TANGUY KOUASSI

Milan have been on the look for a new centre back since a long time. With Milan no more able to bankroll transfers like how Milan paid €32 million for Alessandro Nesta in 2001, Milan have entrusted scouting chief Geoffrey Moncada with finding a Centre back pairing for Alessio Romagnoli.

A name constanty linked to Milan is Tanguy Kouassi. The most amazing part of Kouassi is that he is only 17 years old and has  started for PSG for 6 games. Brought in as a replacement for the injured marquinhos and Thiago silva, Thomas Tuchel was so impressed with the boy he kept him as a squad  rotation option so that the boy can gain experience

To play in Thomas Tuchel’s system defenders are expected to be multi-facrted along with possessing normal defensive qualities. They need to be good passers and read the game well.  Blessed with versatility, Kouassi has played at centre back as well as Defensive midfield

Let us take a look at the player and his qualities scouted aptly by Geoffrey Moncada.

Player Profile

Club: Paris St Germain

Nationality: France

Height: 188 centimetres

Age: 17

Transfermarkt Value: €11 Million

Playing Style, Physicality and Positioning

One of the major feature of Tanguy Kouassi is his tall but lean frame at 17 years of age. With his height and along with a good jump, Kouassi is able to reach good vertical heights. He got 2 goals through headers in his senior PSG career. But Kouassi is not all just brawn but he has exemplary skill of timing his jump as per the position of the ball.  While he is adept aerially, he is strong in physical duals and is able to hold out against tall strikers although he sometimes struggles  against players who are bulkier. 

When in posession Kouassi shows perfect body balance and opponents find it hard to push him off the ball. He can be a bit over agressive when he contests for the ball aerially and gives away fouls. This however cannot be said for his defensive qualities where he has excellent positioning ability. He uses his positioning ability and anticipation against quicker opponents. He has a good top speed and is able to negate pacy customers.

Kouassi tends to push high up the pitch when PSG are not in possession and if the opposition uses thr wings to attack, he combines with the fullback to create overloads. While pressing higher up the pitch and in case there is a turnover in possession it helps to create a window for a counter attack for the player.

Kouassi always prefers to play safe and short passes instead of long passes and this limits his creativity. When playing as a defensive midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 formation he passes it to veratti or paredes who occupies the same role alongside him.

Defending- Ability, Style Of Defending

The main core of speciality arises from his defending. Kouassi like many modern defenders out-thinks his opponents to beat them. His decision making in threatening situations for the team is what makes him stand out. He prefer to hold his ground and not slide recklessly.

This makes him very good on 1v1 duels.Another aspect which is very important for defenders and a clear strentgh for Kouassi is his marking. He prefers to keep an optimal distance from the player so as to not get beaten by explosive players

In the image below Amiens forward who was recieving the ball was closed down by Kouassi but he didn’t lunge into a challenge otherwise the striker would have put the winger through and found space.

Attacking Play

For a 17 year on the ball he has a tidy ball control and knows how to spread the play well. He exhibits excellent ball control and does not give up posession easily  when pressed. Kouassi prefers to drive forward with the ball  and pass it to a more creative opponent.

A below picture can be seen as an example of his ball playing ability. While he drives forward with the ball, the opposition is forced to close him down which creates space between the lines which is occupied by a creative psg player.

Kouassi prefers to play short safe passes instead of attempting longer, riskier balls. He prefers to keep the ball close to his feet and move forward with the ball whenever he is pressed and passing lanes are cut off. What works for koaussi is that PSG build up their play with short passes rather than long passes. Against narrow defensive teams, Kouassi is inclined to play more towards flanks and supply the wingers

Weakness

Although Kouassi is pacy his acceleration i.e time taken to reach top speed is very high. This makes him vulnerable against explosive players. He also lacks the stamina which makes him to play at a less efficient rate in the latter stages of the game.

Kouassi also tends to have spatial and positional awareness of his opponents. It makes him to get closed down very fast when he is on the ball.

How Would He Fit In Milan

Kouassi is only 17 and has played for PSG in the Uefa Champions League making his debut against Galatasaray. Despite his obvious shortcomings it is evident the player does not have enough games under his belt but has high potential to hit heights that Milan have not seen since the days of Nesta and Maldini.

Thomas Tuchel uses a variation of the Gegenpress professed by Rangnick. Playing as a defensive midfielder or as a centre back. Through careful development Kouassi can be developed into a behemoth in the centre of defence. With him coming to the end of his contract at the end of this season Milan will be able to get him on a free transfer. Moncada has met with the player and his entourage to personally convince the player to join Milan for his personal development.

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