Who Is Randal Kolo Muani?
It was a chance that could haunt you in your nightmares.
We all watched Randal Kolo Muani’s last-minute miss during the World Cup final against Argentina, which was close to changing the course of history, the same chance that could have made him stronger.
Firstly, before diving into tactics, who is Randal Kolo Muani, and how good is Randal Kolo Muani?
The Frenchman, born in Bondy and raised near Charles de Gaulle Airport in Villepinte, joined Nantes at the age of 16.
However, before that, he began his career with several Parisian teams, including Villepinte, Trembley, and Torcy.
The tall, fluid and mobile centre-forward had scored 9 goals with Nantes in the 2020/21 and 12 goals in the 2021/22 season before joining Eintracht Frankfurt in July 2022 for a reported fee of €15 million.
It is no surprise to those who have been following the 24-year-old since his arrival in Germany that the Frenchman is the focus of the top clubs’ attention in Europe.
Therefore, this tactical analysis, as a scout report, illustrates what distinguishes him and makes him very promising.
Randal Kolo Muani Positioning
Kolo Muani, usually with Frankfurt, assumes a flexible role in the up-front trio in 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-3 structures, which have been used 66% of the time this season by the coach Oliver Glasner.
He typically operates in the half-space, either roaming or serving as the dynamic striker in front of Mario Götze and Rafael Santos Borré.
The heatmap of Kolo Muani in the graphic below, from UEFA Champions League and Bundesliga games, shows his fluidity and flexible movements throughout the system, from left to right.
He is always looking for space to attack and does not like to hug the opponent to isolate, yet jump into spaces to dis-mark and drop to link up play.
He is mobile, supportive and pacey.
Generally, Muani is versatile and capable of operating multiple positions across the front line.
Randal Kolo Muani Heat Map 2022/2023
Randal Kolo Muani Style Of Play
First, Kolo Muani utilises his pace and ability to move effectively, which is his most prominent feature, as he can win direct challenges.
Muani is agile on the ball and often uses feints to create space with his speedy change of direction and close control, demonstrating good timing sense.
He has the ability to control the tempo of his movement and change his acceleration suddenly.
His coordination skill refers to the ability to control his body and execute technical skills with precision.
Despite his body’s rather high centre of gravity, his coordination allows him to change directions quickly.
All this enables him to ask for the ball in space or attack it, creating space for his teammates. One of his strengths is his ability to execute one-on-one take-ons in space, which creates dynamism energetically.
The dynamism is highlighted above by his pace to beat the opponent in 1v1.
His dribbles per 90 are 98 out of 100.
He is one of the best players who have completed dribbles.
According to FBref, he has 2.27 successful take-ons per 90 minutes with a 95% success rate.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is flying and has 2.97, with the average being 0.95.
In this aspect, he may not be as technically skilled as Kylian Mbappé, yet he uses his pace effectively to get past defenders, which makes him equally effective on both sides with the same level of usefulness.
Likewise, the young Frenchman is effective in progressing into dangerous areas, where he has 3.12 progressive carries and receives 7.80 progressive passes per game, with 94% and 86% accuracy, respectively.
His versatility and potential make him an exciting player for the future.
You can observe his processing and ability to act on information in his surroundings in several situations in the scenes below.
He scans his surroundings and mentally processes the various options available to him.
His quickness and progressiveness can be utilised during the build-up phase under high-pressing teams, such as those shown in the graphics below.
Against Schalke’s high pressure, Frankfurt’s left wing-back Junior Dina Ebimbe delivers a progressive pass into the space to Kolo, who intends to drop off to link up there.
— and then he immediately reverses the ball well with his first touch into the space behind the backline to the runner teammate, which creates a 2v2 in a large space into Schalke’s half after attracting his defender, instead of playing the ball back again or switching the play to the other side.
Generally, Kolo Muani is also not a selfish player, and his ability to create has increased significantly since moving to Frankfurt, where he has 10 assists with 0.35 per 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, the average is 0.14 per 90.
Hence, he has his impact in the opposition’s half by registering 3.21 shot-creating actions (two offensive actions leading to a shot) per 90.
In contrast, in the central areas, Muani may be a bit hasty, but he has a lot of potential for development.
However, his quickness makes him have a high degree of unpredictability and at 6’2″, he has a physical presence ready for any duels.
In the progression phase, he is seeking space, as shown in the graphic below.
He drops off, which provoked the defender to step up, and then received the breaker pass from the centre-back and got involved in a third-man combination.
He heel-flicks the ball to the adventuring teammate into the open space.
His attitudes (runs and passes) usually make the backlines vulnerable and generate spaces for his teammates to exploit.
His style usually seems to drift wide to avoid congested areas, enabling him to restart, receive, and initiate speedy direct runs that beat the defenders.
The starting points of the graphics below concentrate on the flanks and half-spaces.
Randal Kolo Muani Ball Progression Map 2022/2023
Anyway, advancing inside the pitch, he keeps the same techniques to generate dynamics or exploit them satisfactorily.
The Frenchman is certainly not the classical number ‘9’, but rather a very roaming one.
If he is placed in a situation where he is positioned with the backline, Kolo Muani always attempts, like Rashford, to attack the space behind them, asking for a pass.
Wisely, he keeps the skill of choosing the right timing to start the movement and keeping a good distance between himself and the centre-back.
The scene below is from the game against RB Leipzig.
While Muani positions himself in the far centre-back, the ball switches from the left half-space to the other side (from Kamada to Mario Götze).
Once Götze receives the ball there, Muani immediately changes his position to the nearest centre-back and intends to attack his blindside, waiting for Götze’s cross.
We mentioned before his unselfishness.
Here, instead of ending the cross with his head, he drops the ball easily for his teammate to guarantee and maximize the chance of scoring.
Typically, he has good timing and coordination when making runs into the box.
In the graphics below, once Lindstrom received the ball, he chose the right moment to take the action (deep run).
Meanwhile, he was keeping his distance away from the fullback.
— and then he used his body fluidity to reverse the ball to the farthest angle and scored.
One of the points that make him qualified to play at the highest level is his fearlessness and his ability to run in the wide spaces and enter boldly against more than one defender at the same time.
He attracts the attention of many.
In the example below, he drifts wide to receive on the right flank, where he attracts two opponents.
Players usually seem to go back when stuck in numerical inferiority, yet he decides to dribble by throwing the ball and moving around the opponents very masterfully.
— and then he delivered a superb cross with power and a lower height, but the striker missed it.
Still, around and inside the box, Kolo Mauni possesses composure and the ability to make the right decision, rather than relying on randomness, while maintaining selflessness.
On the right side, he is likely to be an out-and-out winger rather than moving inside and then shooting.
In the graphics below, he waited for the right moment, waiting for the defender to take action.
Then, he changed his direction and moved straight to the right.
After that, he cut the ball back to Götze, who doubled his movement to manipulate his marker.
Götze received and scored.
Randal Kolo Muani Defensive Abilities
Defensively, Randal Kolo Muani is a quick and energetic player.
Even pressing high or staying in a compact block, he acts actively to force the play into a specific area or to regain the ball back again.
Frankfurt are a counter-attacking team that tries to defend in low compact shapes and then counter quickly.
Muani’s ability to close down the space and chase the opponents is vital here.
He operates as the front-line presser in any phase of pressing.
Consequently, he is a clever presser and is always backed up by excellent support.
As the graphic below illustrates, he has 23 high regains, 23 counter-pressing recoveries, and 13 dangerous recoveries.
He helps his team force dangerous turnovers in valuable positions.
This was evident in the scenes below against Bayern Munich, when the score was 5-0 in favour of the Bavarian giants.
While the ball had missed him, Lucas Hernandez returned it to Manuel Neuer.
At the same time, Kolo Muani didn’t give up and decided to continue the active pressing.
Neuer, usually, because of his quality on the ball, isn’t considered a pressing trigger.
He pressed actively and quickly changed his body direction.
Meanwhile, Neuer had a bad touch.
At this moment, Kolo Muani was nearer to the ball.
— and then he pulled one back in the 64th minute by capitalising on the keeper’s error.
Randal Kolo Muani Radar Map 2022/2023
Overall, many of his statistics are summarised in the pizza below.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the analysis demonstrates Kolo Muani’s tactical and technical abilities at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Randal has emerged as one of the standout players in Europe, showcasing his impressive skill set and potential through his versatility, athleticism, and technical abilities.
He has become a valuable asset to his team and has caught the attention of several major clubs, including Manchester United.
