Gorgeous-Kévin Nkoudou

[NaijaSpurs]

http://www.sportskeeda.com/football...t-the-marseille-winger-targetted-by-tottenham

The Euro 2016 and Copa America Centenario is over and it's time again to shift focus to club football. The transfer window has been open since the 1st of July and clubs have been busy bringing in new players and letting few leave in what can be one of the busiest summer transfer windows in recent times. The Premier League has got a massive lucrative TV deal starting this season which has sky-rocketed the purchasing power of clubs by multiple manifolds.

Also Read: Vincent Janssen Scout Report - The Dutch striker who is Tottenham Hotspur's new signing

London-based Tottenham Hotspurs had finished 3rd in the Premier League last season which enabled them to earn an automatic qualification back to the Champions League. Coach Mauricio Pochettino is keen to add players to his squad which will give him a good, balanced, and challenging squad for the league and in Europe in the coming season.

Also Read: Euro 2016: Underutilised XI of the tournament

Tottenham have already signed last season's top scorer in the Eredivisie, Vincent Janssen from AZ Alkmaar and Victor Wanyama from Southampton adding more firepower up front and stability in midfield. They are now reportedly close to signing 21-year-old French U21 international Georges-Kevin Nkoudou from Marseille.

Background
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou joined the youth academy of Petits Anges in 2006, before going through the academies of EST Solitaire Paris next season and Paris St. Germain for the period 2008-10. He then joined AC Boulogne-Billancourt for a season before finally joining Nantes in 2011.

He graduated from the youth academy of Nantes in 2013 at the age of 18 where he was given a professional contract. He made his Ligue 1 debut on the first matchday of the 2013-14 season as he replaced Serge Gakpe in the last minute of the game against SC Bastia on 11 August 2013. He made 40 appearances for the club in all competitions before joining Olympique Marseille last season.

Strengths
A left winger by nature he can play also on the right as a secondary position. He is a dribbler, his ability to go past players is his biggest strength. He is someone who likes to stay on the wings and provide crosses into the box for the strikers, a traditional winger per se.

He made 38 appearances for Marseille in his debut season scoring 10 times and assisting a further 5 which is not bad a number for a winger, especially at his age. One of the main reasons for Tottenham scouting him is his aggressive nature as a player, he defends from the front loves to tackle players to retrieve the ball from opponents.

Weaknesses
One of his major weakness is his inability to hold the ball, he often lacks the application to his body between the ball and the defender. He has a poor first touch as well, as a result, even on the counter, he loses possession easily which becomes a damping factor in his attacking abilities. He is also weak in aerial duels which means he loses out on long balls and crosses.

Conclusion
He's represented France at the U17, U19, U20 and is currently a U21 international, having made 6 appearances and scoring once in the process. A fast, pacy winger, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou has lots of potential and has the credentials to represent the French National Team someday. Contracted at Marseille till 2020, it's not a surprise his performance has caught the eye of Premier League clubs and Tottenham Hotspurs under Mauricio Pochettino is the right platform for him to continue his development.

 

[indianspur]

One of the main reasons for Tottenham scouting him is his aggressive nature as a player, he defends from the front loves to tackle players to retrieve the ball from opponents.

Pochtastic

Pochfect

 

[AjaxDeSuperYids]

Seeing as we have width already from the full backs, this seems like a last 20 min signing when a hull are parking the bus... Nk stays wide, beats his man and crosses for Janssen and Kane

 

[Gutter Boy]

the black box will never predict how a player performs in training, his mental strength, attitude, ability to fully grasp and implement what Poch wants. So any potential purchase may tick a lot of boxes in advance of making a bid and eventually buying, but all that is useless if the player doesn't impress Poch in training and matches.

Not all signings can be a success, it's impossible. A 50/50 ratio would be quite an achievement imo and as long as we offload the unsuccessful ones quickly and without losing too much money then even better.

With enough data, algorithms can do that.

 

[Baleforce]

With enough data, algorithms can do that.

algorithms can do anything, the trick is having someone smart enough to code them

 

[Nigeyman]

With enough data, algorithms can do that.

I very much doubt that the black box can tell who can and cant be arsed for training on any given day. Or give any indication of someones attitude. It can scoff on as much data as it likes the black box needs to understand that humans are very unpredictable....Complex and more often than not dont follow the head but the heart. Something that the black box wont ever grasp...Anyway poch has spoken to the lad..Just like Victor and Vincent...Looks like Kev is on his way.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Weaknesses
One of his major weakness is his inability to hold the ball, he often lacks the application to his body between the ball and the defender. He has a poor first touch as well, as a result, even on the counter, he loses possession easily which becomes a damping factor in his attacking abilities. He is also weak in aerial duels which means he loses out on long balls and crosses.

What? Then what the hell are we signing him for? Now I'm thoroughly confused.

 

[Nigeyman]

What? Then what the hell are we signing him for? Now I'm thoroughly confused.

Being weak in the air is nothing to worry about. By all accounts he is your traditional winger.So this is a given. Looks like he could be a lennon mk 2. The comment on his control is troubling but we obviously believe he has massive scope for improvement...otherwise as you say,why else would we bother.

 

[Kandi1977]

What? Then what the hell are we signing him for? Now I'm thoroughly confused.

Because if he, in addition to his current strengths, also had an excellent first touch, great ability to shield the ball and hold off players, and was good in the air, he wouldn't cost 12-15 million, he would not have played for Marseille, and he'd be out of our price range. He'd be Paul Pogba.

Sent from outer space

 

[Lost Mango]

I very much doubt that the black box can tell who can and cant be arsed for training on any given day. Or give any indication of someones attitude. It can scoff on as much data as it likes the black box needs to understand that humans are very unpredictable....Complex and more often than not dont follow the head but the heart. Something that the black box wont ever grasp...Anyway poch has spoken to the lad..Just like Victor and Vincent...Looks like Kev is on his way.

Actually individual humans are very predictable and whilst some do change as they mature, most underlying attitudes and behaviours are already hard wired post-teenage.

 

[indianspur]

With enough data, algorithms can do that.

Not before a player signs, not until the buying manager has a chance to personally see and talk to the player in question.

If what you say is true then no transfer would ever be a failure. Clearly this is not the case

 

[El Guepardo]

Being weak in the air is nothing to worry about. By all accounts he is your traditional winger.So this is a given. Looks like he could be a lennon mk 2. The comment on his control is troubling but we obviously believe he has massive scope for improvement...otherwise as you say,why else would we bother.

Except that Lennon's first touch was excellent.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Having a poor first touch didn't stop half the England team becoming internationals.

 

[camspur]

Actually individual humans are very predictable and whilst some do change as they mature, most underlying attitudes and behaviours are already hard wired post-teenage.

They may be predictable but an algorithm still can't say who does or doesn't perform in training on any given day and it would require massive reprogramming every time.

Lamela last season was not the Lamela of the season before did the algorithm predict that?

 

[Gazza]

Doesn't sound promising to be honest.

 

[parklane1]

Because if he, in addition to his current strengths, also had an excellent first touch, great ability to shield the ball and hold off players, and was good in the air, he wouldn't cost 12-15 million, he would not have played for Marseille, and he'd be out of our price range. He'd be Paul Pogba.

Sent from outer space

Spot on and he is only 21 and can improve as a player and will iron out any faults he has. I never understand some fans.

 

[P.D.]

Sounds like our project is maybe a little further along and this player sounds maybe a bit too raw, probably someone we may have signed 1/2 years ago. I think we need players that are already of a higher standard coming in now although long term he does sound good. Worrying about the first touch, generally that's not something that improves a lot with age yet is very important in this league given the pace of it.

 

[Gazza]

Sounds like our project is maybe a little further along and this player sounds maybe a bit too raw, probably someone we may have signed 1/2 years ago. I think we need players that are already of a higher standard coming in now although long term he does sound good. Worrying about the first touch, generally that's not something that improves a lot with age yet is very important in this league given the pace of it.

To play the system that we currently have I can't see how a player with a poor touch can make a go of it, especially in attack.

Pace and aggression should be in addition to having a good first touch.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Because if he, in addition to his current strengths, also had an excellent first touch, great ability to shield the ball and hold off players, and was good in the air, he wouldn't cost 12-15 million, he would not have played for Marseille, and he'd be out of our price range. He'd be Paul Pogba.

Sent from outer space

And Paul Pogba would be someone who would improve our first eleven, and would make for a brilliant signing if it weren't for the 100m pound fee they're asking for and his stonking wages.

He isn't Paul Pogba, but if those described 'weaknesses' are true...then honestly, he seems like someone who presses from the front and has a good cross on him, while being weak in the air, weak with the ball at his feet, weak when trying to hold off players and weak in possession.

It doesn't quite square with what the videos show (basically him weaving through defenders with some good dribbling, which seems antithetical to the idea that his first touch is weak), but if true, then a) we have N'Jie, literally a carbon copy of the above attributes, b) he brings nothing to the table that we don't have in other players as well, namely Chadli and Son, and c) I'd wager that even people less desirous of a seamlessly interchangeable first team squad (@braineclipse, for example - I know braine favors blooding young players we have over buying players just to build a good squad beyond the first eleven/eighteen) wouldn't see this move as significantly more than a sideways step.

Something doesn't add up from publicly available information about this guy. Quite aside from the idea that we would be very well served with some genuinely quality signings who have played and succeeded at the top of the game in order to give us a better shot of success (which is one I personally hold), he just seems like an extremely confusing signing from my perspective. He could be great and that report could be crap, but if it's true, then saying 'he'll improve, he's only 21, he's a good young player' is just a horrible argument to make given that we both have a plethora of such players available (Son, Pritchard, N'Jie et al) and a poor first touch is the exact opposite of what we're allegedly looking for.

Being weak in the air is nothing to worry about. By all accounts he is your traditional winger.So this is a given. Looks like he could be a lennon mk 2. The comment on his control is troubling but we obviously believe he has massive scope for improvement...otherwise as you say,why else would we bother.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping is the case if (and that's a big if) that 'report' is accurate. Otherwise, it seems pointless, and I'd rather stick with N'Jie. Don't get me wrong, I feel like a Lennon Mk2 would be great for giving us squad options - we could go with a more traditional winger to stretch the play while allowing the full-back to either stay back or cut inside, for example. But if that is the case, perhaps we'd be better served by going for an option with a better first touch?

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

There's little point to responding, since you seem to have taken it on yourself to willfully misinterpret whatever I say, but here goes - if someone says that something isn't a universal success, that is not setting a benchmark for what he expects for that thing. It's pointing out a fact, which nevertheless seems to sometimes be forgotten by the more enthusiastic among us.

If I recall correctly, you were someone I talked to a while ago about the success rate of big signings versus cheap ones - my contention was that the biggest transfers of all time (as measured by a relatively arbitrary list on Wiki) had a 66-33 success rate on average, and thus proved at least to some extent that spending big is more of a guarantor of success than not doing so, even though it is by no means foolproof.

I've made no secret of my preference for us to compete at the top end of the table wherever possible in that regard, if those are the manager's primary choices. And yet, I've accepted that such a thing has a 1 in 3 chance of failing. So from where does it occur to you, in your strange, zealous rush to label me whatever comes into your head, that I expect universal success from the black box, a far less expensive proposition? And that I am 'permanently disappointed' by what goes on?

I'd love to see the stats of that if you can find your post, because I am pretty confident that for every successful "big" transfer, I would be able to find a very unsuccessful "big" transfer. Same can be said for any transfer. Re your point on spending big being more of a guarantor of success I just think is wrong. It's effective scouting that will be the difference and getting a player to fit your system, not the price you pay that will be the biggest determinant of whether a player will be successful. There is no causal link between performance and the amount paid on transfer. A huge transfer fee could have just as much of a negative impact on the player.

Also, let's just for a minute assume that there is that causal link. Having a 1 in 3 chance of failing on a big transfer is just something we cannot afford. If "big" is £30m+ signings, then I don't think that we are able to afford to write off £30m for every 3 players we buy. It would be madness.

As for the player Georges, I have no idea as to what type of player he is. However, I have faith that Poch and his team know what they are doing. That is based on the transfers that they have made already. I also have faith in that when they choose to let a player go, it is for good reason. So if they have decided that Clinton is not good enough, then I trust their judgement. Perhaps Clinton is just not settling in and so we are prepared to let him go, despite the player that he could be. It does seem worrying that the write up mentions a poor first touch, but I think there needs to be a bit more context. Our team is quite technical, and at times players like Clinton and Chadli have shown poor first touches themselves. I guess what I am saying here is that I am not going to let one write up of a player by some faceless person on the internet outweigh my faith in Poch and his scouting team.