Jens Cajuste: Midtjylland's relentless defensive midfielder who left his mark at Anfield.

Written by Maxi, @MaaxiAngelo, on April 10th 2021.

Jens Cajuste has had a rocket rise to the top in the past year. He’s impressed in the Champions League against the likes of Liverpool, Atalanta, and Ajax – and he’s also broken into the Swedish national team and is fighting for a spot in the EUROs. Here’s all you need to know on FC Midtjylland defensive jewel.

Danish side Midtjylland was one of the Champions League most beautiful stories this season. Since stats-genius Matthew Benham (also the owner of Brentford FC) became the majority shareholder of the club back in 2014, the club has won the league three times.

What they hadn’t accomplished until this season, though, was qualifying to the big stage – the Champions League. But, after an impressive two-leg tie against Slavia Prague, they did it. The small club from Jylland in Denmark had qualified.

One of the key players in that accomplishments was Midtjylland’s young Swedish defensive midfielder Jens Cajuste, who formed a midfield three with Frank Onyeka and Evander. Cajuste shut down countless Slavia attacks, kept the balance within the Midtjylland team and shielded the Midtjylland centre-backs from the opponent’s attacking players.

Cajuste followed that performance up with a few more monstrous performances in the group stage, where Midtjylland drew Liverpool, Atalanta and Ajax. Performances which led the US and Swedish national teams to fight over him, as his father is a Haitian-American and his mother is Swedish. Ultimately, he chose the Swedish national team, though, and that’s where we are today.

So, who is Jens Cajuste?

Born on the 10th of August 1999 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Cajuste’s a defensive midfielder who primarily fits in the “destroyer” category. He started his career in Sports Beijing as his family moved to China when he was five years old, but when they returned to Gothenburg five years later, Cajuste spent his formative football years at local club Örgryte IS.

At the age of 19, he signed for the senior squad of his current club FC Midtjylland – despite the fact he’d never played a game in the Swedish top-tier division Allsvenskan.

Strengths

Cajuste is a very strong and fairly big-sized midfielder at 6ft2 (188cm), who uses that combination well to his advantage. He fends off opponents easily, which he’s capable of doing at a higher level than in the Danish Superliga as shown in the Champions League and for the Swedish national team.

His biggest strength is his ball-winning ability. He reads the game very well, especially for a player his age. But above all, he’s very tough to beat in duels – both in the air and on the ground - as he times his actions well in those duels and induces his size and strength well. Something that gives him an edge and an advantage. Amongst the Midtjylland players, he's first in tackles (38) and ground duels won (92).

Apart from his ball-winning abilities and duel game, Cajuste is good at starting attacks from the base of midfield and set the tempo of a game/attack. Not only does he have a great ability to read oppositional plays, but he got a good vision to orchestrate play as well. His passing could at times need sharpening, but that comes with practice. He’s still very young.

On the ball, Cajuste has a good skill set. He’s skilled at removing himself from pressured situations with his dribbling and technique, which really benefits him as a defensive player as they receive the most press.

This technique also works to his benefit whilst advancing up the pitch. Cajuste is a very dynamic and athletic player, and when he starts advancing forwards, he’s really tough to stop. Partly because of his frame, but mainly because of his technique and athleticism. Amongst the Midtjylland players, he has the most succeeded dribbles (39).

Most importantly, though, Cajuste is a very mature and intelligent player. Apart from the occasional lack in decision-making, which will be mentioned further down below, he reads the game exceptionally well for someone his age, knows how to use his body to his advantage, defends without having to use any last-ditch resorts, and shows no fear or respect.

He’s absolutely relentless, as shown in his tough demeanour in a duel against Jordan Henderson at Anfield. These aspects of his game will take him far.

Weaknesses

Cajuste doesn’t have any significant weaknesses, it’s more the little things in his game that he needs to sharpen.

At times, his decision-making is flawed. Sometimes he makes the wrong pass in risky areas or moves with the ball into the wrong spaces. That’s probably due to his young age, though, but should he advance up the hierarchy and sign for a bigger club than Midtjylland, it’s something that he will need to fix.

In bigger leagues, you can’t afford the same number of mistakes made as you can in the Danish league, no disrespect to the Danish league. That usually improves with experience, though.

The decision-making goes hand-in-hand with the next topic, passing. Cajuste is not a bad passer, not even close to being one. But as he’s so dominant on the midfield, it would take his game to the next level and add a dimension to his it if he could take on an even bigger role in the first phase of the build-ups and provide playmaking from the base of midfield.

At the moment, that role is mainly assigned to Evander at Midtjylland – but Cajuste could make himself untouchable if he strengthens this part of his game. And this goes in a future club he might join as well. So, this is not a weakness, but a suggestion to what he can work on to become even better.

Conclusion

Jens Cajuste is one of the most promising players coming out of the Nordic countries in this generation. Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak, Dejan Kulusevski and Martin Ödegaard steal the headlights with their goals, assists, impressive skills, etc – but Cajuste is one of the best young defensive players in the North.

He’s already very close to a spot in Sweden’s EURO’s squad, despite only having three caps on his CV, and countless clubs have scouted him at Midtjylland in the Champions League and in the domestic league.

He’s destined for greatness, and his name will be more well-known in the coming years. That’s almost a certainty according to yours truly. So, remember the name - because Jens Cajuste is coming for the big stage.

Written by Maxi, @MaaxiAngelo.