Mohammed Kudus Scout Report At FC Nordsjælland 2019/2020 – Player Analysis

Danish Superliga is widely known as the home of many talented youngsters, including Nordsjællands Mohammed Kudus.

The 2000-born Ghanaian player is another product of the famous Right to Dream Academy, which has produced a host of incredible talents.

The midfielder-cum-striker was featured quite regularly last season, appearing in 30 matches and contributing three goals and two assists in all competitions for the senior side.

This season, his numbers have increased significantly.

He has scored 10 goals and registered one assist in 21 matches in all competitions.

He has become much more vital for the side that Flemming Pedersen currently manages, and its quite obvious that this season is his breakout one.

It certainly wont be surprising if the young Ghanaian has top European clubs keeping tabs on him, and he could make a big move in the summer.

Whether or not that will happen in the future, we shall see.

In this tactical football analysis & football scout report, well examine Kudus attributes that make him such a pleasure to watch on the pitch and the tactics behind his outstanding performances this season.

Nordsjælland tactics and Mohammed Kudus role

Nordsjaelland usually play with a 3-4-3 formation with Kudus usually playing as the striker with a false nine role.

At certain matches, they also employ a 4-3-3 or 3-4-1-2 formation, although both are essentially the same as the 3-4-3 formation (one of two central midfielders becomes wing-back in 4-3-3, and Kudus plays as an attacking midfielder in 3-4-1-2), although, on paper, they may look a bit different.

The approaches in offence, defence, and transitions are the same regardless of the formation.

Sometimes Kudus is also played as a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder (if 3-4-1-2 formation is used), or a winger.

However, playing as a striker in a false nine role is his main thing at the moment with Nordsjælland, and he really thrives in that position and role.

Nordsjælland mainly defend with a high block and a rather aggressive man-oriented pressing upfront.

Theyll look to maintain compactness and stay narrow by overloading the middle and man-marking the central options (pivot and 8s), thus restricting central access and forcing the opposition to play around the block.

Their defensive approach are both option-oriented and passing lane-oriented.

They also tend to play from the back and are rather patient with the ball.

They move the ball around, looking for gaps they can exploit, and slowly move forward and work their way into the box.

However, theyre quick on the break, and the pace of the forwards can be really dangerous in transitions.

Nordsjælland mainly looks to combine in the half-spaces and on the flanks, although its not rare to see them play through the tight spaces in the middle as well.

Kudus is mainly tasked with linking play, distributing in advanced areas, and creating chances, hence why he drops to receive very often.

Scoring goals may be secondary, but that doesnt mean he completely abandons that part of the game.

As mentioned previously, he has a pretty decent goal tally, with 10 goals in 21 matches this season.

Hes clearly much sharper in front of goal than in the previous season.

For such a creative player, it may also seem rather confusing or surprising that he has only one assist to his name so far this season.

Well, its because creativity is not only measured through the number of assists he makes.

Kudus produces many key and progressive passes that not only help his team progress the ball but are also important in creating goalscoring chances.

Well discuss his passing ability later in this tactical analysis/scout report.

Mohammed Kudus physicality

Kudus is 1.75m (593) tall, has a medium build, and decently developed upper and lower muscles (though not quite particularly developed yet).

He seems to be a naturally athletic player, and despite not having a large frame or bulky build, he does possess rather impressive strength and power.

His lower body power is definitely visible in his outstanding burst of acceleration and blistering pace over a medium-long range, as well as his ability to generate powerful shots and sharp passes.

Kudus is both quick when accelerating and decelerating.

He can come to a complete stop after sprinting and burst forward again very quickly.

This is the trick he often uses against defenders, as he can create separation from his opponent or render his opponent off-balance in one-on-one duels.

Despite his explosiveness, he still lacks the ability to win aerial duels.

His rather small stature, along with his poor judgment of aerial balls, more often than not results in him getting dominated in the air by taller, stronger opponents or simply mistiming his jump and failing to connect his head with the ball.

In regards to his technical ability, his heading ability is still rather poor.

This can be seen by his inability to direct the ball with his head and, usually, the lack of power he can generate with his header.

Though its not the most important aspect of his game, this area should not be overlooked.

If developed properly, it could really give him surprising advantages in the game.

As mentioned before, despite his rather small stature, Kudus still possesses quite decent strength.

On the ground, Kudus can still hold off opponents with similar stature while retaining the ball.

He uses his body well to protect the ball and is often skilled enough to turn and beat his defender swiftly.

However, again, bigger and/or stronger opponents can still give him some trouble and outmuscle him in physical duels.

Hes especially struggling against defenders who defend against him aggressively and allow him no time on the ball, immediately challenging him whenever he receives the ball.

But of course, Kudus is quite brilliant, and whenever he goes against this kind of defender, hell use his movements to take advantage of his explosiveness.

Usually, this kind of defender follows him around and leaves his position when Kudus drops to receive, opening up space behind the defence.

Kudus usually plays with a quicker approach, using fewer touches so that his marker has little time to react to his actions.

Its quite obvious that Kudus is very well-coordinated, very agile, and has excellent body balance.

He doesnt go down easily despite being the victim of a rather heavy body charge, and he certainly can glide past defenders effortlessly.

His excellent agility, balance, and coordination allow him to manoeuvre easily, pretty much anywhere he wants, and they are certainly useful against big, slow defenders.

He has excellent control of his body and can use it to trick his opponents with his body feints or protect the ball.

Kudus is also an energetic player with fairly impressive stamina, which results in pretty stable performance throughout the 90 minutes.

Kudus presses a lot in the game, drops a lot, and roams around a lot.

Many times in the game, he can be seen sprinting back and forth to win the ball and then getting back forward to present himself inside the box or to chase the ball carrier and recover the ball if he loses the ball in advanced areas.

Theres usually a small but insignificant drop in performance in the second half (usually late in the game), usually seen by the fewer sprints he makes, his reluctance to track back, and his body language.

Mohammed Kudus Ball control and dribbling

Kudus strongest attributes in the game are definitely his technical ability which includes his touch and control of the ball, dribbling, passing (short and long), ball-striking ability, and even ball-winning ability.

But his neat ball control and dribbling are the ones that stand out the most.

The 19-year-old Ghanaian footballer just seems to have a natural flair and very high confidence on the ball.

He has bags of tricks up his sleeve, and hes not afraid to use them to beat one or multiple defenders.

Not only does he have exquisite touch and control of the ball, but he also has excellent coordination and control of his body as well as exp