Finding The Next Dayot Upamecano: Data-Driven Recruitment Tactics To Find Dominant Defenders

It feels like a lifetime ago that I last posted an article for Total Football Analysis, but in the end, the itch to write and share insights has pulled me back.

For the first series of articles that I plan to share with you all, I want to take a deeper look at one of the most important aspects of football recruitment: player profiles.

When starting the recruitment process within football, it is incredibly important that you fully understand what you are trying to be and what you are trying to achieve as a football club.

Do you plan to use a back three or a back four? Within that, do you expect your central defenders to be key in the build-up phase, or are they there purely to nullify opposition attacks?

The questions go on, and if you complete this process properly, you should end up with a list of player profiles for each position on the pitch.

Then, we need to understand exactly what these profiles mean and how they fit together as a cohesive unit on the pitch.

Simple, right? 

Well, maybe not simple.

Regardless of the level, recruitment within football is anything but simple, but player profiling makes the process more straightforward.

In this series of articles, I plan to discuss the player profiles typically associated with each position and all positions on the pitch.

I will give you a best-case profile with a top-five league player performing well to give you an idea of the template we are looking at.

I will then give you two more players who are playing below the level of the top-five leagues but who fit the profile and have the potential to step up, and then one more player from a smaller league who may be interesting to follow in the coming seasons.

To start, I will look at central defenders and the profile of dominant defenders.

A dominant defender is relatively simple to categorise.

I am looking for a central defender who has the capacity to win their duels, both aerially and on the ground, and who can defend aggressively and effectively in 1v1 situations.

Think William Saliba at Arsenal.

I use data extensively in my process and have a model set up to give me profile scores for each profile in each position.

Using these models, I can gain quick insights, some of which I will share with you in this article.

Using data to identify central defenders raises clear and obvious issues, as the defensive volume will always be greater for players who have more defending to do.

I typically approach this issue by using data for central defenders as an indicator of style rather than an indicator of ability.

We will start this analysis with the ideal profile.

Dayot Upamecano As The Prototype Defender

I have selected a player from a top-five league as one of the current prototypes for the profile: the French international Dayot Upamecano of Bayern Munich in the German top flight.

From a physical and athletic point of view, Upamecano has everything you would want from a dominant defender.

He is 6’2” / 1.88m with a powerful frame, and his stride and pace allow him to cover ground quickly.

This means that he is comfortable when defending proactively and being pulled deeper by strikers, as he has the capacity to recover his defensive positioning when needed.

He also has the athletic ability and strength to compete in aerial duels.

Finding a dominant defensive type is one thing, but what makes Upamecano stand out is his defensive intelligence. 

His ability to read the game and understand his position and role means he is generally positioned well against the ball and ready to defend aggressively if the opposition moves forward.

Dayot Upamecano Radar Map

For a quick visualisation of his data, we can use Dayot Upamecano pizza chart from this season, with the defensive side of the game coloured white.

Pizza charts in this form compare players to all players within their league tier.