Theo Barbet: Lokomotiva Zagreb’s new maturing 20 y/o centre-back who’s set to soar – scout report

Théo Barbet (184cm/6’0”, 77kg/169lbs) is a left-footed, left-sided centre-back who joined Croatian top-flight side NK Lokomotiva Zagreb from Ligue 2 strugglers Dijon FCO on 1st September. The Mâcon-born Dijon academy product spent the 2020/21 season, in which Les Hiboux were relegated from Ligue 1, out on loan in Championnat National 1, where he played with Bastia-Borgo  who finished the campaign third-from-bottom of France’s third tier. During the season, the 20-year-old explained that he felt the loan spell was maturing him as a player, and perhaps as a person.

Despite his loan side’s struggles last season, however, Barbet made a good impression on many during his time at Bastia-Borgo  even managing to earn a call-up to France’s U20 side back in March. However, on returning to Dijon, the centre-back failed to make a single competitive appearance this season before ultimately departing the club for which he’d played for his entire career on transfer deadline day to embark on a new challenge in 1. HNL.

This tactical analysis and scout report will highlight why we believe Barbet’s departure will prove to be a major loss for Dijon, despite his insignificant role in their senior squad of late. We’ll provide analysis of the key strengths and weaknesses in Barbet’s game to show what Lokomotiva can expect from their new centre-back before he fits into their tactics. Well also explain why we believe Barbet should be tracked closely by clubs from Europe’s strongest and richest leagues, such as the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Ligue 1  because he’s got a very bright future.

Defensive and physical qualities

Barbet stood out for his defensive qualities among National 1’s centre-backs last season. The 20-year-old completed an impressive 14.98 successful defensive actions per 90 last term  the highest number of successful defensive actions that were completed by any centre-back in France’s third tier to have played at least 800 minutes of football.

This highlights the volume of Barbet’s defensive actions  he was extremely active at the back for the struggling National 1 side, and much of the time he was called on, he performed well. Barbet engaged in 9.95 defensive duels per 90  the fifth most of any National 1 centre-back who played at least 800 minutes  with a 74.75% success rate, which also ranks very well among National 1 centre-backs for the 2020/21 campaign. Additionally, Barbet made 6.16 interceptions per 90, which also ranked him highly for this metric among National 1 centre-backs last season.

In addition to the fact that Bastia-Borgo struggled last season and were often placed on the back foot as a result, one key reason for Barbet’s large volume of defensive actions last season is his style of defending. The 20-year-old likes to defend aggressively, frequently stepping out of the backline to proactively engage opposition attackers slightly higher up the pitch. We see an example of this in figure 1, where Barbet has just stepped out of the backline, getting just in line with his holding midfield teammate to press an opposition forward receiving this forward pass.

When the pass from figure 1 was played, Barbet was sat where the deeper circle on the image lies, in the left centre-back position. As this pass made its way to the receiver, the centre-back sprung into action and got into this position right behind the forward. Barbet is generally very good at getting tight to opposition forwards and he tends to perform well, defensively, in these situations. One of the benefits of this, using figure 1 as an example, is that he successfully prevents the forward from turning or linking up with the other forward beside him just through his positioning. This turns the space where this player receives the ball for the opposition into something of a cul-de-sac, with backwards being the only realistic place to escape.

When Barbet steps out of the backline to pre