The future of French football is in safe hands. Some of their youngsters are playing at the top level and in the top five leagues in Europe. These players have a chance to represent their club and nation at the lower level as well as for the senior team. One player who has made a breakthrough this season is Monaco’s 20-year-old defender, Soungoutou Magassa.
Magassa joined the club in 2018 and was promoted to the first team in 2022. He has played in 12 Ligue 1 games for Monaco this season and is adjusting well to the team. Masagga plays in the heart of the defence and here are the stats and visuals that show how he is performing this season.
Guarding the goal
Soungoutou Magassa is listed as a defensive midfielder and can also play as a centre-back. His defensive territory shows that the player has featured as a left centre-back in the team. Magassa has spent 1,149 minutes on the field and all these as a left centre-back. He has covered a lot of areas and also gave cover to the left back on many occasions.
The 20-year-old has won 58.6% of his defensive duels, 38.2% of his aerial duels and 56.7% of his loose ball duels. In addition, the player has made 4.3 interceptions per 90 minutes. The youngster has given away quite a few fouls in dangerous areas. He will look to learn in the coming games and give away less fouls. Most of the successful defensive actions have been made wide on the flank.
This plot measures the quality and quantity of a defender’s defensive actions. A player in the top right quadrant consistently engages in many defensive actions and performs them effectively.
If we look at the above visual then we can observe how the player is ranked amongst the best in the Ligue 1. He might be having a low duel win percentage but the player has never lacked in commitment.
Modern-day defender
Soungoutou Magassa plays as a centre-back and is also listed as a defensive midfielder. This means that the player is technically sound and knows how to rotate the ball. He averages 55.5 passes per 90 minutes and has an 88% accuracy rate. These include 7.4 passes to the final third, with most of them targeted to find a runner on the left flank.
The French centre-back will look to make full use of the opportunities that he gets for Monaco this season. He is an upcoming talent and a big promise for the future.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine