Jonathan David at Lille 2019/20

Jonathan David was one of the young sensations of last season. The young Canadian player played with KAA Gent in the Jupiler Pro League in Belgium, which is known to produce some great young talent. Last season he scored 23 goals and made 10 assists in 40 games. He ended the season as the joint-top goalscorer in Belgiums top-flight, which is an indication of how impressive these numbers are, given that his career is just starting.

Now he has joined Lille, who have got a reputation for developing young stars. Since Lille lost their main striker, Victor Osimhen, in the summer, as the Nigerian joined Napoli to play in Serie A, they targeted the young striker to replace him. They have also signed 35-year-old Turkish international Burak Yilmaz but he is a more of a veteran, experienced player. It is David who fits more into the club’s philosophy of playing with and developing young stars. In this scout report, we will analyse how David will get involved in Lille’s team.

David is a talented attacking player with plenty of potential. Christophe Galtier will need to know how to incorporate his talent into the team to get the best out of him. Moreover, he can play both as an attacking midfielder or striker, showing his versatility. In this tactical analysis, we will explore David’s attributes and why they are beneficial to Lille.

Moving to the left

KAA Gent usually played in a 4-3-1-2, where there are no wingers. This means that David, being normally the attacking midfielder, had the freedom to drift onto whatever wing he wants. As he moved to the wings, he made himself quite difficult to mark and created an element of surprise for the opposition defence, as seen in the image below where he has moved to the left for a counter-attack.

This is because since there is no one in that position and the opponent full-backs are not expecting anyone to go in there. With him running into these spaces from the middle, it is unexpected. Specifically, he prefers to move more onto the left-wing as from there he can cut in and shoot.

Moreover, this creates width for the team which stretches out the opposition defence. With the opponents wider apart, it creates more spaces through the middle, which other teammates can take advantage of.

Additionally, going to the wing for a counter-attack is a great idea for exploiting space, like David does, because often, the opponent full-backs go up to attack. This leaves a big amount of space behind the full-backs, making it perfect for counter-attacks and David has understood this.

Connected to this is the Canadians great technical ability. With this, he can create danger from the wings as he can dribble past opponents to generate opportunities.

Furthermore, it allows him to do well as an attacking midfielder which is an area where there are usually few spaces and close control is needed. Thus, good close control is needed to keep the ball in a tight space.

Through