There was no shortage of expectation placed on Timothée Pembélé (182cm/5’11”, 72kg/158lbs) when he made his debut for Paris Saint-Germain last season.
When he burst onto the scene for the Ligue 1 giants, his under-15s coach, Said Aigoun, described him as “one of the best of his generation” and a “silent leader.”
The PSG academy product worked his way into current Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel’s and subsequently former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team plans at Le Parc des Princes.
Pembélé ultimately enjoyed more game time under Tuchel before his departure than he went on to enjoy under Pochettino at PSG, but such is the 19-year-old’s high level of potential that he didn’t have much difficulty finding a club to take him in on loan for the 2021/22 campaign.
Pembélé found a home at PSG’s Ligue 1 rivals Girondins de Bordeaux this term.
The PSG academy product has made a big step in his development this season, becoming a first-team regular for Bordeaux under former Switzerland and Lazio manager, Vladimir Petković.
Pembélé has made the right wing-back spot his own under Petković, with the Bosnian-Swiss manager opting for a three-centre-back shape most of the time to start this season — his first as manager of Bordeaux having been in charge of the Swiss national team for the European Championships this past summer.
This has been a change of position for Pembélé, the France U20 international having primarily played as a centre-back during his youth career with PSG.
Despite his history at centre-back, Pembélé’s ability going forward, especially his crossing, has been the biggest positive to his game this season, so much so that the 19-year-old has, at present, completed the highest number of successful offensive actions (5.65 per 90) of any right-back/right wing-back in Ligue 1 this term.
This tactical analysis and scout report will highlight what exactly it’s been about Pembélé’s game that has made him such a positive asset for his team from now on this season — his first proper campaign in senior football.
Additionally, this scout report will highlight some key areas of improvement for Pembélé to focus on moving forward if he is to build on his eye-catching start to life in Ligue 1 and return to PSG next season to provide competition for Les Parisiens’ €60m superstar right-back, Achraf Hakimi.
Timothée Pembélé Role in ball progression
Pembélé’s role in ball progression with Bordeaux typically involves taking up an advanced position on the right wing, where he provides the offensive width for his team.
This is similar to how PSG’s full-backs operate — they’ll generally get high and wide during the ball progression phase, assuming the widest roles within their side’s offensive frontline.
When playing with three centre-backs, which is when Pembélé usually plays on the right, Bordeaux typically attacks in a 3-2-5 shape, with the three centre-backs sitting deepest behind two central midfielders and the wing-backs pushing forward to join the attack from the wings.
When playing with two centre-backs, which is less common for Les Girondins this season, Pembélé has gotten less game time.
He’s clearly been preferred as a wing-back rather than as a full-back, as this creates more defensive protection behind the teenager, allowing him to defend more aggressively while giving him more license to commit to attacks.
This helps to accentuate some of the PSG loanee’s strengths while masking weaknesses.
In build-up, the ball often progresses through Bordeaux’s wide centre-backs.
If progression through central midfield is then blocked off for one reason or another, the wide centre-backs will often use the wing-backs to continue moving upfield.
This sees a lot of link-up via short passes or through balls between Bordeaux’s right centre-back and Pembélé at right wing-back.
However, we’ve also seen Bordeaux’s left centre-back find Pembélé in space with a long switch from the opposite side of the pitch at times this season, aiming to launch the wing-back into space on the wing with the opposition’s defensive block pulled to the other wing.
To maximise both possibilities, Pembélé needs to remain high and wide, alert to the position of the ball and the space around him, and make intelligent movements to help make him a better option for teammates.
The Frenchman is good at achieving all of this and generally plays an important role in his side’s ball progression.
This section of analysis will focus on Pembélé’s off-the-ball movement during ball progression, ability to receive the ball well in this phase to promote ball progression, and the benefit of his rapid pace.
Figure 1 shows an example of Pembélé receiving a pass to feet high on the right wing from the right central midfielder.
Just before this image, the ball moved from Bordeaux’s backline into midfield.
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