Belgium is one of the leading developers of talent in all of world football.
Many players playing at the highest level today forged their path in Northwestern Europe.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne are good examples.
Mika Godts could very well become the next one to make his way out of Belgium.
The 17-year-old Belgian winger currently plays for Jong Genk in the Challenger Pro League, the second division of Belgian football.
Genk’s problem is that Godts is out of contract in the summer, with AC Milan and Ajax interested in signing him.
This tactical analysis and Mika Godts scout report will look at the potential shown by the Belgian youngster, as well as some strengths emerging in his game.
The Mika Godts scout report will also analyse why KRC Genk needs to do everything it can to give the 17-year-old a new contract, which would allow him to become part of the first team and show his talent on the biggest stages.
Mika Godts Player Profile
Mika Godts is primarily a left winger, with the 17-year-old normally being deployed on the left-hand side of either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.
The Belgian prodigy is a right-footed attacker who plays on the left-hand side, allowing him to drive into the penalty box before cutting inside and taking a shot on goal.
Godts also likes to take on opposition defenders and will drive at fullbacks to try to dribble past them in 1v1.
Mika Godts style of play is very similar to Eden Hazard, especially during his time at Chelsea, when he was one of, if not the best, wide players in the Premier League.
Mika Godts Heat Map
The Mika Godts heat map above shows the 17-year-old’s average positioning during play in the Challenger Pro League.
As we can see, the Belgian essentially rules the left hand side of the pitch, with him being involved pretty often inside the 18-yard box as well.
Godts will also track back and help out defensively, with him displaying a very positive work rate.
He shows great potential, and as Mika Godts tactical analysis and scout report will show, the left-winger is one of the most talented, if not the most talented, youngsters in Belgium.
High Octane Dribbler
The first strength this Mika Godts scout report will look at is likely his strongest skill set: dribbling.
As mentioned earlier, Godts looks, at times, very similar to a younger Eden Hazard.
The Genk prodigy dribbles past opposition fullbacks and cuts inside on his favored right foot to get a shot off, an Eden Hazard trademark.
Mika Godts Ball Progression Map
The data viz above shows Mika Godts’ ball progression for Jong Genk so far this season, highlighting the number of dribbles the 17-year-old attempts in a given match.
In fact, in the Challenger Pro League, Godts is averaging 12.06 dribbles per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 49.3%.
The 17-year-old also averages 4.43 progressive runs per 90 minutes, again highlighting his tendency to run at opposition defenders with the ball at his feet.
The image above shows a good example of Mika Godts’ dribbling skills.
In this Genk phase of play against the Standard de Liège reserve team, Godts is faced up against the opposition fullback in a 1v1 situation.
Using his close control, the talented Belgian keeps the ball right up against his body, with Liège’s fullback not risking a potential challenge that would give away a free kick.
After getting the fullback off balance, the 17-year-old winger was able to use a burst of acceleration to get past the defender on the outside, which allowed him to drive into the vacant space behind the opposition’s defence.
After reaching this space, Godts was able to quickly look up and spot the positions of the Genk attackers inside the penalty box.
As a result, he was able to play a great pass towards the area around the penalty spot, with the forward able to get a first-time shot off for a Genk goal.
This attacking phase of play was made possible by Mika Godts dribbling and his tendency to face up with opposition fullbacks and drive at them 1v1.
The above shows another example of Mika Godts’ dribbling ability from a wide position, getting past opposition defenders.
In this KRC Genk attack, however, he found himself in a 2v1 situation against the opposition defenders.
With the midfielder on his back and the fullback right in front of him, the Belgian winger was still able to keep the ball close to his body, not allowing the defenders a window to stick their feet in to cleanly win back possession.
This is something else that Godts does well: not giving defenders many opportunities to win possession off him by taking heavy touches or by allowing the ball to get away from him.
In this image, the 17-year-old does something similar to the previous one; after facing up to the fullback and getting him off balance, he uses a burst of acceleration to get past the opposition players and into the space behind the defence.
Unfortunately, this attacking phase does not end well, with Mika Godts overhitting his eventual cross towards the back post.
This final example above shows the awareness in Mika Godts’ dribbling and close control ability.
In the phase of play above, the young winger is again in possession, facing the opposition midfielder who has dropped into the defensive third.
The opposition defensive line is shifted towards the Belgian’s side, preventing space from opening up out wide behind the opposition’s defence.
Godts notices this and, as a result, gets the defender off balance, then uses a burst of acceleration and close control to get past the defender on the inside.
This allows him to drive into the space located between the opponent’s lines, with the move ending with an attempted shot by the Belgian.
As this section has shown, dribbling and taking opponents on are the trademark skills of Mika Godts, who is a high-output dribbler, creating chances at the end of attacking moves for his Jong Genk side.
In fact, Godts is the highest chance creator in the Jong Genk squad, with a majority of the side’s goal-scoring moves going through him at some point in the attack.
Though he has other strengths that contribute to these attacking moves, his dribbling is prime among them.
Mika Godts Shot Selection
This next section will take a look at Mika Godts’ shot selection, something that, while it could be considered a strength, still could use some improvement.
The young Belgian winger attempts a good number of shots per 90 minutes (2.56), but could improve his accuracy, with only 34.1% on target.
Mika Godts xG Map
The data viz above shows Mika Godts’s xG map, as well as where his 43 shots so far this season have occurred from.
As we can see, the Belgian has scored 6 goals on 3.77 xG, with him overperforming in front of goal so far this season.
Also, from looking at the shot map, it can be concluded that Godts prefers to drive towards the penalty box before cutting inside and taking a shot with his favoured right foot.
With that being said, not many of his shots have made it on target this season.
However, a decent amount of them have been blocked by the opposition defenders as opposed to being completely missed altogether
This shows that Godts’ shot accuracy is there, but he needs to improve at finding the windows between defenders so he can shoot and hit the target more often.
The image above shows the exact type of quality that Mika Godts possesses when given the opportunity to cut inside on his right foot from his left-wing position.
In this phase of play above, the wide player is in possession and has just cut in from the left wing.
He has two defenders right on top of him, not allowing him much space at all to get a shot off.
However, Godts does well to make the most of the situation, getting a shot off from an extremely tight window.
The ensuing shot is even better, the ball is struck perfectly and nestles in the bottom corner, with the goalkeeper unable to get down to his left in time to save it.
This type of goal is reminiscent of the ones Eden Hazard used to score at the peak of his career, emphasising even more the comparisons he shares with one of the greatest Belgian wide players ever.
This last image shows a situation where the 17-year-old should at least get a shot on target and force the goalkeeper into a save, but does not.
He drifted into a more central position, with him being positioned centrally just outside the penalty box before the cross was played in from the right side.
Noticing the space in the box and the fact that he was unmarked, Godts makes a late run into the box, with the ensuing cross looking for his run.
Mika is able to get to the cross before the defender and takes a first-touch shot.
However, the defender can stick a leg out in front of the winger just before the winger takes his shot, which puts him off.
As a result, the shot goes wide, not even forcing the goalkeeper into making a save.
In this scenario, the youngster reminiscent of Eden Hazard was likely trying to pick his spot, aiming for accuracy rather than just getting something on target.
While this is not a horrible decision, with the minuscule amount of time he had to get a shot off, getting it on frame would have been a better option.
This would at least have forced the goalkeeper into a save, with the possibility of a second ball rebounding back to him or another Jong Genk player.
As this section has shown, while Mika Godts has scored six goals this season, he is still not the finished product in front of goal.
This will undoubtedly improve, and judging on this season’s performances, in a few years’ time, Godts could be one of the most clinical Belgian wingers in the world.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis and scout report has shown, Mika Godts is arguably the best player currently playing in Belgium’s second division.
With the 17-year-old winger being out of contract in the summer, the Belgian club has a huge decision to make, and soon.
If Wouter Vrancken believes the youngster would be a great fit for the KRC Genk tactics the manager deploys, then the youngster would be a welcome addition to De Smurfen, currently leading the Belgian top-flight and in a perfect position to be champions at the end of the season.
This would likely mean regular first-team football for Godts next season, with possible forays into the UEFA Champions League.
There is also the possibility that the youngster could leave Genk at the end of the season, given the interest from many top clubs across Europe.
Whatever his immediate future holds, Mika Godts is a highly regarded talent, and it would be unsurprising to see him at the highest level in a few years.
