Dieumerci Mbokani 2019/20 – scout report

Dieumerci Mbokani is a 34-year-old forward playing for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian First Division A. At 34 years of age, most players are winding down in terms of playing time and performance levels. It appears that Mbokani has inversed this trend with the player on course for his most successful season at the halfway stage of the 2019/20 season. Such success sees Mbokani ranked as the top goalscorer in the Belgian First Division A at this stage of the season.

This scout report will look to provide an insight into the player via objective and subjective tactical analysis. Key contents will include an analysis of Mbokani’s background, his key characteristics, Royal Antwerp’s tactics and comparisons with other players and teams to add context to such analytical points.

Background

Mbokani could be deemed a journeyman player, featuring for multiple clubs in multiple countries. This is by no means a negative comment, given the high level to which Mbokani has played at club level, and the earning of international caps for DR Congo, but more of an observation that the player has rarely stayed with a team for more than three seasons.

Now playing the Belgian First Division A, this is where Mbokani started his professional career. A loan spell to Anderlecht from a lesser-known DR Congo team, TP Mazembe, was followed up by a permanent move to Standard Liège. After that, Mbokani played for numerous clubs in top European leagues including Monaco, Wolfsburg, Dynamo Kyiv, Norwich City and Hull City before moving to his current team, Royal Antwerp.

Despite moving from club to club, the player has an impressive goal record at the majority of teams. Although, he did struggle at Monaco, Wolfsburg and in the Premier League with Norwich and Hull. However, all of those moves were season-long loans apart from Monaco, suggesting a limited time to adapt and a varied mentality compared to making a permanent move.

With 14 goals and four assists in 20 appearances at 34 years old this season, a further investigation into the player and his team should prove interesting.

2019/20 season thus far

As previously mentioned, at around the halfway point in the season, given it looks like Royal Antwerp will qualify for the Championship round of fixtures, Mbokani sits as top scorer with 14 goals and four assists in 20 appearances.

Not only is his output higher than any other player in the league for both goals and goals and assists combined, but his goal record per 90 of 0.66 goals and goals or assists record of 0.85 per 90 indicate he is having an impact on the majority of matches.

Comparing the above statistics to his previous seasons indicate his high-level performances and recent improvement in his game. It is interesting how, while helped by his teammates and club tactics, he has been able to increase his output when the expectation of degeneration overtime was present in the minds of many.

As the table highlights, his current goals per 90 record this season is better than his record at the majority of other clubs and Royal Antwerp last season, only his second spell at Anderlecht, when much younger, did he better his current 0.66 goals per 90.

If we take a look at his expected goals and expected assists statistics, we can also see that Mbokani is only slightly exceeding his expectations. Therefore, we can reasonably assume that his scoring and assisting record can continue, or even improve if multiple factors go his way.

How does he do it?

In terms of style, Mbokani is best known for being a target man, utilising his physicality to hold off defenders within the box to score with his head or feet, or link up with teammates by holding the ball up, flicking the ball on or laying the ball off to teammates if the player comes short or into channels. This can be seen by viewing his heat map below, Mbokani spends a lot of time in central areas in and around the box, but also peels off into the channels to receive direct passes or get involved in build-up play.

Despite such a playing style, Mbokani is only 6ft 1in, a tall player, but not the towering 6ft 3in and above target man we typically see in modern football. Because of his height, he is required to use his physicality and jumping reach to win aerial duels. However, his height also comes as a blessing in disguise as his agility, acceleration and sprint speed benefit. That is not to say that Mbokani is a pacey striker who sits on the last defenders shoulder, but, without being too tall, he is better equipped to be mobile and adapt his playing style should the game demand it. This enables him to contribute in more areas as a more complete forward, for example, reacting to ball movement in the box, pouncing first on rebounds and using his technical ability in or outside the box when needed. Taller, more one-dimensional target men may struggle with such contribution.

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