Scout report on PSV winger Zakaria Bakkali, one of the brightest talents playing in the Eredivisie.
- By Sid Chaurasiya
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There’s no dearth of talents in the goldmines of Eredivisie. Countless number of now World Class players, first plied the trade in Netherlands. Another bright prospect who may well continue this tradition is the 17 year old PSV Eindhoven winger, Zakaria Bakkali, who many consider to be the next big thing in the making, going as far as considering him as the best in his age group. On 11th August 2013, he became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the history of Eredivisie, breaking the record of former PSV player, Arjen Robben.
Background:
Bakkali is a Belgian of Moroccan descent and he still owns a Moroccan passport which makes him eligible to play for either- Belgium or Morocco. Born and brought up in Liege, he joined the R.F.C. de Liege at the age of 7 before moving to one of Belgium’s major clubs, Standard de Liege when he was 9 years old. Seeing his progress at Standard de Liege, Eredivisie giants, PSV Eindhoven signed this promising 12 year old. It didn’t take long for Bakkali to show his true potential as he was voted the Best player in the Nike Cup 2011 at the age of 15. Manchester City were highly impressed with his performance in the Nike Cup and had almost signed him only for Bakkali to reject the offer as his father felt staying in Netherlands will be the better option for his development. Bakkali has represented Belgium national team at every youth level, scoring prolifically. His performance against Zulte Waregem earned him a call up from the Belgium national team to face France, (at the age of 17!) only to be withdrawn later due to an injury.
Scout Report:
Bakkali is primarily a winger but can double up as a striker as and when required. Equally comfortable with both the feet, he has a really sweet right foot. He was usually deployed on the left wing for the PSV youths, which allowed him to cut inside and shoot with his aforementioned sweet right boot but for the PSV first team, he usually starts at the right wing with another high rated winger, Memphis Depay, on the left.
This 17 year old winger, has glimpses of Eden Hazard in him. Standing at 5’5”, he covers the ground very quickly thanks to his short stature and blistering pace. He is gifted with great body balance and excellent acceleration, which allows him to take on any fullbacks easily. His dribbling abilities are already top notch,almost flawless. He alone completed 8 dribbles vs NEC Nijmegen, mind you, the whole of NEC completed 4 dribbles in that game. His style of play induces the defenders to take out a lazy foot and help him win a foul. This is highlighted by the fact that he wins a foul every 36.83 mins in Eredivisie. His change of pace and extremely skillful nature makes it very difficult for the defenders to catch hold of him. Bakkali casually skipping past vastly experienced defenders has become a common sighting for any Eredivisie enthusiasts. He’s also a very good crosser of the ball, attempting a cross every 15.78 mins, with a cross accuracy of 42.8%. He is also a decent set piece taking option especially for corner routines.
Like all the modern wingers, Bakkali loves to cut inside and have a go from long range. His lethal shooting technique and finishing make him a complete goal scoring package. He has scored 3 goals in Eredivsie this season from only 5 attempted shots. The Belgian youth international, never hurries into attempting a pass. Always looks around for the options before making a pass. His wise head and clear thought process plays a big part in his passing, an attribute for which he has credited, Mark Van Bommel for helping him. He has a good variety of passes in his arsenal for a 17 year old, also averaging an impressive 91% passing accuracy in Eredivisie this season. Quick one touch passing has become a hallmark of Cocu’s young side and Bakkali is perfect for such brand of football. Zakaria, always looks to be involved, always willing to make quick one-twos with his teammates as shown in the image.
Here, having received the ball from Adam Maher, the defenders try to close Bakkali (circled) down but he quickly passes it on to the overlapping right-back, Arias.
What’s beautiful to see is the ease with which he can thread a defence splitting through ball or pass, and what’s more to it is how frequently he manages to execute such difficult passes. An example of it is shown by the following image.
Bakkali (circled), notices the empty space and at the same time notices the run made by his team mate and passes it on shown by the blue arrow. It only indicates the exemplary vision that he possesses to complete such passes at the age of 16. Continuing on his immaculate vision, another graphic showing this particular attribute.
Aware of the run made by his teammate, Bakkali (circled) plays it through with ease.
As mentioned earlier, Bakkali is a perfect fit for quick one-twos and here’s why. Receiving the ball, he (circled) passes it on to his teammate and then swiftly moves to the space, highlighted by the black arrow, anticipating a quick return.
Zakaria is positive and comfortable on the ball and is rarely seen in clumsy position. He isn’t fussed about having defenders hanging around his shoulders, he simply outpaces most of them. The PSV winger is always on the move, you can see him throughout, moving around, looking out for vacuums spaces on the pitch, calling out for balls from the deep. Along with bamboozling defenders with his slick tricks and sheer pace, his awareness helps him in entering potential goal scoring areas like shown in the image.
Bakkali (circled), makes a perfect run, allowing him to move into a possible goal scoring position. Its very common phenomena of his playing style, always aware of whats happening around him.
Although he has a short height, its difficult to tackle him because of his sudden burst of speed and tricky play. Bakkali is that sort of player that you will enjoy watching day in day out, he is an absolute delight to watch. Still raw, but its quite visible how much talent he has whenever one sees him on the pitch. The 3rd goal he scored vs NEC was a pure piece of magic. Skipping past right back, Bovenberg, sudden change of pace to leave centre back Breuer behind before beautifully curling the ball into top corner from inside the box. It takes a special talent to carry out such things on the pitch. Bakkali’s first touch is clean and can effortlessly control the ball most of the times. He is also fairly creative, executing a key pass every 37 mins.
Defensively, Bakkali doesn’t offer as much protection as one would have liked. His work-rate is fairly decent. It won’t be surprising to see Cocu use park Ji-Sung on the right midfield to counter Bakkali’s defensive contribution or the lack of it, who even at the age 32 offers incredible work ethics. One of his drawbacks is that he over-complicates simple things, he tends to over do stuff which isn’t required. He, himself has admitted that he still has to learn to keep things simple. Bakkali, like most of the young wingers, gets dispossessed often. Also, he tends to take one touch too many at times, often resulting in loss of possession. Concentration can also be a problem when things aren’t going his way.
Though, most of these drawbacks can be blamed to the lack of experience and he is only going to learn and improve with more games at higher level and with proper guidance.
Belgium are witnessing their golden generation and they will be hoping this teenage sensation selects them over Morocco. Hosts of elite clubs are rumored to be interested in signing him with well renowned scout and close ally of Roman Abramovich, Piet de Visser, personally scouting him though there are also rumors of Bakkali signing an extension once he turns 18. Irrespective of where he will in near future, he’s sure to light up the world stage.
All stats accurate as on 20th Sept,2013.
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