When they signed Yves Bissouma from Lille in 2018 for more than £15 million, Brighton expected to land a future star.
His first two seasons at the club were very inconsistent. He came in and out of the team and failed to settle as the player Brighton expected him to be.
But this season, Bissouma has stepped up to the challenge, starting all the games he has been available for.
His performances have been excellent, and he’s been linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Real Madrid, Man United, Liverpool, and Arsenal.
Real Madrid has been looking to find a long-term replacement for their midfield trio of Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro in recent seasons, and Paul Pogba has been one of their targets.
Manchester United are also looking for someone who can replace the Frenchman when he leaves.
This tactical analysis will analyze how Bissouma plays and what he could bring to the teams following him.
Yves Bissouma Player profile
Bissouma is a very physical central midfielder who can adapt to very different tactics and roles.
He stands at 182 cm / 6’11’’ and can easily win duels against every kind of rival, proven by his 60.19% winning rate in defensive duels.
At Brighton, Bissouma plays as a right or left central midfielder in Graham Potters 3-4-3 formation.
With his pace and strength, Bissouma provides good cover for the defensive line covering a lot of ground and forcing play down the flanks.
On the ball, Bissouma has the conditions to be a dominant midfielder.
His technique is more than solid and he can use his physicality to break lines and protect the ball.
His passing range is also very good. He puts the exact weight in most of his passes and hits good long balls, too.
He’s not a big goal threat, but he has a good strike and likes to try his luck from distance (1.05 shots per 90, more than 65.3% of the Premier League central midfielders).
However, he has some weaknesses when it comes to his reading of the game and positioning.
In defence, Bissouma is often caught ball-watching and can miss some runs in behind, leaving players unmarked.
He also tends to go for the ball all the time and leave holes in the defensive structure.
He’s also over-aggressive in some plays and commits too many fouls, with 1.8 per 90.
In attack, he suffers from similar problems, often choosing bad positions or body shapes to receive the ball and taking too many touches instead of moving the ball quickly.
He’s easily forced to play the ball backwards and gets involved in too many offensive duels due to not passing the ball quickly enough (8.03 offensive duels per 90, top 20% among central midfielders in the EPL).
Yves Bissouma Attacking phase: does he fully exploit his technical ability?
In Brighton’s buildup, Bissouma takes turns with the other central midfielder to come deep and build from the back but prefers others to be the protagonists in the playmaking.
He attempts just 44.2 passes per 90, which is less than the majority of EPL central midfielders.
Bissouma’s main strength on the ball is his ability to break lines with his runs.
He’s a very strong runner, very good in transitions and carrying the ball forward.
His 1.28 progressive runs per 90 put him in the top 38.5% of the EPL central midfielders and are one of his team’s weapons when facing a high press.
Bissouma’s runs are not only useful to progress and establish Brighton in the opposition half.
He has the intelligence to attract several rivals when carrying the ball and making the pass to an unmarked teammate at the exact moment, generating spaces for his teammates and creating numerical advantages.
The picture below shows an example of this kind of run.
Bissouma takes the ball and rushes forward between four rivals.
Once he attracts the four of them, he plays a nice pass to the player on the left-wing, who then has space and time to attack and advance.
Bissouma’s technique is very good.
He handles the ball well in tight spaces and uses his body well to protect the ball and avoid pressure.
He
