It’s almost become a mini tradition within Ligue 1: over the past couple of seasons a young attacking player between the age of 18-22 makes a leap towards mainstream stardom with a highly successful season. 2014-15 was Nabil Fekir under a resurgent Lyon. 2015-16 was Michy Batshuayi under a floundering Marseille and Ousmane Dembele with Rennes. Before that were the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Eden Hazard, players who have gone on to become international stars at Dortmund and Chelsea respectively.
Ligue 1 has gained the reputation for being a league where high upside players can be had for affordable prices. Because of the wayward finances of some clubs in France and having to abide by the rules of DNCG, there have been instances where pretty talented players have been sold for rather cheap prices. Dembele for example went to Dortmund this summer for only a reported 15M despite some signs that he could be a genuine top tier player going forward. You would think that level of hype would demand a higher transfer fee but combine the factors of Rennes not being the greatest financially and limited time remaining on his contract and what you got was a value fee.
Adam Ounas from Bordeaux could be the next one to join the list. In his age 19 season, he produced 0.44 goals per 90 which isn’t too shabby a rate on a club that was managed by Willy Sagnol, who from all accounts looked overwhelmed at the position. Highlighting the next exciting attacking player is not an exact science but let’s give it a shot:
Is he a shot monster? Well he shot 3.1 times per 90 as a winger at age 19 so that’s promising.
Are those shots coming from good locations? Well not quite but some of the shots that are inside the box are higher quality so there’s something to work with.
Can he dribble? Well 6 attempted dribbles per 90 at least tells us that he tries a lot to run at them
How about as a playmaker? Nothing of note really yet but forgivable seeing as he’s still 19 on a mediocre Ligue 1 side
How about his decision making?
Well let’s get to that.
So here’s the thing. Adam Ounas profiles quite well statistically especially considering Bordeaux are a club without a recognizable star like Lyon have or being on a super team like PSG are. As a shot taker, the ability to create semi decent shots consistently is a skill and to this point Ounas’ skill set would dictate that he can grow into being that type of player. Taking over 3 shots per 90 and accumulating a decent xG90 rate is promising stuff, and again, he’s only 19. This is the type of profile as a team you would love to get cause the upside is massive.
But yet I can’t shake off this feeling of not totally being in love with him despite the numbers. To be clear, Ounas is a very talented prospect but perhaps it’s the amount of times he settles for long range screamers or how many times he would cut into the final third with throughball opportunities or opportunities to recycle possession, but ignore them. While the talent is massive, I don’t think he uses it anywhere near as efficiently as he could. Some of it is due to environmental factors surrounding him (poor coaching, shaky roster etc..), some of it is also due to him being 19 years old, but it also as well comes down to a probable contrasting idea of what a good shot is versus what isn’t.
Good
There’s the old saying of players being worth the price of admission because of how electrifying their dribbling can be. Dembele last season was the perfect example because he made fools out of everyone last season, plus those dribbles at times led to him either creating good opportunities for himself or for his teammates.
There’s a value to be had for a winger who can constantly get his team from the middle third to the final third by himself. With a better attacking structure, this can lead to creating high quality chances on enough occasions that it would become a massive boost for a club. Hazard was arguably the best player in the PL in 2014-15 because of his insane ability to do one man dribbling crusades into the box and create for others. Riyad Mahrez won plaudits for his ability to do both that and also be a threat to shoot. Ounas right now is somewhere in between: he can get into the box decently enough but it’s mostly for him to shoot first and pass second.
Where he thrives as with most pacey attackers is in transition. There are very few players in Ligue 1 who can keep up with him in non structured scenarios even if his decision making isn’t quite there yet.
