Context
I like profiling players. It’s a fun way to think about how and why each footballer, all different from one another, does the things they do, and how their individual qualities support the collective to better the team.
In this sense, football is a game built upon the predispositions of individuals. It is therefore a sport in which positive tendencies should be maximised, while negative ones should be minimised or made up for in the aggregate.
In other words, I watched some players kick a ball around for 90 minutes. Here’s what I thought.
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Ousmane Diomande
While I’m not as bullish on Ousmane Diomande as the general consensus seems to be, he does some things I like.
To start, he’s proactive in tackles. He gets on his front foot early, is willing to stick either foot in (which is good if he has to defend large spaces), and pokes the ball away quite efficiently. Part of this comes down to how he gets through tackles using his momentum: when he’s running into a tackle, from the core down, he’s like an ox. He WILL plough through you.
If you’re running at him and don’t give him the chance to bite, though, I think you can get past him. His arms aren’t as strong as I’d like, meaning he does struggle to push his man away, and his feet are really heavy when changing direction. This, in combination with his aggressive defending, means he’s best paired with someone who can hoover up those loose balls (by staying in close proximity), which should come naturally in Forest’s (who he’s been linked with) back three.
That said, his lateral movement is great. He’s comfortable running sideways and jockeying alongside his man, which is, in no small part, down to the fact that his marking is tight and consistent. This also means he’s decent at defending wide areas and good at stopping crosses.
He makes contact with headers pretty frequently, and while I think he’s usually a second late to loopy ones, he still makes enough contact to get the ball out of danger, and that’s all you can really want, to be honest. He also has the far-post glancing header down, so, you know, attacking threat, woohoo.
I also think he has plenty of value on the ball. He’s willing to hoof it out with both feet, his long balls and switches of play are absolutely fantastic (he gets under the ball well), and he’s generally not too bad at breaking lines and carrying the ball (again, he uses his momentum well).
I think he’ll be pretty good in a back three and should at least be a valuable squad player for a UCL side that defends in a back four, as long as he isn’t left defending massive [central] spaces with no one behind him.
Luka Vušković
I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t think Vušković is necessarily the generational talent he’s been made out to be. He has weaknesses, particularly regarding agility and pace, that are slightly harder to iron out than something like weak long passing, which can improve over time. While the latter may make things uncomfortable in the short run, it is ultimately a “softer” trait for a CB and isn’t going to move the needle in either direction. If his athleticism improves, then you have a well-rounded CB who becomes one of the best CBs in the world.
That last statement comes down to how well he reads the game, which translates into his [box] defending. Vušković is proactive, meaning he reads play and does his stopping action before the attacker actually moves. This does make up for some of his athletic limitations, whilst also allowing him to make more standing tackles, which is useful considering Brighton don’t have much sweeping power behind him. His distribution over short distances is good, and he carries momentum well when driving forward, which means he’s able to do so with some speed. He’s also surprisingly good in tight spaces, so that only adds to his pressure escapism.
His other major strength comes in the air. Brighton have also generally lacked a good header of the ball, and Vušković is exactly that. He’s also good enough at defending balls into the area that he can compensate for all of Brighton’s FBs having 1v1 issues.
I expect there to be a period of struggle as he settles into a back four, particularly given that he’s going to have zero recovery pace around him, but the basics of his defending are good enough to ensure that he’ll do his job (win duels) anyway.
On the whole, he’s best as a CCB in a back three, and Brighton are well stocked in every position except RCB to facilitate that. It does risk alienating a lot of wingers at the club, which is why I don’t view it as a long-term solution, but it’s not a bad one on a game-to-game basis, especially as you ease players like Struijk and Vušković into such a demanding back four.
Honest Ahanor
Honest Ahanor is really, really fun. He’s also really, really… different. And different is fun. So, Honest Ahanor is just really, really fun.
He’s fast, loves carrying the ball, and is very good at getting passes off under pressure. That front-footedness carries into his defending too, where his recovery pace allows him to make up for any missed challenges (which works well with a high line), while he’s also good at intercepting passes.
That said, he falls off balance and lacks strength when defending from behind his man. He’s only 18 and has time to work on those weaknesses anyway, but it is a concern today, especially if he’s coming up against a physical striker.
I’d say he’s best as an LCB in a back three, especially with someone sweeping behind his front-footedness, but he’s also good as a left-back and can develop into a unique left-sided CB profile.
Marco Palestra
Palestra’s crossing is good (albeit slightly floaty), and while his initial burst of pace isn’t great, he’s able to work around it by being comfortable dribbling in all directions and finding his way through tight spaces.
He naturally loves pushing up, so you’re best off having an athletic CB next to him while giving him enough space in midfield areas to cut in and do his own thing (especially against tall opponents, given how floaty his crosses can be).
I suspect he’ll suffer a bit moving from a back five to a back four, since he needs to add power to more areas of his game (mainly in crossing and running, though his upper-body strength is a concern too), but I’ll still say he’s one of the better R[W]B prospects in the world.
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If you’re interested, here are some more of my “scouting” pieces:
Is this just the first part? I'm really looking forward to it; these are all details that people won't see.
I wonder if the team can't ignore Vuskovic and must give him playing time, but they also have to address his lack of speed in 4back. Will they develop a 3CB, like a 3-4-2-1, to address this? This might explain why we have so many attacking midfielders and fast wingers.