would also be interested in hearing your opinion on the signing of Aaron Jarvis and how the summer has gone so far?

PLAYER PROFILE

• Name: Aaron Jarvis
• Position: Forward (Striker)
• Age: 26 (24/01/98)
• Height: 6ft 2in (188cm)
• Strong Foot: Right
• Previous Club: Torquay United (2022-2024)
• Previous Club Stats: 56 Games – 24 Goals
• 23/24 Season Stats: 19 Games – 1596 Minutes – 9 Goals – 1 assist

PREVIOUS HISTORY

2016 – Signs his first professional contract at Basingstoke Town.

2016-2017 – Basingstoke Town – 47 Games – 14 Goals.

2017 – Signs for Luton Town from Basingstoke.

2017-2018 – Boreham Wood (Loan) 4 Games – 0 Goals.

2019 – Falkirk (Loan) 12 Games – 0 Goals.

2019-2020 – Sutton United – 25 Games – 3 Goals

2020 – Hemel Hempstead (Loan) 6 Games – 1 Goal

2020-2022 – Scunthorpe United – 32 Games – 4 Goals

2022-2024 – Torquay United – 56 Games – 24 Goals

KEY STRENGTHS

Local – One thing that has been a pattern of our recruitment over recent seasons is our ability to pull the best local players to Huish Park. This has continued in the current summer window with signings such as, Harvey Greenslade, from Bristol Rovers and Brett McGavin from Torquay. Aaron Jarvis follows this pattern, also from Torquay United.

National League Experience – Aaron Jarvis’ best season in his career came in the National League, in a season where his side were relegated. In the 2022/23 season, Aaron Jarvis scored 15 goals in 39 matches, despite the Gulls’ being relegated. He was one of the best strikers in the National League that season because of his physical attributes and quality in front of goal.

Player Familiarity – When joining a new club, player familiarity is always a big part of settling in, having people you know around you can make things a lot more comfortable. In his time at Torquay, Aaron Jarvis played with Brett McGavin and Frank Nouble. The forward combination of Jarvis x Nouble almost kept Torquay in the National League at the end of the 22/23 season, as they scored 8 goals between them in 9 games. In this time Torquay lost just 2 games.

Work rate  – Obviously work rate is mostly a positive thing. In my “areas to improve” I have given my reasons why I believe Jarvis presses too much, however, this can also be seen as a positive. Jarvis working hard allows us to press higher up the pitch, allowing his to sit higher and win the ball back in dangerous areas. His defensive actions are excellent because of his work-rate.

Entering His Prime – Jarvis is the oldest signing we have made this season, at just 26, which shows the way we are trying to recruit this summer. We have lots of experienced players in such as Frank Nouble, Michael Smith and Alex Whittle so bringing in a few more young talents is a good option. Aaron Jarvis joins the likes of Matt Worthington, Charlie Cooper and Jordan Maguire-Drew as the players in their prime ages of 26-28. Bringing these players in meaning they can still improve but have enough experience in the senior game to help the younger players.

Ariel Threat – One of the strongest parts of Aaron Jarvis’ game is his ability in the air. In the 2023/24 season, Jarvis made 15.1 Ariel duels per 90, winning 40% of these. I’m sure he will want to improve his success rate of the duels but he doesn’t shy away from them.

Movement – One of the most important parts to a forwards game is his off the ball movement. If you are slow and lethargic when creating space for yourself or teammates, you will miss the chance and a defender will cover your run. Jarvis is able to mix his runs up, sometimes he will come to feet to hold up the ball, other times he will spin I behind to stretch the defence.

Goal Output – In his two year spell in Devon, Jarvis has netted 24 goals in 56 games. Despite only playing 19 times for the Gulls’ last season, the big number nice scored a goal every 178 minutes, taking his tally to 9 for the season. In a team that really struggled, near the bottom end of the table, these are impressive numbers.

AREAS TO IMPROVE

Injury Worries – Over the last year or so, Jarvis has spent lots of time in the medical room trying to recover from his injuries. Jarvis spent half of the season out with a knee injury last season, meaning he was only able to make 19 appearances for the Yellow Army. Yeovil took the risk signings injury prone players last season with likes of Rhys Murphy and Jake Hyde. It’s a risky move but one that can be awarded if he is kept fit.

Passing – In a Mark Cooper side you have to be a quality passer of the ball. His teams like to keep possession of the ball so having good ball players is vital. Jarvis man certainly isn’t a bad passer of the ball but his accuracy needs to improve. Cooper will be able to coach this into him and he will get used to style of play throughout pre season.

Overpressing – A final weakness to Jarvis’ game is one that could be said about former player, Alex Fisher. Jarvis is more agile and free-moving than Fisher, but the same things apply to this weakness. I have explained the positives of a hard worker, so here are the negatives. If Jarvis is to press hard, running from side-to-side, this could then see him out of position and away from play if Yeovil do win the ball off of the opponents. I would much rather see Jarvis be given the instructions to “stay between the penalty box lines”, to keep him in position centrally.

KEY STATS – 23/24

Stats produced by FevsFootball.

General Passing;

• Passes Per 90 – 19.0
• Passing Accuracy – 67%
• Progressive Passes Per 90 – 2.5
• Progressive Passing Accuracy – 64%
• Passes to Final Third Per 90 – 2.9
• Passes to Final Third Accuracy – 61%

Creative Passing:

• Key Passes Per 90 – 0.35
• Passes to Penalty Area Per 90 – 1.26
• Passing to Penalty Area Accuracy – 48%
• Through Passes Per 90 – 0.15
• Through Passing Accuracy – 67%
• Crosses Per 90 – 0.56
• Crossing Accuracy – 45%

On The Ball:

• Touches in Box Per 90 – 3.4
• Dribbles Per 90 – 2.1
• Dribble Success Rate – 56%
• Fouls suffered Per 90 – 2.7

Goals/Assists/Shots:

• Shots Per 90 – 2.73
• Shots on Target – 39%
• xG Per 90 – 0.51
• Goals Per 90 – 0.45
• Conversion Rate – 17%
• Assists Per 90 – 0.05

Duels: 

• Offensive Duels Per 90 – 13.2
• Offensive Duels Won – 29%
• Defensive Duels Per 90 – 2.9
• Defensive Duels Won – 60%
• Ariel Duel Per 90 – 15.1
• Ariel Duels Won – 40%
• Loose Ball Duels Per 90 – 8.8
• Loose Ball Duels Won – 37%

HOW WILL HE FIT IN?

In this picture above I have provided a squad update which shows what sort of role I believe Aaron Jarvis will take up in this Yeovil side. With the incomings of two strikers so far this summer in Jarvis and Greenslade, our forward options are improving drastically. I believe that Jarvis will be our starting striker next season because of his experience and proven record of goals at National League level for Torquay.

With the 4231 formation being the likely tactic that Cooper applies next season, Jarvis is likely to be used as a single striker, with three just behind him, probably including Frank Nouble. I’m sure we will see the brilliant linkup of Nouble and Jarvis, similar to what we saw at Torquay at the end of the 2022/23 season.

This is shown in the photo below.

Similar to all of my other analysis’ I will explain what sort of role Jarvis would play in a 5 at the back formation, which is sometimes used by Cooper when we are leading or lacking the wide players.

The photo below shows how we will probably line up if we do play a 5 at the back. Jarvis and Nouble would make a fantastic partnership up top with Jordan Young playing behind them. The width comes from the wingbacks, who will be given a licence to get forward and deliver crosses into the box, which play to the strengths of Jarvis and Nouble.

CONCLUSION

I really like this signing, I think it adds a lot of quality and depth to our front line. We have brought in a player who is entering his prime at 26, so should be in peak performance. Jarvis has a lot of experience to help improve Harvey Greenslade whilst also giving us quality going into this season.

His previous link up with Frank Nouble at Torquay has the potential to cause serious issues for opponents as they are aware of each others strengths and have proven records with one another.

If we can keep Jarvis fit I believe we have a player who can score us 15-20 goals next season but that is the most important thing. We MUST keep him fit, whether that means bringing him off earlier in games or resting him in a busy period.

Overall, I am a big fan of the signing and I can see it being a successful acquisition.

What are your thoughts on the signing?

As I have previously stated, any feedback or comments are massively appreciated and taken on board. I hope you enjoyed the read, Thankyou!