Athletic Club 2023/24: How they can adapt to the AFCON absence of Iñaki Williams – scout report

As we begin the year and the season continues to heat up, Athletic Club look like a side who have discovered an efficacious formula for success. Returning from the winter break in a promising fourth position, a return to UEFA Champions League football is certainly on the cards for the Basque outfit. Ernesto Valverde’s squad have experienced an incredibly positive campaign thus far, with clear development of their young stars relishing the opportunity to fight for European qualification.

A man at the heart of Bilbao for many years now has been the energetic and versatile figure of Iñaki Williams. Having completed a LaLiga record of 251 consecutive appearances whilst enjoying his career in Spain, fans have grown accustomed to his explosive play and goalscoring prowess. However, this season, we have seen an elevation in his output and effectiveness in the final third- suggesting we may be witnessing his prime years at the age of 29. With a shift in responsibility this season, the dynamics of Athletic’s attack have benefitted from an injection of youthful skill and the likes of Iñaki being able to provide positional variety.

However, since Basque-born Iñaki’s declaration to represent Ghana at the international level in 2022, January is set to be a turbulent and disruptive period for the club. Due to his commitments to playing in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, the absence of Iñaki is set to leave a troubling issue for the best part of a month.

This tactical analysis will begin to highlight how Iñaki Williams has contributed to the upturn in Athletic form this year, reminding them they can compete with the elite teams in Spain once again. With Athletic’s unique transfer policy in mind, this scout report and analysis will also begin to question which internal pieces will be ready to make the leap and assume a more integral role in his absence. It is essential to understand how Athletic can make the most of this unfortunate situation, identifying which alternatives may provide varying qualities to keep their tactics ticking in the final third.

Athletics fluidity in attack

Entering his 10^th LaLiga season for Athletic Club, Iñaki Williams has continued to display why he has been so appreciated over the years and how there is possibly more to come. This season has shone a light on how tactical changes from manager Ernesto Valverde have managed to create harmony in attack, allowing Williams to develop rapport and interconnect with the clubs younger stars.

Athletic Club maintain a flexible approach to attack, with Valverde altering his approach based on the comfortability of their opposition when in possession. When observing statistics regarding passes per attacking sequence and direct speed, we can suggest that Athletic are very much prone to attacking in transition, utilising their pace out wide to stretch the opposition, creating more space in central areas for their creative orchestrators to flourish.

Their number of direct attacks and how these have been concluded begin to paint the picture of how successful they are on the counter. With a league-high of 202 high turnovers, Athletic possesses a compact defensive shape that looks to engage in the press and, importantly, force the opposition out wide to force mistakes. Despite their success in turnovers, the fact that they lead the league with six goal-ending turnovers would start to tell a more compelling tale, with Valverde’s side being ruthless when winning the ball back.

They haven’t been deterred by the negative connotations related to sides which look to frustrate opponents and take advantage of minimal ball possession- partly due to the fact they can play in several ways should they see fit.

The Importance of Iñaki

With Athletic’s consistent deployment of the 4-2-3-1, you can find Iñaki occupying the space on the right wing, looking to use his physical and technical strengths to impact the play. Having played as a central striker in the past, he has a proficiency that resembles that of an inside forward, driving inside the pitch using his explosive pace and representing an imposing figure within the opposition’s penalty area. His comfortability with both feet has meant that he can become a goal threat anywhere across the forward line, boding well to his club’s fluidity further up the pitch, with interchanging roles and movement stretching and confusing opposing defences.