The Hartlepool United trialist who impressed in Middlesbrough success

Pre-season is an opportunity for managers, and supporters, to get a glimpse of their new signings in game scenarios for the first time, as well as hand trial runs to players who find themselves out of contract.

And while there were a host of new signings on show during Hartlepool's 2-1 success over Middlesbrough at the Suit Direct Stadium recently, including goalscorer Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, it was the player listed as ‘trialist A’ who has drawn plenty of attention in the aftermath.

An impressive first half display, which included an assist for David Ferguson, has left supporters hoping the club will sign the trialist on a permanent basis this season.

But who is the trialist and what would Hartlepool be getting if Askey is to offer him a contract?

Who is Hartlepool United’s trialist?

It’s understood the player in question was 22-year-old French midfielder Anthony Gomez-Mancini, as per several reports, formerly of French side Angers and Burnley, before a spell with Accrington Stanley last season.

Born in Saint-Priest; Mancini began his career at Olympique Lyonnais, before joining Angers in 2018.

After two years with the former Ligue 1 side, Mancini completed a move to Sean Dyche’s Burnley on loan in October 2020 with a view to making the move permanent.

Mancini was a regular in Premier League 2 but was released by the Clarets last summer following their relegation from the Premier League having failed to break into the first team set-up at Turf Moor.

The midfielder was handed a short-term deal with Accrington in the second half of last season, but made just three appearances as the club suffered relegation from League One.

What has been said about Anthony Mancini?

Hartlepool boss Askey was quizzed over the performance of the trialist midfielder in the wake of the win over Middlesbrough where he suggested he would need to see all three all of those who featured again before the club makes a decision as to whether to offer a contract or not.

“It’s always difficult coming in as a trialist because you’re wanting to prove yourself, but I thought all three of them did well,” said Askey.

“Sometimes you can over do it by trying to show what you can do, but they couldn’t have done much more than they did tonight and it gives you food for thought.”

Asked specifically about the trialist in the first half Askey responded: “It’s always difficult when you’ve not seen a great deal of players, obviously you can see he’s got a lot of ability.

“Whether he’ll fit into what we want, and how he plays, then we’ll have to keep looking, but the signs have been good from what we’ve seen of him.

“He’s got a good attitude, he works hard and he’s got ability on the ball, but we just need to see a little bit more.”

Impressing during a trial period seems to be common for Mancini with Accrington boss John Coleman suggesting similar after handing the Frenchman a deal with Accrington in February.

Coleman said: "Anthony has come in and impressed in training and the under-23s game last week.

"He gives us something different; he's got a good left peg, a good footballing brain and hopefully he can kick-start his career with us."

Mancini, perhaps, came closest to his Burnley breakthrough during the 2021 pre-season schedule when featuring in a number of friendlies.

As described by LancsLive, the midfielder followed up a ‘lively cameo at Oldham’ with ‘an impressive first half showing against Blackpool.’

The report continued: “Playing out wide rather than in his favoured central role, the 20-year-old was energetic, bright and fearless.

“He helped create a couple of early chances and did enough to warrant more minutes moving forward.

“He has impressed in his natural central midfield role for the under-23s and is neat and tidy in possession and committed when the ball needs winning back. His tackling and touch are great attributes.”

Former Burnley under-23s head coach Steve Stone also commented on Mancini when suggesting: “He’s technically very good with an excellent pedigree in France.”

What do the stats tell us about Anthony Mancini?

Mancini certainly appears to be versatile having featured in a number of positions throughout his young career.

As per data experts Wyscout, Mancini appeared in a different position in all three of his appearances with Accrington last season from left wing-back to central midfielder to attacking midfield.

Against Middlesbrough, Mancini appeared to operate in something of a hybrid role alongside Callum Cooke with a licence to get forward, particularly down the right as could be seen with a number of exchanges in the final third on that side of the field, including when scrambling the ball across to Ferguson for Hartlepool’s second goal of the night.

To understand Mancini a little further we can look at some of the stats compared to some of Hartlepool’s current, and previous, midfield.

In this instance, we will compare him to existing midfielder Tom Crawford, whom he got the nod ahead of in the first half against Boro, new signing Kieran Wallace and outgoing Nicky Featherstone.

While Mancini’s stats are slightly skewed in that there is not as much data for the 22-year-old compared to the other three players, we can still gain a basic understanding as to the type of player Askey would be getting should a contract be offered.

Whether it be as a No.6 or a No.8, Mancini’s passing figures will be something Hartlepool’s management team will have considered and monitored first hand in training.

As per Wyscout, Mancini averages 44.42 passes per 90 minutes at a success rate of 84.6 per cent accuracy. Of the three comparisons, only Featherstone produces a higher rate of 45.29 passes at 87.1 per cent accuracy.

Mancini attempts, on average, 7.19 passes to the final third per 90 minutes which is more than Crawford (5.96) and Wallace (7.07) but, again, slightly less than Featherstone’s 7.88.

When it comes to forward passes in general, Mancini targets 13.58 compared to 7.25 passes towards his own goal which stacks up against Crawford’s 11.22-6.63, Featherstone’s 14.82-5.82 and Wallace’s 17.67-4.68.

It’s Wallace who also leads the way when it comes to interceptions per 90 minutes with 6.27 compared to Mancini’s 3.97, Crawford’s 3.82 and Featherstone’s 5.36.

But when it comes to total actions, Mancini’s 79.07 leads the way over Featherstone’s 69.13, Crawford’s 68.84 and Wallace’s 68.28, although it is Featherstone who completes a higher percentage of his total actions at 71.9 per cent.

Summary

Should Askey bring Mancini in on a permanent basis, then, his stats suggest he would be able to compete alongside the likes of Crawford and Wallace, two players who he would likely be vying for a place in the starting line-up with, whilst they also, perhaps, show some of the attributes missing in Featherstone’s absence.

Nevertheless, if Mancini were to continue to impress this pre-season and earn himself a contract, it could prove to be a decent piece of business for Hartlepool given his recent pedigree.