Just over one year ago, Mika Biereth (187cm/6’2”, 78kg/171lbs) joined Austrian Bundesliga side SK Sturm Graz on loan until the end of the 2023/24 campaign — a season which Sturm Graz would end as league title winners for the first time in 13 years under the guidance of current TSG Hoffenheim boss Christian Ilzer.
Biereth contributed five goals and three assists in 15 games from January to the end of the season to help Sturm Graz get over the line before his move from Premier League giants Arsenal to the Austrian champions was made permanent for €9m last summer.
The London-born Denmark U21 international carried his strong form into the 2024/25 campaign, scoring 11 goals and making five assists for Sturm Graz in the first half of the season.
Despite no longer playing in the Austrian Bundesliga, the striker remains the top goalscorer for the current campaign.
Biereth made a €13m move to Ligue 1 side AS Monaco last month, and it’s been a seamless transition to life in the French top-flight for the 22-year-old attacker, who’s already netted seven goals in just five league games, making him the in-form play in the league at this moment.
This scouting report and player analysis piece will highlight the key strengths in Biereth’s game, which have helped him hit the ground running since his mid-season move to Ligue 1, handing a significant boost in its quest for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
We will analyse the player’s role within Adi Hütter’s tactics with Les Monégasques.
Additionally, we’ll share some insight into which areas the former Arsenal academy player still needs to improve.
Mika Biereth Goalscoring Analysis
Firstly, goalscoring is obviously an integral part of any centre-forward’s game.
In Biereth’s case, he’s already proven himself as a prolific goalscorer from his time in Arsenal’s academy, his spell on loan with Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership, his year with Sturm Graz , and thus far in Ligue 1 with Monaco.
The higher the level gets, the more quickly Biereth seems to adapt and thrive in relation to his goalscoring abilities.
Of course, it’s still early days for the 22-year-old in a league with the standard of his current competition.
However, he’s passed every test with flying colours in the opening stages of his Ligue 1 career—it’s impossible to say he doesn’t deserve an A+ up to this point.
How Biereth reacts when the goals inevitably begin to dry up—as maintaining his current goalscoring rate is highly unlikely—will be an interesting test of his character and resilience.
Nevertheless, the Denmark U21 international deserves credit for grasping his opportunity at Monaco with both hands and making the most of it thus far.
Biereth can be categorised as a ‘poacher’.
He’s not heavily involved in the game outside of his goalscoring contributions.
His strengths lie in his ability to gain freedom from defenders in valuable positions, creating a great passing option for teammates and giving himself chances to avail of high-percentage goalscoring opportunities.
Let’s take a look at Figure 1 to illustrate this forward’s intelligent movement and positioning.
We see Monaco progressing with the ball down the left wing in the top-left image.
As his side enters the final third, Biereth checks himself back behind the ball-far centre-back, positioning himself on that defender’s blind side.
This makes life very difficult for the Nantes defender, as it’s now impossible for the centre-back to track both Biereth and the ball carrier at the same time.
The top-right image and the bottom-left image show how the centre-back has to frantically dart his head back and forth between Biereth and the wide ball carrier to try and keep himself fully aware of what’s going on around him—far from ideal and a much worse situation for the defender than if Biereth had remained in front of him where he could’ve been found initially just before we join the action in the top-left image.
Biereth times his movement to match the wide playmaker’s shaping up to cross the ball into the box.
At that moment, the centre-back is focused on the ball carrier.
As a result, he can’t react fast to Biereth’s run from his blind side towards the front post.
Knowing Biereth will make this run, the winger crosses low and hard to the striker’s intended destination, meeting Biereth at the corner of the six-yard box and giving him a chance to convert with a first-time finish from very close range.
The London-born forward’s intelligent movement—not just in how he will move but also when he opts to do so—was crucial in creating this goal.
This level of positional intelligence makes him a valuable player when deployed as a ‘poacher’.
He is allowed to contribute little to the chance creation on the ball but rather roam around to find space and put himself in position to finish the chance off.
In this case, Monaco are progressing through the centre, up against a higher line than in Figure 1.
Here, Biereth pulls out wide until he creates space from his marker.
Then, as his team progresses, Biereth begins a diagonal run from out to in, picking up pace while giving his ball-carrying teammate a solid through passing option.
Biereth does well with his first touch before carrying it into the box.
His body movement sends the goalkeeper the wrong way, and he ultimately finishes comfortably at the near post.
What’s consistent between the goal in Figure 1 and the goal in Figure 2 is the way in which Biereth creates problems for the opponent through his movement and positioning, on top of how he has little actual involvement with the ball outside of the finish—a summary of his game in front of goal.
Mika Biereth Playmaking Analysis
This Danish forward is undoubtedly more of a pure goalscorer than a playmaker.
However, he still links up with the midfield at times and creates chances for teammates, particularly with the help of his killer first touch, which we see in Figure 2 above.
Again, Biereth has pulled away from his marker and found some space in a threatening position before receiving the ball in Figure 3.
A low, hard pass is played into the striker’s feet from deep.
Although he has space here, this is not an easy pass to deal with.
However, Biereth handles the situation exquisitely.
His first touch takes the sting out of the pass, leaving just enough pace on the ball to carry it through as he turns and begins carrying it forward towards the opposition’s undermanned backline.
With a couple of passing options running in behind, Biereth then plays a pass towards one teammate to continue the attack.
Though Biereth’s pass at the end of this move is not perfect and does take some of the pace out of the attack, the striker did very well to find space, which gave his team a solid passing option inside the opponent’s half.
In addition, the first touch solidified his team’s progression into the final third.
Our next example shows Biereth receiving yet another fast-paced, low-driven pass to his feet in the final third, though he hasn’t managed to separate himself from his marker this time.
Biereth’s physicality is not a major strength in his game.
Still, the striker’s first touch is deadly enough to take the lofted pass into his feet on the half-turn, roll the defender and carry the ball beyond his marker.
Biereth ends up in a great position to slide a through pass towards a teammate in space coming from the wing—a chance created primarily thanks to the striker’s golden first touch.
Biereth is not outstanding as a passer—he’s pretty average in that respect.
However, as with his goalscoring, the Dane’s movement and first touch often help him get into good positions and regularly give his team a solid option.
Conclusion
Biereth’s primary strengths are his off-the-ball movement, positioning and finishing ability.
As for his downsides, the striker is not yet great at using his body physically and can mature further in that respect.
His jumping height is not impressive, nor is his ability to judge the flight of the ball.
This makes Biereth relatively weak in the air and with defenders tight to his back.
As mentioned, his passing ability can also improve.
Nevertheless, as a ‘poacher’, the 22-year-old is performing on an elite level right now.
When playing in a team with good playmakers around him to do the ball-carrying and playmaking, Biereth has the freedom to focus on putting himself in the best possible position to finish the chances.
The Dane is a very good option worth far more than the €13m Monaco paid to sign him this past January, purely because of the options and goals he brings to the team.
He won’t do all the work, but he can operate as a very valuable cog in a well-oiled attacking unit.
