Walid Jarmouni (188cm/6’2”, 82kg/181lbs) is a 21-year-old left-footed attacker on loan at Championnat National 1 side FC Sète 34 from FC Sochaux, where he has played since 2018 when he joined the Ligue 2 side from Le Crès FC. Sochaux have been custodians of some players who would go on to become major names in world football over the years, including current Inter winger Ivan Perišić and former Barcelona centre-back Jérémy Mathieu — both of whom went on to become UEFA Champions League winners after spending a portion of their early career at Sochaux.
Jarmouni hopes to become the latest player to walk through the halls of Sochaux’s training ground and develop into something great. Though his ceiling is unlikely to be as high as that of Perišić and Mathieu, I do think that the 21-year-old Sète loanee has been one of the most noteworthy players to grace France’s third tier, National 1, in 2021/22.
The tall, Montpellier-born attacker, who is primarily a centre-forward but has also been occasionally used as a right-winger this term, hasn’t enjoyed as much game time as other players we’ve provided some analysis of in recent weeks as part of this series scouting France’s third tier but he’s utilised the game time he has received well enough to warrant being part of our list and we hope that this scout report and tactical analysis piece sheds plenty of light on why we are so excited about this particular player and believe, depending on the team’s tactics and Jarmouni’s specified role within those tactics, he could have plenty to offer at a higher level than National 1.
Off the ball movement
Jarmouni has scored five goals this season for Sète while generating 5.2 xG. For me, the 21-year-old has been a little bit of a victim of his own versatility and playing style during his loan spell in National 1, as we’ll discuss in greater detail later on in this tactical analysis piece, simply due to the way he’s often been used within his team’s tactics. Jarmouni hasn’t always been the main focal point of his team’s attack this term, sometimes getting shoved out onto the right instead of the centre and while he’s performed this role quite well, we believe that the Sochaux man is ultimately set to end up as a centre-forward; this is where he’s at his best, specifically due to his excellent off-the-ball movement.
The attacker possesses excellent ability to find ways of ending up in optimal goalscoring positions to give teammates a good option or to ensure he is best positioned to get onto the end of a rebound. This has benefitted Jarmouni and Sète a lot when he’s been deployed as a centre-forward as the 21-year-old has been able to showcase his attacking off-the-ball movement as much as possible to benefit his team by occupying good goalscoring positions frequently, ultimately helping his team to find the back of the net.
Overall, this season, Jarmouni has only taken 1.87 shots per 90 in National 1 — a relatively average number, when compared with other strikers in France’s third tier — which I’d say, is a direct result of 1. The fact he’s not had consistent game time throughout the season and 2. The fact that he’s not always been used as a main striker in the team, often being shoved out onto the wing where Jarmouni’s knack of getting into the right positions via his off-the-ball movement is more difficult to capitalise on than when his role is to play as the furthest forward central player, closest to the opposition’s goal.
In figures 1-3, however, we see an example of Jarmouni playing as a centre-forward and helping his side to score. This passage of play provides a great example of the 21-year-old’s impressive off-the-ball movement, as this element of his game was crucial for creating the goal we see at the end of the attack. Firstly, in figure 1, Sète have just started a counter-attack after regaining possession inside their third. As the ball-carrier breaks away on the left side of central midfield, we see Jarmouni making his run into space behind the defence and on the blindside of where they’re currently focusing.
One noteworthy thing about Jarmouni’s run here and other runs he’s made when breaking away into space is how frequently and exactly at what moments he chooses to scan. We see an example of the attacker looking away from the ball carrier and into the space in front of him in figure 1 and he took this opportunity to scan at the absolutely perfect time, as it was in between the ball-carrier’s heavy touches. It’s better to scan when the ball is not at the feet of the teammate who could completely change the attack with a specific movement at any given moment, meaning it’s better to have one’s eye on the ball at those moments. However, scanning in between touches or when the pass is in transit towards you, for example, is a great idea as it allows Jarmouni to give himself a better idea of how the pitch is laid out ahead of him in terms of players’ positioning and where to find space, for example. This can improve the player’s decision-making.
