Ronnie Edwards Scout Report

 Date of birth: 28 March 2003

Country: England

Position: Central Defender/ Central Defensive Midfield

Height: 180cm

Preferred foot: Right

Club: Peterborough United

When you look at a modern central defender there is usually one of two play styles he has adopted. Either the traditional centre back who puts his foot through the ball up the park and dives into tackles but cannot play from the back, or the more modern player who is comfortable with the ball at his feet often at the expense of some of the more standard defensive skill set. Ronnie Edwards however is a very rare breed of player as he is the definition of modern meets classic.

Ronnie Edwards has been a first team regular at Peterborough since joining from Barnet's under 18 squad in 2020. He has quickly became a fans favourite, also winning 4 club awards at the end of the 2021/22 season and he has only gone from strength to strength since with a call up to Englands under 20 squad for the world cup in 2023 starting all 4 games.

For the Posh this season Ronnie started all 45 of the matches he played in as well as playing the full 90 minutes and helping the team register 13 clean sheets. Edwards defensive style is effortless at times, despite being less than 6ft tall Edwards is a force in both the ground and the air. Winning 2.2 arial duals at a 59% success rate and 1.9 ground duals at 64% success rate he is a natural defender.

 His ground duals are very fun to watch as Edwards fights to get goal side before using his fantastic strength to win the ball. His upper body strength is key to his defense as he often out-muscles his opponents and despite having good pace himself his strength overwhelms any pacy opponent. Edwards recovers 5.6 balls per game with 1.2 tackles and 1.0 interceptions per game respectively. He is very consistent with his tackles, only giving away 0.5 fouls per game and 1 penalty in 45 games. An interesting stat is his 4.1 clearances per game which don't tell just how good he is at these. Often clearing a cross into the box, Edward's positioning is the real stand out here as he is able to put himself where the danger is almost every time the ball comes into the box and get it away either with his head or feet. His no nonsense attitude might scare away those who prefer a " play it out" system but his clearances are both consistent and powerful with the danger being instantly removed.

Edwards certainly competes with the modern centre backs in terms of passing, with him making 83.4 passes per game at a 92% success rate. 63 of those are in his own half with a phenomonal accuracy rate of 95% with 20.5 being in the opposition half at 82%. Another stat that jumps out at you is his variety of passing, attempting 6.9 long balls per game at a decent 67% rate. With a fast front three these are pretty deadly and cause a bit of panic for the opposition back line. Comparing him to another English centre back in Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace, Edwards almost doubles Guehi's passes per game (45.3-83.4) and his long balls (3.4-6.9) at a higher pass accuracy.

Ideal Club:

Ronnie Edwards has been linked to a few clubs over the last few years, including Glasgow Rangers, West Ham, Everton and Crystal Palace. With his contract up in 2025 and with Peterborough missing out on promotion, it seems inevitable the club will look to cash in on the promising player. But where should Ronnie Edwards end up at?

For me it is a no brainer, Crystal Palace is the perfect fit.  A club known for developing young English talent from lower leagues, all you need to look at is the development of Michael Olise from Reading, Adam Wharton from Blackburn and Eberechi Eze from QPR all making the move to South London and finding success. Eze and Wharton of course making the England squad for the Euro's. The club attempted to buy Edwards in January 2024 but a fee could not be agreed. However this summer with Palace looking to challenge Europe, signing Ronnie Edwards should be a priority. Edwards would fit in with the style of play Palace use and could be another star in the Home Grown squad.