Scouting Jules Koundé
Jules Koundé is yet another young and exciting centre back to have come out of France in recent years, becoming part of a golden generation alongside fellow young stars such as Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate, William Saliba, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Wesley Fofana to name a few.
He broke out at Bordeaux during the 2017/18 season when he was 18. He first played in the Coupe de France against Granville at the turn of the year and subsequently featuring in all but one of the remaining 18 matchdays. He then featured in 37 matches the following season as primarily a centre back, a show of his quality at such a young age in such an important position when many others are moved out to fullback.
He has since moved to Sevilla and formed a formidable partnership with Diego Carlos, conceding the fewest amount of goals in La Liga this season, joint with defensive monsters Atlético Madrid.
He has attracted a lot of admiring eyes from clubs around Europe including Manchester United. This scouting report aims to provide an insight into Jules Koundé’s ability and whether he would be a good signing for Manchester United.
Sevilla style of play
When evaluating centre backs, it’s important to consider the system they usually play in, the role they play in that system and how this relates to their centre back partner(s). In possession, Sevilla prefers to build from the back although with Youssef En-Nesyri and Luuk de Jong they retain the option to play long. They typically build with a back 3 with one of the midfielders splitting the centre backs and the fullbacks pushing high and wide. They average 61.9% possession, 2nd highest in the league, and consequently, Koundé sees a lot of the ball. Out of possession, they press high up the pitch in a zonal fashion, with players aggressively shutting down their opponents once they enter their zone. As we will see, this impacts they way he plays as he needs to be good on the ball and good defending with large spaces behind him.
Koundé statistical profile
I would next like to take a quick look at Koundé from a statistical perspective, with the caveat the defensive metrics are not perfect and can simply show a defender’s preferred style.
The radar chart shows the Frenchman to be fantastic on the ball but more suspect off of it.
On the ball ability
This Sevilla side contains accomplished passers, Ivan Rakitić, Joan Jordán, Fernando and Óliver Torres so Koundé will often play short, simple passes to them. This is not to say he’s not capable of long or penetrative passes but they are not his forte and an area for improvement. When the aforementioned midfielders aren’t on the pitch, he is comfortable shouldering the extra responsibility of progressing his team up the pitch. Opportunities for long diagonals or clipped passes into the striker occasionally arise but are not taken or can be overhit. In comparison, his partner Carlos attempts 17.32 long passes per 90, 5 more than Koundé’s 12.26. Nevertheless, Koundé adds progression to his side and is very good at penetrating the final third and beyond by either passing, carrying the ball or his off the ball movement.
His enthusiasm to get forward is shown in how he is among the top centre backs for touches and pressures in the attacking third and penalty area. Against teams who sit deep, his forays forward can help disrupt defences and free up space for more natural attackers. Smarterscout has his attacking output at 78/99 and he has a good level of involvement in moves ending in either a shot or a goal.
However, this enthusiasm can arguably get out of hand and has seen him rush to join attacks late on in the game despite his team being in a winning position.
Defensive ability
As shown in the radar chart, Koundé isn’t an aggressive defender who makes a lot of tackles or interceptions. Instead, he has great positional awareness which means he’s often in the right place at the right time to nearby attackers from being a viable option. He is fast which is useful during defensive transitions and a knowledge of what is around him allows him to match attackers stride for stride to either shield the ball out of play or back to the keeper.
He has a good sense of danger in his penalty area, often positioned well to intercept or clear crosses. His intelligence again comes to the fore because due to his diminutive size, he is only 5'11, bigger strikers can outmuscle him and beat him in the air so being in the right place is crucial. He does tend to retreat quite close to the goalmouth, marking space rather than opponents putting his team at risk of cutbacks but his quick acceleration and eye for danger limits this threat.
Julen Lopetegui’s men defend zonally and players are asked to aggressively pressure attackers who enter their zone. Koundé is excellent at this, applying pressure from behind to prevent attackers from receiving comfortably and being able to turn. He is usually happy to do this and delay attacks but he is intelligent enough to be more forceful when the chance to cleanly win the ball presents itself. Furthermore, he knows who is worth pressing and when stepping out may not be ideal.
There are obvious flaws that come with such aggressive behaviour, namely the risk of being caught out of position through quick passes or feints. Koundé is liable to be caught in two minds about whether to step out or not and out with balls over his head on the edge of his penalty area, an issue which can result in dangerous shooting opportunities.
Koundé athleticism and intelligence holds him in good stead when it comes to 1v1 duels and defending wide areas. In keeping with his passive style, he prefers delay oncoming attackers while he waits for back up instead of attempting a tackle. He is generally positioned well to show wingers down the line and if they try to get in a foot race with him, he has the pace to put fans minds at ease. One area he could improve on here is his agility and how quick he turns as there is the risk of him getting caught out with balls in behind him closer to goal.
In my opinion, the biggest room for improvement is aerially. Statistically, he is not great in the air and his size is an obvious detriment in this department. He does have a good leap and timing which helps him out.
At corners, he is usually tasked with defending the near post and he does a good job remaining concentrated and attacking balls that enter his zone. Occasionally, he is stationed at the back post but is less effective as he can be crowded out by bigger and more dominant players. As he develops, developing more authority in the air will be necessary to avoid the risk of him being targeted in this area.
Suitability to United
Manchester United might be 2nd in the Premier League at the time of writing, but they have the 9th best goals-against record and the 10th best according to xGA (expected goals against). This is a marked increase from the defensive record last season and coincides with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanting to play a high defensive line and exert greater pressure on opponents. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelöf, the two current starters are not suited to this and combined with a perceived lack of leadership and communication has resulted in calls for a new centre back for next season.
Considering all of this and the recent links with Manchester United, how would he fit in and would he be a good signing? He would replace Victor Lindelöf so comparisons will be made with him. Jules Koundé would be a better partner for Maguire due to his superior recovery speed. Whether his other physical attributes represent a clear upgrade is not as clear. Much has been made of Lindelöf’s aerial deficiencies yet his statistics are better than Koundé’s in a league with more physical strikers. If we differentiate between dead balls and open play, Koundé is better than the Swede but still below average. His attacking drive may help counter United’s struggles against low and ultra lock blocks, disrupting defensive lines and creating space. And as mentioned before fears of being caught on the break are lessened with his pace.
His ability to defend wide areas will be important as Aaron Wan-Bissaka tends to be high and wide to provide width and is sometimes also tasked with pressing opposition wing-backs.
On the other hand, he won’t represent an upgrade in terms of being left-footed which can open up more angles when building from the back (although this isn’t strictly necessary given how comfortable Maguire is on this side). Nor will he fix the leadership or communication issues given his relative inexperience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Jules Koundé is an extremely talented centre back, comfortable on the ball but slightly conservative, intelligent and positionally aware. Despite his young age, I don’t think there is much between him and Lindelöf at the moment and he has plenty of time to develop into a much better player. He might need time to settle in but he would be a great signing.
