Last few days in the footballing world have seen some mind-boggling developments: from the abomination called European Super League (and the new UCL Reforms) to Hansi Flick going public about his discontent with the upper management of FC Bayern Munich. A domino effect has been observed in Germany with clubs experiencing a mass exodus of managers and sporting directors alike leaving for greener pastures. It all started when Borussia Dortmund decided to approach Marco Rose, manager of their arch rivals Borussia Monchengladbach. A ruling in the German ownership/voting model; which is another hot topic in footballing world after the ESL fiasco, dictates the clubs to officially announce such incomings and outgoings to the shareholders/voting members who hold the upper hand in running of the club directly or indirectly-all thanks to 50+1 model. This midseason announcement derailed the campaign of Gladbach. A similar event happened at Eintracht Frankfurt who announced the departure of their influential Sporting Director Ferdi Bobic to fellow Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin and Gladbach then poaching Adolf Hutter from Eintracht Frankfurt. Same scenario has triggered the movement between Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig which saw the Bavarian club agreeing to pay a world record compensation fee for a boyhood Bayern Munich fan and current RB Leipzig’s manager- Julian Nagelsmann.
This domino effect has now provided the talented American manager Jesse Marsch to take over from Julian Nagelsmann at the start of new season. This merry go round of managers and directors will eventually result in the movement of some talented players from one destination to another to get reunited with known faces at the new club. One such player who might be embroiled in this domino effect is Patson Daka, the talented Zambian international who currently plays for RB Salzburg and is managed by Leipzig-bound Jesse Marsch.
Background
Born in the Zambian city of Chingola, Patson Daka provides an inspirational success story, going from the school playing fields in his native Zambia to now leading the attack at one of Europe’s most exciting teams. Daka grew up with the benefit of having a father who played professional football – in fact Daka’s earliest memories of football are watching his father Nathtali taking on opponents out wide. Nathtali’s sad passing during Patson’s youth has provided a main source of motivation in his own footballing journey. The youngster was taking his school exams when trials to represent the local province were being held. Persuaded by a friend, Daka went along and made an immediate impression.
Less than 12 months after this trial he was captaining Zambia at youth tournaments and even earned a call-up to the senior national team aged just 16. Daka’s impressive performances for Zambia in the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) in 2015 captured the attention of former Mali international Frederic Kanoute, which eventually led Daka to RB Salzburg after a loan spell at FC Liefering.
2017 proved to be a breakthrough for Patson Daka. The Zambian was a pivotal figure in RB Salzburg’s surprising UEFA Youth League success, scoring in the semi-final and final against FC Barcelona and Benfica respectively. At International level, Daka earned individual honours when named the 2017 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations Best Player, in which he was also its top-scorer, the 2017 CAF Youth Player of the Year and the 2017 CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year. The latter especially is a very prestigious award, previously won by the likes of Mohamed Salah and John Obi Mikel.
In this scout report, an in-depth analysis of player’s game and his usage by Jesse Marsch will be covered which can also solve one issue which RB Leipzig has faced this season – the lack of a reliable striker up front. We analyse how the 22-year old can solve this issue if he were to get reunited with Marsch and one of his close friends off the pitch, Dominik Szoboszalai, in Leipzig.
Player Analysis
After taking the mantle from Erling Haaland, who moved to Germany in January 2020, Patson Daka exploded becoming the team’s top scorer in the Austrian Bundesliga with 24 goals and 6 assists in 21 starts and 10 substitute appearances. The current campaign has seen him net the same amount of goals in lesser number of appearances (24 with 18 starts and 6 substitute appearances) – scoring a goal every 71 minutes – an exceptional goal scoring frequency no matter what competition and standard in terms of difficulty. Till now in his professional career at senior level, Patson Daka has scored 0.64 goals per 90 minutes, after amassing an expected goal (xG) ratio of 0.54 per 90 minutes- again proving that he can be a reliable player in a suitable tactical setup – no matter what the quality and standards of the competition.
One of the main reasons he has such a great clinical streak in front of goal is the intelligence of his movement and how he positions himself before receiving the ball creating plenty of space for himself in optimal shooting positions, giving himself the best possible opportunity to convert his chances. Additionally, it does often seem as though the ball literally just finds him, due to how he often ends up on the end of a pass, loose ball or rebound in very favourable positions but this is a result of his excellent positioning and movement before the ball reaches him which creates such favourable conditions for the striker.
This intelligent movement and positioning go hand in hand with intelligent shot selection when it comes to Daka. He rarely takes on long-shots, with just one of his 19 shots at goal in the league this season coming from outside of the penalty area. He is a ‘fox in the box’. The benefit to this intelligent shot selection is seen in how often he hits the target with his shots. Daka has taken 4.69 shots per 90 minutes in the league this term, hitting the target with 56.22% of them. For reference, Haaland took 4.54 shots per 90 minutes in the Austrian Bundesliga last season, hitting the target with 48.08% of them. The 22-year-old is very two-footed and scores almost as many goals with his left foot as he does with his right foot, the latter being his alleged stronger foot. This two-footedness makes him even more difficult to defend against, especially in these central areas he likes to position himself, as he can shoot very effectively from either side and he’s an agile dribbler that can quickly shift the ball onto either foot when a potential shooting angle opens up.
Daka is strong enough to back into a defender and hold the ball up in these situations, which he often does, but he’s also quick and agile enough to potentially spin out and get around the defender on his own in this type of situation. On this occasion, Daka’s receiving the ball with one teammate running towards goal inside of him who he could potentially pass to, but with so much more space on the outside and no teammate out there, he opts to collect the ball and go alone and the Zambian reaps the benefits of this decision. He intelligently uses his body positioning to keep the defender guessing as the pass comes to him, initially feinting forward on his left leg before quickly switching his weight onto his right leg, receiving the ball and spinning in behind, exploiting this space and creating a good shooting angle.
Daka has an impressive defensive work-rate for a striker. Daka keeps himself very active without the ball both when his team are in possession and when they’re without possession. Without possession, whether he’s required to track back into deep areas or whether he’s trying to help his side to win the ball back high up the pitch, Daka generally works hard and performs his required role diligently. He could never be described as a lazy player by any means. He’s also diligent at helping his side to defend against a counter when the ball is further up the pitch and tracking back is not a problem for Daka, with his pace also coming in handy there.
Conclusion
Jesse Marsch plays a high octane version of 4-4-2 which can take the shape of an expansive 4-2-2-2 (which Ralph Hasenhuttl deployed at RB Leipzig during his successful tenure) in attacking transitions. But RBL have struggled in the attacking department this season. With the departure of Timo Werner to Chelsea and their new recruits in Hwang Hee Chan (who played with Daka at RB Salzburg) and Alexander Sorloth taking time to settle in, RBL lacked a reliable #9 who can take the mantle of goal scoring. With the talks of Yusuf Poulsen, Marcel Sabitzer looking to find new challenges and Hwang Hee Chan apparently to be put on the market (with interest coming from London based West Ham United), RB Leipzig will need some firepower in their arsenal. Even though, they have secured the Bosman signing of another talented youngster- Brian Brobbey from AFC Ajax, his inexperience at senior level will end up putting excessive pressure on a youngster leading a side as competitive as RB Leipzig. An able partner and senior player in Patson Daka (whose current RB Salzburg contract ends in 2022) and Alexander Sorloth will enable RB Leipzig and Jesse Marsch to build his new tactical approach and perfect it with signings of his choice-which RB Leipzig can provide with ease given their healthy financials and also avoid a pretty inexperienced yet talented youngster in Brian Brobbey being ‘thrown under the bus’.
What will happen to RB Salzburg? Their extensive scouting network will again enable them to find capable replacements without compromising on competitive streak at domestic and continental level. Best bet will be the promotion of talented 17-year old Slovenian youngster Benjamin Sesko who has come to life at FC Liefering this season with 15 goals and 5 assists in 26 outings. Current FC Liefering manager and successor to Jesse Marsch, the 33-year old Matthias Jaissle clearly prefers the Slovenian youngster and looking at the model RB Salzburg follows, there are high chances that the young striker will be promoted to first team. German youth international Karim Adeyemi is also knocking down on the door as first choice winger/striker. A potential strike force of Megrim Berisha, Sekou Koita, Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko can replicate the consistent goal scoring record of Patson Daka if he were to depart in coming summer, without losing any competitive edge and providing a win-win situation for every party involved in such a complex situation, made easy by the Red Bull Sporting Model.
