☁️✨CLOUD 9: Mohamed Kader Meïté
The Temptations: reviewing Chelsea's prospective strikers 1️⃣
The Temptations released “Cloud 9” in 1969, produced by Motown, introducing psychedelic soul to the musical landscape.
Let’s see how much that series proves to be a figment of imagination once Chelsea figure out they can’t afford to budge from the competitive wage and cycle to work scheme (to buddy up with Wesley Fofana?) package offered to Gyökeres, Šeško and Delap. To the biggest disappointment of their respective agents more than Chelsea fans in general. And once Emanuel Emegha embraces his footballing destiny to join Eddie Howe’s Newcastle.
Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love, I guess
A few notes on Mohamed Kader Meïté who’s made his debut and quite the impression for Stade Rennais in 2025. Born in 2007 and towering at 6ft3, he’s a combination of shooting, carries, heading and more imoportantly ; movement across the front line to get on the ball a lot.
Third youngest Stade Rennais goalscorer after… Eduardo Camavinga and Désiré Doué
Breaking down his game vs Auxerre (France’s OG “deep block”), from a technical and movement standpoint. Some data crunching.
Galette Saucisse
En Rouge et Noir : Mas(se) or Elite
Loft is a Hurting Thing
Sunday Monday Habib Beye
Family Ties
Carefree wherever you may be
Play by Play vs Auxerre
Ball of Confusion : That's What The World Is Today
Clear the Bar
I Can’t Get Next To You
Data Room
Quick word on Rennes, and The Way You Do The Things You Do
Galette Saucisse
Rennes are a peculiar French club, owned by the World’s 100th Fortune.
The Pinault family manage the holding that boasts assets such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Creed.
They long held a reputation of “French Tottenham” for not winning anything, but they also have one of the best Academies in the country.
And the best half time snack in the world.
They’re the proverbial top level “countryside” club, with a mindset more centred around eating “galette saucisse” at half time than break the ceiling, to win more than two games per month.
“Culture of performance” in football directly stems out of the environment inside and outside the club, and whether people build on success or consider the recent win as an opportunity to take the foot off the gas. France!
En Rouge et Noir : Mas(se) or elite?
Juju Stéphan, son of Didier Deschamps’ loyal assistant Guy (himself a well known coaching figure) still built a coaching career via Dreux’s grassroots (as in: didn’t jump into the club’s U19s) which is to his credit.
Loved by the Pinault family, he’s the one who broke the club’s ceiling by winning the 2019 French Cup (overcoming a 2-0 deficit to Tuchel’s PSG, fortunate to coach Neymar Di Maria and Mbappé - somehow never mentioned as one of the biggest bottle jobs in domestic cups in the 21st century).
Stéphan coached Rennes U17s then U19s and won the National 2 (tier 4) with the B-team which is the highest a B team can compete in France.
By finishing 3rd in 2020 under the guidance of the corrosive but effective Olivier Letang (formerly PSG and now Lille chaiman) - with Edouard Mendy and Raphinha, but also Ismaila Sarr and Eduardo Camavinga, Rennes qualified for the 2020-21 Champions League where they faced the eventual winners Chelsea in the group stage (0-3 ; 1-2)
Factors behind this being their geographical location which is in football-keen Brittany, a monopoly on regional talent for the whole of North/Western France.
Worth a look at this
But also the 8-15 million they pump every year into running their Academy, being also fairly elitist in terms of signing the very best Paris talent in their U16s season (once the km/mi restriction is lifted and players can play 50km/30mi away from their household).
Rennes are a selling club. First comes, first serve basis.
Want Camavinga, Ugochukwu or Dembele? That’ll be 30 million. Doué? 50 million.
One way to look at it is to say they’re rich, so don’t need the money.
Another way to look at it, is to conclude they’re rich because they didn’t spend 62 million on Marc Cucurella, 100 on Mudryk, and 65 on Joao Felix ; reflecting 1.5B squandered in the span of two years. The Honda’s going nowhere.
Loft Is A Hurtin' Thing
Why would they need to sign players?
Well, the funny thing with Rennes is that they’re fairly keen on their regional talent, they’ve got 3-5 teams per age group (including senior teams) and will have anyone who can kick ball (or who’s dad puts a few bucks in the club) on their books in their different programs.
Yet, they’ve always been a club known for having an extended first team playing squad, making 5-10 transfers every window ; always orchestrated by the latest engineers in charge of revamping the squad.
Called “The Loft” but which is like, well beyond the realms of the thing called workers rights and gets called out mostly when it’s the OM strawman (“the excesses of modern football”)
That’s been called out by the Player Union in January 2025 and L’Equipe.
What the heck is this?
How can you bomb squad a 15 million signing whithin 6 months?
Ever heard of sunk cost fallacy? BlueCo Consulting, how can we help.
With a head coach tasked to “create an electrochoc”.
Fred Antonetti, Roland Courbis, Sampaoli, Guy Lacombe…
To say there’s been some (cultural) misfits is an understatement.
The current head coach is Habib Beye, former OM captain who also played for Newcastle (Sunday Monday Habib Beye) and Aston Villa.
Newcastle fans even had a dedicated website (BeyeWatch) to host all the songs
Beye went the hard yards coaching culture club (and Jules Rimet’s) Red Star in French 3rd division where he coached one of my former players and gained promotion to Ligue 2.
whilst establishing himself as one of the leading pundits, a career path he started alongside… myself in 2013.
“Sunday, Monday, Habib Beye”
Appointed to steady the ship after Sampaoli’s ill fated tenure in which he failed to win over anyone (let alone games of football) by leading Rennes into 12th place - which is far from initial expectations but still steered away from… relegation troubles.
Three players have been appearing regularly in lineups. The first one is Jeremy Jacquet, brought back from his loan at Clermont Foot in January (pocketing a 1 million bounty to cut short the loan - when you’re rich…). The second player is is a midfielder called Djaoui Cissé, is 22 year old midfielder nobody really cared for, but very much in the changing the picture mould of Parisian midfielders.
La Ligue des Talents : Valentin Antangana, Djaoui Cissé, Jérémy Jacquet.
And Erminig. Rennes’ own version of the Arlington Polar Bear, which is what one usually says at a glance of the squad. Just found out this instant that Naouirou Ahamada (ex Palace) was on the books too.
Upfront, the unicorn 6ft3 Mohamed Kader Meïté.
Family Ties
From a family ties standpoint ; Kader Meïté is the cousin of
Yacou Meïté, who scored PSG’s goal in the 2016 Youth League final and then went on to play a bit with Michael Olise at Reading
Bamo, who I coached in 2019-20
and mentioned here.
🌠Rafiq Lamptey - Millwall U21s
Rafik Lamptey joined Millwall U21s from Harrow Borough Under 18s at the very end of pre season, August 2024
Carefree wherever you may be
Several things I like with MKM
His separation movement across the front : why does he get on the ball so much?
His willingness to take the defenders on
His fundamentals back to goal
This is as much a “can you” than “will do”
For sure, MKM has been exposed to a degree of individual coaching over the years, but the training in Paris will have been more reflective of the reality of the games - which are some kind of trench war to access to the best U14-U15 teams in the Paris (or Marseille) area where Ligue 1 scouts come and pick up the best players for the U16 season.
Not so much the household names like Nantes, PSG, Marseille, OL.
But more Monaco or Rennes for the very best, or Sochaux (Konaté, Lacroix), Valenciennes (Upamecano, Kayi Sanda) or Le Havre (Pogba, Ba, Payet, Mahrez, Badé), Saint Etienne (Fofana, Saliba).
There will be a distinction between : are you technically able to spin, and dribble diagonally ; and will you be keen to put the senior CB on wheels in a way that’s remniscent from U15-U16 big cities week-end fixtures broadcasted on Snapchat.
The technical finesse and execution of the former doesn’t guarantee the latter ; some will say it’s not always conductive to it.
It’s the balance between the regimented 15’ of “ball mastery” with 45’’ delved to each skill in a box made of plastic cones ; to the pure ecological sandbox of 2v2 / 4v4 where bragging rights are on the line, and deposed is the crown of the one who goes to ground.
On the reverse side, you’ll find two clusters of defenders: the guy who’ll stand his ground and not get too close to not end up in a story (Saliba), or the “bozo” who’ll tackle on a 3G pitch to snatch the ball (and his opponent’s soul) like Wesley Fofana.
French academies play in six U17s seeds, and four U19s made of 14 teams. Bottom three and the worst 4th from bottom go down to U18 regional. Top two play the play-offs.
There’s usually half of Category 1-2-3 clubs (similar to England - depending on facilities, staff part/full time) but also half of grassroots teams, from the countryside village side with the whole assembly in attendance. To the Paris 3G pitches (clubs are split in the 4 or 6 seeds).
Players therefore encounter a wide range of opponents and direct competitors for spots.
My U19 side drew 0-0 vs Stade Rennais in December 2019.
Breakdown of the lineup here:
The outlook of academy teams platform some difficult to notice future professionals (usually the batch of 6-12 players who join from Paris at U16) who make the pitch look small (or defenders chase their shadow), notably the towering defenders, goalkeepers or forward whilst wide player represent the “bail out” option (spam diagonals over the top when the academy galaxy brain possessionball creates 1000 passes to 105 by minute 70).
That you will *never* get a 50/50 ‘last man foul’ (or whatever it’s called, it’s not called fairly anyway) when the towering 6ft2 CB clips your fast striker going through is a frustration you gotta accept (or a yellow card when asking the ref “how many”).
On the other hand, some towering strikers are “merely” annoying for their presence, pinning defenders back to goal. Some of them can shoot.
At the very worst (but not for us), they also turn drive and take on, and realistically it’s game over at that stage. Fold the league and go home.
Like when the opppsition coach was legitimately crying about Bridge Ndilu scoring 4 by half time to be 5-0 up, begged the opposition’s club chairman to take him off because it's unfair, only to turn the second half into a free-for-all and a 5-4 defeat.
Your brightest tacticians? I've got a bridge to sell you. But not to Juventus, probably not too impressed to have so many interlocutors around the table.
Mohamed Kader Meïté certainly does the latter, in a swashbuckling carefree way that will generate turnovers but also a “wow” factor that certainly gets people off their seats as in “alright, you can also do that”.
Play by Play vs Auxerre
Rennes lined up vs Auxerre with that 343 on April 6th
I do not know nor care to know who “Hateboer” is, let alone asking what exactly is he doing here. A voice note later, apparently a wingback at Atalanta. Polar bear, etc…
A midfield two with Seko Fofana, who’s output is a palimpsest of the one that carried RC Lens to Champions League spots, now back in France for the mere 20 million and 4.8 million per year.
That is, after taking the bag in middle-east. Rennes is the middle east to Guingamp. You're always someone else's middle east, especially when you're willing to sign of double digit fees for non-needle-moving players. Good players are entitled to get paid, but not every good player is the right player.
The front three features three different profiles with Kazeem Olaigbe, a dynamic journeyman winger from Anderlecht Academy (via Southampton). Not a bad player, but then again don’t you have anyone in house already?
Kalimuendo has quetly scored 17 goals, giving his best impression of a budget / channel running Agüero. Quick, but also moving like on a snooker table, his short separation movement and situational intelligence to occupy the right space explains why he always gets in dangerous positions.
Coordination with the attacking team mate
A theme covered here:
Up and back (or finding Djaoui Cissé able to turn)
Kalimuendo drops off the front
And MKM directly attacks the space vacated.
Shows good reading of the available space, he’s not a lamp post.
Then a powerful change of direction to show for the ball in the right timing.
Pass is going back to the RCB ; he’s already on the move.
C is on the move during the pass from A to B.
Able to receive, then smash a one touch layoff to the RCB splitting two Auxerre players
Get away from the ball carrier
Olaigbe gets a positive first touch diagonally
MKM was keen to attack the space diagonally
Blocks his run
to get blind side
Receive, and shift it to avoid a tackle
I’m impressed by the speed of execution
Shot is deflected for a corner, but quick swing of the leg to get a clean connection
Getting hold of it back to goal
MKM seems to have the separation movement to always create a yard thanks to his change of pace
Posture is good
But multitasking, like for most young strikers, is a challenge : ends up flat when he tries to control
Is slightly shoved of balance
Still strong enough to resist, stand his ground, get a first touch and chase it
Probably the kind of play he gets away with at U19 National level where the defending is utterly tragic most of the time.
This is the level of competion.
Scoring a goal against 7 outfielders + goalkeeper in the box.
That’s probably why their opponent on the day finished 8pts from potential relegation with two goals conceded per game with a professional academy side, against teams training 3 times per week from 7-8 PM.
Something I can’t relate to, considering none of Mathis Abline, Dilane Bakwa and other Mohamed Ali Cho scored against my side at this level.
And the team platformed four internationals (Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo U20 and Guiana) and as many future professionals (elsewhere, in clubs who value what players do not where they come from / who they know).
But it’s the kind of rookie receive turn and launch pass that usually requires to build upon to get hold, bring a midfielder who can ping the ball to a winger then receive the subsequent cross.
Can’t beat him for trying though, the tradeoff from the turnover is the evidence he’s confident enough to move the ball to try to score whithin the next 3 passes.
How can you blame him when that finishes in a goal after 10 minutes
That looks like a technical meeting. Everyone’s there doing fuck all proudly wearing the club’s colors, everyone’s got an opinion on how the first team should play but not the first clue to tell apart a future international to a future county level player.
Speaking of, and a look at that lineup, there’s an “academy product” canned because he was at the Regional Pole Espoir and it would be unfair that he’d take someone’s spot on the week end at U14 level (Pole Espoir players are scholars but come home to play for their club on the week end).
Well now, he’s good enough to start in Ligue 1.
And you bet they’re probably congratulating themselves.
Curvilinear run
82% of maximum velocity runs in football are curvilinear sprint.
Train it, because the game ecologically demands it
An observation is that MKM’s runs are good in terms of trajectory, sometimes almost “too safe” because not really on the line of offside
These ones are harder to do, because you can’t use the linesman as reference point
Bring team mates into play
Olaigbe drops off the front
Brassier plays his trademark line breaker
That MKM is agile enough to Cruyff Turn / layoff
Aerial timing?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Prizes, I’m not so sure
But stupid games, some Academies definitely deliver some - granted people actually turn up to work before 3pm.
In case they do, do they actually work on crossing / heading?
Not a surprise that strikers are woefully short now matter how tall they are, at reading the flight of a diagonal pass pumped into the box. It’s more about how often they come across the kind of deliveries that top flight ecologically generates.
MKM is still outstanding in the air when it comes to contested headers with north of 65% of aerial won.
Jean Philippe Mateta was playing U17 Grassroots football at 17 at the Stade Paul André of Drancy on that 3G pitch. So did Olivier Giroud after being released by Grenoble, and exploring third tier football at Istres then Tours.
Contested aerial
MKM is hard to move off his ground, makes sure the defender can’t take a good leap by “leaning” on him
And once he jumps, he outjumps the defender to flick it
Channel running
MKM slghtly reactive on this one (doesn’t move before the ball is played)
However, look at the time he needs to kick start and the space he creates
He’s actually further away from the CB from a starting position, than the CB was jogging about
The immediate spin tells more about the degree of confidence “I’ll take you on”
Than pure execution, still toe pokes it to Truffert for the underlap
Reece James is a top player, a very strong character on the pitch.
His education has that spin he did vs United as a “ball mastery” trick, obviously rehearsed. MKM’s one seem more off the cuff
Pin the CB
The kind of off the ball movement that’ll be required at PL level
If the pass is deemed open.
Back foot (left) to stay strong, and right foot to get a touch with the sole, hiding the ball from the opponent
Separation and multitasking
One of the reasons MKM gets on the ball a lot, is that he’s moving across the front line.
And for that, there’s 2 to 3 moves for one reception.
Start from the ball far CB
Appear from the defender’s blind side
Left arm ready to protect and prevent the defender to push him
Ends up with possession off the CB
With his best Diego impression, that’s the pull your outlook creates.
Defenders don’t read your tactico threads pre-game, they just second guess that if that kid gets a start upfront there has to be things his club know (and they don’t).
Having already seen he can be chaotic (in a good sense) and unpredictable, defenders take a step back to second guess.
Of course, you don’t have a new player (as good) to get out of the hat every week, and Rennes eventuall lost that day.
But good to be mindful of that players see players, who do the talking.
“who’s your worst opponent” is one of my favourite questions to ask players, and you’re generally surprised to see who makes the top 5 behind the obvious suspects.
Reach and delay to shift
Some more good movement from MKM, double movement to fake in behind to come short
Therefore receiving facing play, a good first touch that’s not bumping off his shoe
That delay is the essential and ecological ( = whithin an environment) feature that isolated ball mastery can’t replicate. Who’ll make the first move, it’s a duel, as in two players one ball. Not a player, a row of traffic cones and a GoPro.
The sharp shift outside puts the defenders on wheels
Assignon might not have read the open space he could’ve attacked in behind.
Feet or space.
MKM could’ve been carrying diagonally to play a straight pass, depending on the left back’s behaviour.
Separation across the front line:
Start from ball-far CB
With a good first touch, no pressure from behind
without clear option, so stays on the ball and slaps the opponent who catches it in the face
The issue being taller than everyone, not so much the hand.
Double movement
Some powerful movement with change of direction.
Big strikers who can also move and run into space - game over.
Spin and go
Seko Fofana entering final third on the half turn
With a clean layoff with the inside of the foot, to then spin in case he can receive the return pass.
Spin and make the run
On this one, Fofana wins the ball back from high press.
That’s the moment MKM could get away from the carrier (backwards) to make a run diagonally whatsoever
To invite Fofana to play a straight-er pass
Leon squeezes in the space
There’s an opening under the GK’s am, which is the place Agüero used to place shots
Kalimuendo’s double movement
Creep towards his left shoulder
Block and show up in space
MKM closes in (two strikers must be half a box from each other)
That touch would be worth considering being shorter, to crash on the GK to draw a penalty
Run for a ball around the corner
Sharp two touch turn
Another movement in a rare counter during that soporific tacticlash between two well drilled 343 ; attacing the open space with intent
MKM’s first touch is deceiving
But the sharpness of his second “chop” makes the difference
The pass is overhit, but still comes back around with possession
With another deceptive chop, after delaying / timing his move once Massengo is left guessing
These quick chops with stretched legs are impressive
To end up getting a shot off in the side netting.
Get hold at the corner of the box
Mohamed Kader Meïté is displaying good fundamentals back to goal
Secure the receiving area getting side on, strong left leg and ready to receive with the right foot
Soles : (the only soles on the ball that matter in football)
However, to scale that at senior level against a good Ligue 1 side such as Auxerre, there has to be some more deception, use his left arm to push the defender off balance (so that he has to take half a step back) to create room to slide the through pass
Preferential area
MKM secures the reception area
But changing his stance kind of midway through, ending up a bit flat.
Using arms as “pliers” aims at pushing the defender backwards to then roll him
However : the multitasking lets him down, as the defender manages to nab the ball
🇵🇪🦙Alpacanalysis: Víctor Guzmán
With two defeats in two, Peru look set to crash out from the CONMEBOL SUB20 2025
Victor Guzman using his arms to lock on the defender, but roll him and let the ball roll past him
MKM shows quick thinking, “problem solving” or “creativity” to spin and slide the ball to Assignon who’s not offside.
Get away from the ball carrier
Noticeable movement on a counter, not running like a trackfield runner but peeling off
Situations are managed live, but it’s a good sign to acknowledge there’s a player to receive before he does (average players would have come to the ball here)
However, that’s the moment MKM has to make a more demanding diagonal run.
The aim for Djaoui Cissé on the ball is to drive towards his right shoulder so that the defender tucks inside a bit, then play a straight
Roll like Lukaku
Preparatory stance to receive
MKM tried to let the ball roll across
Lost his balance a bit, unable to land his left in his stride.
Because he’s carried forward, his arms are used to try to recover a form of balance
As opposed to the defender’s who gets the arm in front
Then again there’s two ways to look at it:
Better flick for himself, get arm/hip/leg in front to draw a foul
The confidence to try it leaves defenders guessing as to the next move :
will he stay back to goal (therefore I’ll take a step back when he leans),
will he try to receive spin 180° (therefore I must be ready to tackle in front)
will he roll me (I need my arms to get across when he turns)
Big strikers are trouble, all the more when they can actually pull either of the 3 moves that demand a different handling.
Take on the defence
Making the pitch look small, taking on the defensive line
With changes of direction
This one was unsuccesful, but we’re here for this. Can you take a nutmeg, Mr Senior Defender.
Go on, try it. Success will make you better, crowd’s groan will tone you down or will make you succeed. Eventually, the environment will enhance the pathway
A similar theme, with winger separation movement on the touchline to receive
Reception back foot
The intent is definitely there and he gets the lucky bounce, if he gets the Thierry Henry deception to delay before knocking past
Backheel
That backheel flick was a nice creaitive idea to bring a player into play inside the box
MKM scored against Nantes with a looping header in the top corner.
MKM also scored a consolation goal at OL
Context : Rennes in Red, Lyon in White
Midfielder Almada, loaned from Textor’s Botagofo is shelling a cross in front of his goal net???
Football is a wonderful sport, but moveover industry of whatever is happening.
MKM’s first touch is excellent
So is the problem solving to read the GK jumping, so making the ball bounce under his legs.
Ball Of Confusion
That's What The World Is Today
Both empirical and “statistical tea leave reading” ought to take into account this : if you notice a player, it means he’s either good or bad.
If you don’t notice him or by flashes, and he turns out to be an Academy striker with less than 10 games ; that’s their floor which suggests the ceiling might be through the roof.
You don’t get to see Yamal or Mbappé popping up every week. And even if they do, here’s a leading TV journalist thinking he’s talking to RC Lens’ Taylor Moore and not Kylian Mbappé ; after winning the French Youth Cup 2016.
Which MKM will also have a chance to lift this week end (more on that)
Therefore the best compliment you can make to an Academy player given a go at first team level, is that he looked the part until you were told he’s a debutant.
Watch more bad players to appreciate good players.
The steady Eddie, 5 goals per season, feet in fresh concrete striker does exist. There’s zero chance he makes an impression against senior players in training,
Why would he even get promoted to the other side of the building in First Team training
Unless he’s the main character in a garbage "made-for-TV movie” political game Football is also very good at : promote the 5th or 10th choice Academy player as a way to gaslight your (top) Academy players who won’t extend their contract into believing there is a pathway.
See, we’re not that bad ; which is usually the rhetoric of domestic abusers - on brand, when some clubs also show the same utter contempt for contracts they both signed that entitle players to train with the professional team under the same conditions.
Find shame, before the PFA and lawyers step in.
But it’s a one bullet rifle, that doesn’t work over time ; unless the purpose of a system is what it does, drive away elite talent, complain your second string Academy batch gets battered by the local rival in U21 Play Offs - to justify price padding some more unknown players only their mother (and agent) know.
Are you a good player, or merely “an asset to capitalise on” with no discernible player pathway.
Oh right, you need surgery and haven’t played for a year since?
We’ve done our homework.
Signed for half of what it costs Stade Rennais to run their Academy in a year, or a chunk of the 20 million it costs to run Cobham.
Hyped by the next fee-for-service influencer and '“Top 10 biggest talent” shortlist curators who always magically align.
Smell the coffee.
It’s transparent. You know, the kind of accounts who get a heads up the day Chelsea sign a left back from Sporting for 65 million - not even good enough to be pimped up as a winger, and already shunted as left back before the bank transfer lands.
The kind of accounts who get insider info (ITK) on transfers
The difference between journalism (right) and “content creation” on the left and a question mark to how long this shit will be (commonly) tolerated.
But also, actual players see through it, and the atmosphere in training will either turn toxic, or scrimmage game become a gigantic pisstake of top players only playing with each other - negating the idea to pass the ball to anyone unable to send it back. I Gotta Find A Way (To Get You Back) etc…
Clear the bar
Pochettino, Bielsa, Louis Van Gaal have credentials in the game : who’s the next in line, go on son. Don’t let no-one pick the lineup over you.
Pochettino : who’s the next in line. Armando Broja or Mason Burstow.
Simply respect your craft and the qualified staff that selected and platformed the best talent.
Looping headers? Or artificial leapfrogging for the latest big agent sweetener side deal
Mason Burstow is technically the last Roman Abramovitch era signing.
What do I think of all this:
Rely on you award winning academy ; the one that produced Tammy Abraham or Dominic Solanke, who won 3 European Cups combined.
BlueCo : three years of ownership, and one qualification for the Conference League.
Signed a Villareal winger, triggered a 5 million clause from a Barcelona B cast off.
Bottom trawl the London talent pool ; and offer that one more trial to Mason Burstow (or Patrick Bamford). Academy Scouts see it, mostly because they can’t afford to continuously bring in donkeys in which case they lose their job.
But don’t play the “I know a mate who could do the same job of running an academy that produces 30% of International call ups, but better” whilst getting us to think Emanuel Emegha is any different (let alone better) than the much maligned Tammy Abraham who scored 15 NPG
Take punts on talents from all over the world ; Jamica, Uzbekistan - being mindful that
The player care department will be fundamental ; and barring Academy products from using the First Team building whilst they’re under contract is bad vibes unless that’s precisely the purpose of a system (that does what it does).
There’s talent everywhere, there’s also Greggs and sausage rolls at every corner in the UK and some players/culture never quite fit in over time, and the proportion than one does (Willian, Oscar) doesn’t outweight the ones that don’t.
Keep an eye for opportunities abroad, Kader Meïté is one. Is he better than Dean Scarlett, Ethan Wheatley, Ellis Lehaine? To cherrypick some tall, dominant academy forwards.
I think so, and he impacts Ligue 1 games.
But in case you do, actually benchmark on Real Madrid’s contingency planning, the senior player is phased out whilst his replacement is phased in.
Can’t throw Emegha, or Meïté upfront get pelters. From fans, and from a delivery standpoint because the team reverts to Looney Tunes Football because they’re pressed to the jugular.
I Can't Get Next To You
Where MKM stands out is :
the separation movement, variety of it and quality of movement is a solid base to start to get involved and get on the ball. He’s able to, and willing to be getting on the ball. The crowd’s noise doesn’t get to him ; which is a familiar setting for players - but unfamiliar compared to the Paris pitches they’re used to before coming to Ligue 1.
The fundamentals back to goal are there, sandboxing it with more minutes (which is Rennes’ purpose in Ligue 1 ; platform and sell) will make it more effective. But you can’t start from scratch and expect a striker who receives like a penguin, to start scaling up in a league where referee leniency
He’s the kind of “profile” you can’t make up from scratch ; or can’t cheap out on. Otherwise you end up with Marc Guiu, yanked at half time in a 8-0 win for turning the ball over 5 times back to goal, or getting a dozen touches against a League Two team.
No, the number didn’t shrimp - Morecambe who failed to win 36 out of 46 ; the 92th worst Professional side in the whole country - restricted Marc Guiu to 13 touches in 90 minutes.
There’s always so long you can insult people’s intelligence.
19 year old “Rooney Regen Hidden in La Masia” Marc Guiu got 13 touches vs future Vanarama Conference Morecambe FC.
17 year old Mohamed Kader Meïté gets 26 touches on average in Ligue 1.
Mohamed Kader Meïté is 72th percentile for “progressive passes received”
(for what it’s worth with whatever token minutes Guiu got, he’s got 3).
Which means either MKM can move, or his team mates don’t think he’s a lumbering chancer with cumbersome footwork and trampoline first touch.
Data Room
Don’t look at players on spreadsheets
Data is the worst snapshot of what young players can do. They’re caterpillars
If you set your template as “caterpillar” , unless you know you’ll get a butterfly, you’ll be there doing scoreboard spreadsheet tea leave second guessing and conclude “there’s nothing there”
Still, here’s some data to crunch, I wanted to look atthe share of progressive passes received as a proportion of total touches. Which kinda makes sense empirically, especially for a front man.
There’s people in that list who play more on the wings, such as Barcola and Fofana and obviously Yamal - none of whom play centre forward ; therefore I assume some of the names I don’t know also do. But I can’t be bothered to filter through.
The chart looks good enough to me, so does MKM’s position.
The rule of thumb of one every three possessions stemming from a progressive pass seem suggest he can be seen, not just because he’s taller than everyone.
Getting one every handful of touches inside the box seems healthy as well.
Watch the games nerd.
If that was a 27 year old striker, he’d probably be called an above average lump.
This is the first 530 minutes in Ligue 1 and Mohamed Kader Meïté already looks the part which is an open question as to how much he can build on it.
If he can, beware, he he can’t, that’d be a seriously good role player already.
Matching complementary output now :
Data don’t capture everything, that’s why you need eyes and scout (and brains)
But also a good player eventually does stuff.
The format matters, every semi serious level of football gets some coverage via the local newspaper or the Football League Paper.
What does fit into a one liner scorebox? Goalscorers
What does fit into a two liner match report? Goalscorers
What does fit into match reports? Goalscorers, and “the impressive …”
And so on.
Top 5 leagues, Ligue 2 (because) and Championship because the scalability of talent is proven (if you bet on the right horses like Jean-Philippe Mateta)
Mohamed Kader Meïté seems to be at the sweet spot between getting in good positions (logged as Non Penalty xG) and receiving progressive passes.
He’s a striker who will score goals. Not a concept AI-generated forward everyone rates, but especially Phase 7 tacticoachs (and not many people, the more they see him)
But the thing about MKM is that he’ll remind you of a unicorn.
Havertz has 17 assists in 150 PL games, and wins 49% of his 5.2 aerials contested.
68 million, 330k a week, league’s 8th biggest earner.
Unicornflake.
Anyway.
Ah, might as well jump (JUMP!)
See also the Duran article for a discussion around heading, from a game dynamic and statistical standpoint.
Contested headers won P90 vs Progressive Carries.
Usually you’re one or the other, you score 96 Premier League goals and take the elevator to go one floor up.
Or you’re crossing the pitch diagonally for fun like Cole Palmer but win 6 / 30 headers in 70 games of Premier League
Mohamed Meïté is again at the sweet spot between carrying and contested headers involvement, with a bright yellow dot for success flying over 65%.
Eye test suggests he could be even better at it.
Can you change the picture outside of it but also create chances.
Ilenikhena, Bonny, Kolli (QPR) seem to be at the sweet spot between moving the ball for a purpose, and getting output out of it.
Jhon Duran - is there something I should know? Yes, that he shoots the football very hard (and plays like he was taught the rules of the game five minutes ago).
Kolli (QPR) and Kroupi have more of the killer mindset in the box with reference to their volume of touches in the box
MKM, at the sweet spot between the two
The shot sample is limited, but knowing the guy likes to run, carry ; you would expect a stormtrooper scatterplot.
But it’s actually fairly impressive, from the golden zone (purple because I like my #7A92FF) overlayed over the understat.com chart.
Ground breaking area whithin the goalposts until the penalty spot.
Coach strikers? 6 flat cones.
Some more radar charts, for shit and giggles :
Rennes reached the French Youth Cup final 2025 called the Coupe Gambardella.
Stade Renais won it three times in their history, 1973
2003 (Bourillon, Faty, Yohan Gourcuff, Arnold Mvuemba and Jimmy Briand. As well as their current U19 Head Coach)
2008 with Maxime Le Marchand (Fulham), Kévin Théophile-Catherine (Cardiff), Yacine Brahimi, Yann Mvila, Vincent Pajot.
They’re facing Dijon FCO on Saturday 24th for a chance to lift the trophy after getting past AJ Auxerre in the semi-final under watchful eyes.
That was 2015 : Marc Keller (Strasbourg chairman), Messaoud Benterki (Host), Eric Huet (journalist), Habib Beye, Edouard Cissé, Guy Roux.
Mohahed Kader Meïté scored 5 goals on the way to the French Youth Cup final
Traditionally played on the same pitch as the Coupe de France final earlier on the same day
