The 2023/24 Ligue 1 season is shaping up to be an interesting campaign across Europe and has already given rise to several ‘second-favourite’ teams for fans.
Bayer Leverkusen and OGC Nice, in particular, have been praised for their start to the season as they challenge serial winners Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in their respective leagues.
Nice are currently one of two unbeaten teams in the top five European leagues (Leverkusen being the other, with 11 wins and a draw from 12 league matches), having won eight and drawn five of their first 13 matches, although they sit a point behind leaders PSG.
While only a third of the season is done with several games still to play, this puts them on track for a first Ligue 1 title since the 1958-59 season and a first major honour since their Coupe de France win in the 1996-97 campaign.
It has also been a marked improvement from last season, when they finished ninth in the league.
Nice have scored a meagre 14 league goals this term but have conceded just four times, boasting the best defence across Europe under Francesco Farioli.
Several players have been critical to this run, with Liverpool target Khephren Thuram, Manchester United-linked centre-back Jean-Claire Todibo, and former Bayern Munich defender Dante all playing central roles.
Among their other impressive performers is 24-year-old midfielder Hicham Boudaoui.
Largely operating as the right-sided central midfielder (RCM) alongside Thuram on the left and Youssouf Ndayishimiye at the base of midfield, Boudaoui has offered some invaluable qualities going forward for a team that misses 1.6 of its 2.3 big chances created per game in Ligue 1.
This tactical analysis piece, in the form of a scout report, will provide an in-depth analysis of Boudaoui’s performances across his club’s first 13 league matches in the 2023/24 campaign.
We will break down his role within his club’s tactics and examine what he has brought to Nice during this period.
Hicham Boudaoui Player Profile
Boudaoui hails from Algeria and has already won 12 caps for his national team, even featuring in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
He kickstarted his career in his home country with Paradou AC, making it into their first team in 2018.
The midfielder played 41 times for them, scoring once and assisting thrice, before moving to Nice in September 2019.
Prior to this season, he had played 108 times for the Ligue 1 outfit, scoring and assisting nine times apiece.
Last season, Boudaoui showed immense versatility, operating across the midfield and even as a winger when needed.
However, in a more settled team this time around, he has received chances in his preferred central midfield position, as evidenced by his heatmap.
The heatmap also shows his tendency to move forward, particularly on the right wing, when opportunities arise.
Given the defensive cover offered by his fellow midfielders and Nice’s organisation, the Algerian has often had the license to either carry the ball into attacking areas or play high-risk passes to one of his forwards.
He is averaging 3.54 progressive passes, 1.77 progressive carries and an extremely high volume of touches in the opposition penalty area at 2.66 (all per 90).
His pizza chart below shows exactly how much he has contributed to Nice’s progress in Ligue 1 this season, although he does exhibit defensive and possession-related frailties, which are discussed later in this piece.
Hicham Boudaoui Breaking lines with dribbling
Boudaoui’s tendency to enter the penalty area also contributes to his Expected Goal Contribution, which ranks him among the best RCMs this season.
As his heatmap shows, however, he doesn’t rack up these numbers by camping near the penalty box or the wings either.
Instead, he uses his dribbling, acceleration and positional understanding to create space and openings for his team.
In the sequence below from Nice’s 1-0 win over Metz on October 7, he receives the ball close to his own halfway line.
Boudaoui (marked by a black dash) smartly positions his feet to allow him to turn into the open space vacated by his marker and charge forward with the ball before playing it out to his winger.
Earlier in the game, he had also given his side the lead.
Boudaoui, who averages 1.18 successful take-ons per game in the league this term, has also shown the ability to break lines with his dribbling and acceleration.
In this sequence from Nice’s 2-0 win over Strasbourg back in September, the Algerian (marked by a black dash) picks the ball up near his own box after a Strasbourg attack and glides past two defenders to open space up for his side on the counter.
However, he is hauled down before he can release the pass.
Hicham Boudaoui Goalscoring and creation
Boudaoui’s goal output doesn’t stand out yet, as he has scored twice in 11 Ligue 1 matches this season.
However, his non-penalty xG of 0.31 is in the 97th percentile among his positional peers, and given his ability to enter dangerous areas, his goal output should only improve as the season progresses.
Additionally, in a Nice team that has its foundations in robust defending and balls over the top rather than fluid moves and free goalscoring, only striker Terem Moffi has scored more goals than him this term with four; Boudaoui and three others are tied on two goals, and he is the only midfielder on that list.
The 24-year-old’s goal against Clermont last month is an excellent example of how he utilises his acceleration and positioning to enter dangerous areas.
In the sequence below from the 74th minute of the contest, Boudaoui (marked in black) is near his halfway line when his teammate plays a ball (marked in blue) over the top to the left wing and begins a slow job while the ball is in the air.
As it reaches the left-winger, he quickens his pace up a little and looks up to see open space ahead of him, with Nice’s forwards keeping Clermont’s defenders occupied.
As the winger prepares to send the cross in, Boudaoui sprints into the area unmarked.
While fortune is involved in the ball reaching him via a deflection, he is in the right place at the right time to turn it into an empty goal and score what proved to be the game-winner.
Similarly, while he doesn’t possess the Hollywood pass-making ability that many top midfielders do, Boudaoui’s acceleration also helps him create scoring opportunities for his teammates.
However, he has yet to record an assist this season.
In the first half of the same game against Clermont, he moves into space in the final third to pick up a pass from his teammate.
However, rather than receiving the ball in a central area as most midfielders would do in such a situation, Boudaoui (marked in black) confuses his marker by running across him and into space on the right flank.
He is found by the perfect pass from his teammate, who initially shapes up to pass to a central attacker but passes it into the right side of the box with the outside of his boot.
An unsettled Clermont defender tries hard to close down Boudaoui but fails to do so sufficiently, giving away a penalty.
Gaetan Laborde, however, went on to miss the spot-kick.
Hicham Boudaoui Defensive territory
As evidenced by his heatmap, Boudaoui does drop into midfield and a part of the final third, either to progress play or to help out defensively, though much of his role is centred around his attacking contributions.
His defensive territory is predominantly located high up the midfield, though he has also contributed in his own half, albeit at a much lower rate than his peers.
Boudaoui is averaging 1.18 tackles won (47% win rate; 41st percentile for RCMs), 0.59 interceptions (13th percentile) and 3.57 ball recoveries (5th percentile) in Ligue 1 this season, while also giving away 1.18 fouls and drawing 1.62 fouls per 90.
While effective in the attacking sense, this and his radar chart (shared earlier) illustrate that Boudaoui has weaknesses in possession and while tracking back; he has committed more fouls than made interceptions in his own half (5-4) in 13 league matches this term, indicating that he can be overzealous in closing down players on occasion.
An example of this can be seen in the sequence below from Nice’s 1-0 win over Marseille in October.
The top-left image shows the team’s structure when their opponent has possession of the ball (marked in red), as they close down the flank and force Marseille to play long or make a dangerous switch by man-marking their midfielders.
Boudaoui, who is not visible in this frame, is effectively in the area marked by a box in his Defensive Territory chart, looking for an opportunity to break forward should his side win the ball.
Marseille, however, fire a pinpoint pass into their forward, who controls it well, but is marked by a defender and turns around to pass it back.
However, Boudaoui (marked in black) comes rushing in to make a fairly unnecessary tackle, giving away the foul and allowing Marseille to reset and move their players further forward.
This is a weakness that needs to be coached out of his game.
Additionally, his pass accuracy of 84%, particularly when over half of his attempts are short passes, needs improvement, as does his expected assists of 0.04 per 90 and key passes of 0.89 per 90, both of which are quite low for a player who spends most of his time in the opposition’s half.
He protects the ball well, being dispossessed only 0.44 times per 90, but his touch can let him down, as evidenced by his 2.36 miscontrols per 90.
Defensively, while he contests numerous aerial duels, he wins only 44% of them and has a take-on success rate of 42%, both of which are low considering the high volume of attempts he makes.
Conclusion
Hicham Boudaoui’s trajectory is one to follow.
At 24, the Algerian is only expected to improve, and acting as one of the leading figures in a title challenge and, potentially, a first Ligue 1 title in 64 years will undoubtedly boost his stock.
He needs to improve in certain areas, particularly defensively and when receiving passes or possession, as his errors could become more scrutinised with Nice utilising a largely defence-based, counterattacking set-up under manager Francesco Farioli tactics, who is also still refining his trade at just 34 years of age.
However, Boudaoui’s attacking and creative output will undoubtedly be vital as the season progresses. If Nice gains a little more fluidity in attack, the midfielder could improve even further.
