Hayden Hackney once again showed why he is one of the hottest properties outside of the Premier League with an impressive showing for Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 side.
The Young Lions ran out 3-0 winners against Serbia with Hackney very much at the centre of everything good about the performance, dominating the midfield area and bagging himself an assist in the process.
Two Goals from James McAtee and one from Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott were enough to see off the threat from their European Championship Qualifying rivals Serbia.
It was another polished performance after the fixture between the two teams in October saw an even more emphatic 9-1 victory. Hackney was instrumental as England ran riot in that game, with Carrick labelling him ‘The best player on the pitch by quite some way’.
Pass master
A Tweet posted by Boro Stats showed that Hackney-who played the full 90 minutes-had 141 touches, with a 95% pass accuracy. He made 3 key passes, with 1 assist. In terms of touches, number of passes, and pass accuracy, no other England player came near to surpassing him.
It will not come as a shock to Middlesbrough fans who see the quality of ‘The Redcar Iniesta’ most weeks, but it is worth remembering that he actually turned out for Scotland’s Under 21 outfit just a year ago, with a debut to forget. Caught in possession on the edge of his own box, Hackney lunged at his opponent and gave away a penalty, which proved decisive as Iceland scored the winning goal from the resulting penalty kick.
Since then Hackney-after deciding to represent England-has gone from strength to strength at International level, regularly out-doing some of the country’s brightest young talents whilst wearing the three lions shirt.
Hackney’s winning run
Hackney has been one of Middlesbrough’s leading lights this season, and even when the side struggled, his consistency was admirable. In fact, Boro are unbeaten in Hackney’s last nine games. The only defeat in that period was to Stoke City. Hackney was suspended after accumulating 5 yellow cards. Whilst the defeat could not be solely attributed to Hackney’s absence, they were certainly weaker for it.
His burgeoning partnership with Howson over the last year or so has been a real tonic for Michael Carrick. The pair compliment each other so well and work in tandem to help orchestrate the Boro midfield. Hackney has benefited from the calm and composed way in which Howson plays the ball.
Whenever fit, Hackney is considered first pick in that central midfield area for Middlesbrough. The 21-year-old is a key component of the side and the statistics back that theory up. According to WhoScored site, he has made 1001 successful passes this season. An incredible stat, especially when you consider that he has completed 88.2% of those passes.
Middlesbrough football club and Hackney himself will be hoping for that form to continue.