Alou Kuol: The ‘very explosive’ Stuttgart-bound aerial assassin who idolises Lewandowski – scout report

Scoring seven goals in 893 minutes, Central Coast Mariners centre-forward Alou Kuol has the third-best goals per 90 ratio (0.71) of any A-League player for the 2020/21 campaign. His clinical nature in front of goal caught Stuttgart sporting director Sven Mislintat’s eye and now, the 177cm (5’10”), 72kg (159lbs) 19-year-old is moving to the Bundesliga on a free transfer this summer. Die Roten’s renowned talent spotter, who’s previously held major scouting positions at Borussia Dortmund and EPL giants Arsenal, revealed that the Australian attacker “impressed [Stuttgart] with his personality and ambition”.

Kuol, whose family fled a war-torn Sudan when he was just three years old, is confident and ambitious both on and off the pitch, earlier this year explaining that he disagreed with ex-coaches uncertainty over his talents in the past before backing himself by leaving home to join Central Coast Mariners in pursuit of his dream to become a professional footballer and “repay” his parents for the sacrifices that they made for him. The teenager also revealed that he aims to “assert [himself] in the Bundesliga” when he joins Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side for the 2021/22 campaign, and he aspires “to be like [Robert] Lewandowski”.

It’s clear how Mislintat was drawn to Kuol’s personality and ambition, as well as his impressive performances in front of goal for Central Coast Mariners this season. In this tactical analysis, in the form of a scout report, we’re going to take a more in-depth look at Kuol’s overall game. This scout report will provide analysis of some of the key strengths and weaknesses that the 19-year-old attacker possesses based on his performances for Central Coast Mariners this season and ahead of his arrival at Mercedes-Benz Arena. We’ll highlight what role, in terms of a team’s tactics, may suit the striker best, as well as some areas of improvement in the youngster’s game that Matarazzo and his coaching staff must work on in order for Kuol to fulfil the potential that Mislintat evidently believes he has.

Shooting

As with any striker, shooting is an important part of Kuol’s game. This season, Kuol has been clinical with his chances, as is clear from his impressive goals per 90 ratio and the fact that his seven goals have come from 4.17 xG, indicating that he’s scored more than expected based on the quality of chances he’s had.

Kuol is not afraid to shoot whenever the opportunity presents itself. He’s taken 2.92 shots per 90 this term  the 11th-most shots per 90 any A-League player has taken this season. Additionally, only one Central Coast Mariners player has taken more shots per 90 than Kuol this season.

His high shot frequency is a result of a few combined factors. Firstly, Kuol is a striker with a lot of confidence and just like he backed himself to leave home and make it with Central Coast Mariners a few years ago, he backs himself to score when the opportunity arises.

Kuol isn’t a ‘selfish’ player. If he’s in possession in the box, but not in a great shooting position while a teammate who he could assist is clearly occupying a better shooting position, he’s shown that he will try to assist that teammate rather than go alone. However, if there isn’t a blatantly obvious passing option, then Kuol is always prepared to have a go by himself, even if he’s not in a completely optimal shooting position, as was the case here in figure 1.

The striker carried the ball into this position from just outside the box while being shepherded away from goal by an opposition defender. The optimal shooting position here is more central, or at least running inwards from outside, not running outwards from inside as Kuol is. However, there’s no obvious pass for the 19-year-old here, when taking into account the direction he’s moving at pace, and instead of opting to hold onto the ball and work it into a better shooting position, he decides to shoot from here, targeting the near-post, which pays off as he actually manages to score from this tight angle, blasting the ball past the goalkeeper at his near post.

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