Currently, players born in 2007 are in their second year in the U19s and therefore still play at the youth level.
Among Bundesliga clubs, only one player born that year is already getting consistent minutes: Karim Coulibaly at Werder Bremen.
But for VfB Stuttgart, one of the most promising midfielders in the country at the moment, has already made 25 appearances for the B-team in the 3. Liga, Mirza Ćatović.
Ćatović was born in Serbia but came to Germany at a young age, joining Stuttgart’s academy at 15.
From then on, he rose through the ranks quickly, playing for the U17s and U19s.
When the B-team of VfB Stuttgart entered the relegation battle in the third division, the club decided against buying external talent to add quality to the squad and instead put then-17-year-old Ćatović into the pros after just a couple of games for the U19s.
The step worked wonders for the player and the team.
Despite an injury, Ćatović quickly established himself as the starting holding midfielder and stabilised the team well enough that, at the end of the season, they managed to stay up and avoid relegation.
This season, Mirza Catovic has been a consistent starter for the Stuttgart B-team again and also trains with the Bundesliga team when possible.
With great performances, Thomas Krücken, former head of academy for Stuttgart and now head of academy at Manchester City, wants to bring the young Serbian midfielder to England as a possible successor for Rodri.
In this Mirza Ćatović scout report, we will take a look at what makes Mirza Ćatović so special, how he managed to stabilise a team of professionals at the age of 17, and why Manchester City are so keen on bringing him in at a young age.
Mirza Ćatović Passing Game
Mirza Ćatović style of play is a rather traditional holding midfielder; he plays as the defensive part of a double pivot or as the lone defensive midfielder for the majority of the time.
The young Serbian midfielder is incredibly good at ball security; he scans and orients himself early and rarely loses the ball in dangerous situations.
At 1.90m in height and with a very broad build, Ćatović is a very physical midfielder.
In combination with his ability to scan early, his ability to shield the ball is one of his biggest strengths.
It even worked for him at just 17 years of age against experienced players at the professional level.
Here we can see Stuttgart overload their right wing and try to play forward through their full-back, but SSV Ulm has already matched the numbers on that side and even committed an additional player outside.
Mirza Ćatović quickly realises that his team needs to abort that attack and play through the back to build up again, and moves towards the ball, already scanning the situation in front of him over his shoulder.
In general, his vision is very good; he looks over his shoulder very often and is always aware of his surroundings.
It seems like he has 360-degree vision in midfield.
Ćatović gets the ball and already knows that the striker followed him and is now right behind him.
Because he had already scanned the pitch, Ćatović again knows exactly where he can find space and where his opponents are currently moving, so he makes a very quick decision.
He fakes going backwards, getting the striker to put his balance onto his right foot, then quickly moves forward into the space he recognised earlier.
Instead of taking a huge risk and dribbling into the area of the field where Ulm has the obvious numerical advantage, Mirza Ćatović only baits the midfielder to step forward as well and then goes into the attacking 1-v-1 situation.
The young midfielder quickly gets his body between the defender and the ball.
Ćatović knew exactly where the pressure would be coming from and simply pushed his opponent away in the first instance.
Then he shows off what makes him such a special talent.
With quick footwork, Ćatović dribbles past the two players, muscling one away from the ball and dribbling past the other with a ball roll, getting out of the pressure and into the centre easily.
He then plays the backwards pass, establishing possession and allowing his backline to start another build-up phase after they got stuck on the wing.
His anticipation, orientation, physicality, and technical ability are all incredibly strong, making him a very interesting player overall with no real weaknesses in these areas.
We can see these qualities at all times.
Mirza Ćatović is incredibly clever in the build-up and positions himself well at pretty much all times.
In the picture above, we can see another situation in the game against Ulm: this time, Stuttgart build up play with their centre-backs.
Ćatović moves well and drops back a bit, forming a triangle with his two teammates.
He doesn’t just form a triangle; instead, he positions himself in the space between the lines and right between the two strikers, so in theory, he would be able to receive the pass from his centre-back as well as through the triangle.
When he receives the ball now, thanks to his positioning, he will do that; he is already in open space and can move forward easily.
In the end, Caatovic receives the ball through the triangle, but the pass to him is not ideal; it is played backwards, forcing him to adjust his movement.
His body position is great, though, so he is able to quickly still the ball, even with his stronger left foot.
Mirza Ćatović knows he is in open space and doesn’t panic after the bad pass; he still turns forward, away from the second striker, and moves forward towards the midfield, but also into the half-space.
This movement triggers the winger to move forward in an attempt to press.
Ćatović already realised this before he even turned around and stayed patient enough on the ball to let the winger step forward even further, then he plays the pass right into the space behind the winger.
With just two passes, Stuttgart was able to get from their backline into the space right in front of the opposing backline, and Ćatović was the key player in this situation with his elite positioning, patience, and vision.
The movements overall were a bit stiff and not fast enough to make it in the Bundesliga already, but his playmaking potential is off the charts.
Mirza Ćatović’s movements in front of his backline during build-up are elite at all times, and they help his centre-backs immensely find forward passes into midfield.
In this case, their opponent was pushing forward into pressing line one after Stuttgart’s backwards pass.
Instead of dropping back, Ćatović now moves forward, into the blind spot of the attacker covering him, and right into the open space behind the three pressing attackers.
Ćatović moves well and now finds himself in open space again, asking for the ball and able to receive the first-time pass from his centre-back, helping him to get out of the pressure.
Before the pass is even played, Ćatović already scans the field over his left shoulder, checking the space he can move into and checking if there will be pressure coming to him when he receives the ball.
Once again, the young Serbian is able to turn and move forward with his first touch; his turn is smooth and quick, allowing him to pick up the attack’s pace quickly.
When turning, he once again quickly scans the field and sees the high backline and the runs his teammates are making.
With the ball on his stronger left foot, he now finds the through ball towards the space behind the backline in this situation.
His timing is a bit late, though, and it’s called back for offside.
The pass was played perfectly, well-placed, and had the right amount of power.
Mirza Ćatović Defending In The Box
With his physical presence and his high footballing IQ, it is no surprise that Mirza Ćatović is a good defender as well.
While his biggest strengths are definitely his play on the ball, he also has a very good presence in defense, winning many direct duels on the ground and in the air.
At the youth level, Ćatović played a couple of times as a centre-back as well, so his coaches definitely saw his potential as a defender too, but his best position is holding midfielder, so he still plays there.
But Ćatović definitely took a thing or two away from his games as a defender, especially in the box.
Here, we see Stuttgart pushed back into its own box, while Ćatović positions himself at the edge of the box.
At this moment, he has no clear assignment, so he cuts off the angle for a possible cut-back and positions himself in a way to collect a possible second ball after the cross.
The defender on the wings gets beaten by the attacker rather easily, and Ćatović already saw that coming, dropping back deeper into his own box and now going into man coverage against the striker at the near post after his teammate had to step up.
For a player his age, his situational awareness and decision-making ability are incredible; he quickly makes decisions and is correct most of the time.
Here, he enables his teammate to close out the cross while securing the players behind him, even before his teammate even recognises the situation.
This allows Ćatović to get into the duel with the striker quickly.
He uses his body to push the striker off balance, preventing him from controlling the ball.
This makes the ball bounce around a little bit, but Ćatović stays calm and, in the end, blocks the attacker away from the ball so his teammate can make a clearance.
Mirza Ćatović Defending In Midfield
Mirza Ćatović is not just good at defending in his own box; his physical presence and footballing IQ are prevalent in any area of the pitch.
Here we can see him press forward quickly after the first line of press is beaten, preventing the opposing midfielder from carrying the ball into midfield.
He attacks from the centre outwards and uses his coverage shadow really well, forcing the opponent to play towards the wing and away from the central areas of the pitch.
He then shows off good pace, covering off the run made by the midfielder in the centre, and drops back behind the ball quickly, already scanning what will happen next.
He realises that the only option for the winger is to dribble inwards, so he stops his run and secures the space towards the centre behind his teammates.
Ćatović anticipated correctly once again, and now he finds himself in a duel against the winger.
While he was off-balance here, he still managed to get to the ball with his long legs and poked the ball free.
He then shields off the opponent and collects the ball, initiating a counterattack for his team.
Just like he did in the box, he anticipated well, used his physical tools well, and won the direct duel, allowing him to win the ball back.
Conclusion
At the young age of just 18, Mirza Ćatović is arguably the best holding midfielder in 3. Liga this season so far.
VfB Stuttgart 2 struggled immensely before he was brought into the team, and he has now been the stabilising factor for two different coaches in a league of experienced professionals.
His physical tools are perfect for a holding midfielder; his size is great, he has broad shoulders, and is able to win duels on the ground and in the air and establish his presence everywhere.
On the ball, his early orientation, vision, and patience stand out.
He positions himself well, uses his first touch to get away from pressure and move towards the goal, and finds good solutions with forward passes, while also securing possession for his team.
In the end, Mirza Ćatović is everything coaches want in a holding midfielder in modern football, and it is only a matter of time before he makes his Bundesliga debut at this rate.
