Talking about youth academies in France, Caen may not be talked about that much compared to Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon, Rennes, and Lens, for example. However, Caen are also quite prolific in producing and developing incredibly talented players through their youth academy and this has been the case since long ago. The likes of William Gallas, Jérôme Rothen, and Bernard Mendy came through Caen’s youth academy before making impressing in the senior team and then making their big moves. Borussia Dortmund’s Raphaël Guerreiro, Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar, and Rennes’ M’Baye Niang were also Caen’s academy graduates who worked their way up and signed for top teams in Europe’s top-flight leagues in recent years.
One of the recent academy graduates who seems very promising and looks set for a big move in the near future is Jessy Deminguet. The 1998-born midfielder is not exactly a new name in the game. Deminguet made his debut for Caen against Marseille in Ligue 1 on 5 November 2017. Deminguet was still a rotational player in 2018/19 with Caen but during the latter stages of Ligue 1, he played more regularly. Now in 2019/20, Deminguet managed to cement his place in the team, racking up a total of 2,086 minutes of playing time this season. He has also scored five goals and made two assists this season, his highest ever tally with the first-team.
In this scout report, we’re going to take a closer look at Deminguet’s abilities and his role in Caen’s tactics through an in-depth tactical analysis as well as using a few statistics to match the eye test.
Style of play and role in Caen’s tactics
Upon watching Deminguet play, he struck me as someone who has high energy, impressive game intelligence, as well as good technical ability. His positioning and movements are very dynamic and his work rate is extremely impressive. Deminguet can be found roaming from one side to another, dropping deep to receive the ball in front of his backline, and even floating around the edge of the box looking to receive the ball and then take a shot or playing the killer pass (or drive into the box first before taking his action).
Deminguet has been used in a variety of positions this season, from playing as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder, wide midfielder, winger, and attacking midfielder. He can play on either side of the field but most often deployed on the right side. His tendency to move to the right side of the pitch can be seen in the heatmap above. Even as a central or attacking midfielder Deminguet can be seen roaming around and leaving his designated spot and position himself on the right half-space or flank.
In the last few games, Deminguet is often deployed as a left central midfielder in a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 formation. Caen’s central midfielders are allowed flexibility and freedom with their movements thus the central midfielders can also be found sitting wide on the flank whilst the wingers sit in central channels.
Caen usually start from the back with a short distribution from the goalkeeper although oftentimes can also be seen starting long instead. If they’re starting from the back, they’ll create a back-three in two ways: first, with one of the full-backs (usually ball-near full-back) staying deep while the other one sits a bit higher or the second way, the defensive midfielder drops and sits in between or beside the two centre-backs. Usually, they’ll have a single pivot sitting in front of the back-three. Deminguet has the tendency to get involved heavily in the build-up by dropping deep, demanding the ball, and then commencing a progressive run or playing a progressive pass. However, Pascal Dupraz’s Caen are very direct and if the backline is pressured or if there are no nearby options available, they’ll immediately launch the ball forward instead of playing through the pressure and working their way through the block.
Deminguet tends to float around in the space between the opposing midfield and defensive lines and tend to try to position himself in the channels and receive the ball there.
Though he often roams from one box to another, the dynamic midfielder doesn’t enter either box often.
This is because Deminguet doesn’t seem to try to make runs in behind the defence often. In the final third, he actively moves and asks for the ball. He’s keener on receiving the ball in front of the opposing backline to create goalscoring chances for himself and his teammates as well as help the team penetrate the box via quick short combination play rather than entering the box and being the passing target himself. Statistically, he averages only 1.09 touches inside the box. Though the number is small, he does show good positioning and when necessary, he can be found in the right place and at the right time inside the opposition box. This will be explained later in this scout report.
Deminguet tends to float around in the space between the opposing midfield and defensive lines and tend to try to position himself in the channels and receive the ball there.
Though he often roams from one box to another, the dynamic midfielder doesn’t enter either box often.
This is because Deminguet doesn’t seem to try to make runs in behind the defence often. In the final third, he actively moves and asks for the ball. He’s keener on receiving the ball in front of the opposing backline to create goalscoring chances for himself and his teammates as well as help the team penetrate the box via quick short combination play rather than entering the box and being the passing target himself. Statistically, he averages only 1.09 touches inside the box. Though the number is small, he does show good positioning and when necessary, he can be found in the right place and at the right time inside the opposition box. This will be explained later in this scout report.
Caen tend to defend with a mid-high block. They seem to be quite flexible in their approach and tend to use a combination of man and passing lane-oriented approach in defence. The lone striker upfront will close down the ball carrier, usually while making an arcing run to block his lateral passing lane and steer him towards the flank. Above you can see Deminguet (red circle) pushing forward and keeping distance with the opposing playmaker whilst also anticipating if a pass is played into the block.
Though in defence Caen tend to press quite high up the pitch; in defensive transitions, they tend to have only one or two men (usually nearest to the ball) pressing the ball to slow down the attacker while the others get back to their respective positions.
Deminguet is highly active and disciplined in defence and in defensive transitions. He’s quick to press his man and his aggressive approach can give his opponent a lot of trouble on the ball. Though he’s often involved in advanced areas, he’ll track back quickly when the team is in transition and will press the ball carrier if he’s near him.
He has a good reading of the game and quite ‘clever’ in defence, often nicking the ball off an unaware opponent from behind. In the image above, for example, Grenoble were trying to launch a counter-attack and the ball carrier is immediately pressured by the nearest Caen player. The ball carrier’s body reveals that he’s going to take a touch to his right and Deminguet read it. He accelerated and got to the ball first (see the second image) and his team recover possession again.
The Lisieux-born midfielder is very active in defence, especially in and around the middle third. He shows determination and commitment in defence, quickly tracking back and chasing the ball as well as covering space if needed.
He’s aggressive and never afraid to engage physically and get stuck into his challenges. His excellent defensive awareness and reading of the game help him position himself in the right place and the right time. Meanwhile, his high level of endurance allows him to maintain his intensity throughout the game.
For a player that spends the majority of his game in advanced areas and focusing mostly on helping the team build-up, progress the ball, and create chances – Deminguet’s defensive stats are pretty impressive. Deminguet has an average of 6.4 defensive duels per game, showing his willingness to get involved in defence and engage with his opponent defensively. His 50.3% defensive duels success is quite decent and it certainly indicates that he’s pretty effective defensively.
Deminguet also averages 4.99 recoveries per game and 48.4% of them are inside the opposing half. 2.55 out of the 4.99 recoveries per game were made via counter-pressing which shows how effective he can be in this situation although the team don’t seem to rely much on counter-pressing but tending to sit back and recover as mentioned earlier in this analysis.
And lastly, his 3.42 interceptions (possession-adjusted: 4.65) per game also indicates his ability to position himself in the right place and the right time and ability to read the game. His great defensive awareness and quick reactions certainly affect him positively as well in this particular area.
All-around impressive physicality
Deminguet is 1.78 m tall and weighs 74 kg. He has a medium build with decently-developed upper and lower muscles. He seems to be a naturally fit and athletic player who possesses great physical prowess. Deminguet is pacey, strong, agile, well-coordinated, and energetic. His all-around impressive physicality certainly supports his role as a highly dynamic midfielder and it gives him lots of advantages on and off the ball.
Deminguet has decent upper body strength. He fares pretty well in physical duels due to his strength. On the ball, Deminguet is quite good at using his body to protect the ball and hold off his defender. Though it’s not impossible to shrug him off the ball, Deminguet’s strength and balance on the ball make it a tad bit difficult for his opponent to push him off the ball and dispossess him. Off the ball, his strength helps him win defensive duels to regain possession or at least to give the opposing ball carrier some trouble on the ball.
The 1998-born midfielder also possesses great mobility and balance. He has great body coordination and control that allows him to manoeuvre easily on and off the ball while anchoring him to the ground and keeping him on his feet. Coupled with his strong upper body makes him a pretty difficult player to knock off the ball when in possession as even when challenged, he can still stay on his feet and glide past his opponent. He doesn’t struggle to rotate his hips and turn over his shoulder as well.
Deminguet also possesses a respectable amount of pace. While he’s not extremely sharp, he’s quick enough over short, medium, or long-range distances to beat his opponents or track back and cover space. His fantastic athleticism and strong legs allow him to accelerate and reach his top speed quickly. And in addition, his high level of endurance allows him to maintain his speed over the long-range which makes him very useful in both offensive and defensive transitions.
Earlier in this scout report, we saw Deminguet’s heatmap throughout this season and there you could see his impressive work rate. He’s very energetic and covers an outstanding amount of area on the pitch and he can be seen generating a lot of activities inside both halves. He actively presses and engages in physical duels. He also actively moves up and down and from side to side. He has shown to be able to maintain his intensity throughout the full 90 minutes as well which is quite impressive knowing that he works very hard throughout the game. Naturally though, during the latter stages of the game, fatigue does seem to affect his performance a bit, although not significantly.
Combination of great technical ability and excellent tactical awareness
Deminguet is proficient on the ball and shows good overall technical ability. Furthermore, he also shows good decision making and quick thinking on the ball as well as impressive awareness and vision.
In the image above, Deminguet can be seen scanning and checking his surroundings before receiving the ball. He does this both in defence and in attack. As indicated by the blue dotted line in the image above, Deminguet dropped slightly to get out of his opponent’s cover shadow and make himself available for a pass.
Deminguet tends to try to receive with his back foot and open his body in order to get a good vision of the field. He seems comfortable receiving with either foot. His agility allows him to adjust his body and turn quickly right after receiving the ball, while his decent upper body strength also allows him to hold off his defender and keep the ball despite being pressured. His strength on the ball may come in handy as Deminguet often finds himself immediately pressured and doesn’t get a lot of time and space to turn in the final third when he receives the ball, so holding off his defender and playing wall passes/laying the ball off to his teammate may be the best option.
Deminguet predominantly controls the ball and leads his dribbles with his left although when forced he’s not afraid to use his right as well. His touch is usually pretty neat and he rarely loses control of the ball when receiving even when the pass is a tad bit too sharp.
The 22-year-old midfielder is clearly a direct type of dribbler, not exactly a technical one. Though the technique he uses when dribbling doesn’t vary much, he still displays proficiency when it comes to controlling the ball and his body. Opponents tend to defend tightly against him knowing that he’s not really a tricky nor very explosive dribbler. However, Deminguet is often able to use his strength to hold off his man whilst slowly turning and gliding past him as in the image above.
He doesn’t dribble often in a game, averaging only 2.62 dribbles per game with a pretty decent success rate of 50.8%. His low number of dribbles may be due to his tendency to pass instead of dwelling on the ball and trying to take on opponents. He mainly will carry the ball forward if he finds himself isolated and under pressure though, but mostly passing the ball is usually the first thing in his head.
His offensive duels, however, are quite high, averaging 8.78 offensive duels per game with 36.2% success rate. As mentioned before, Deminguet often finds himself immediately pressured and doesn’t get a lot of time and space to turn in the final third when he receives the ball, so this certainly contributes to the high number of offensive duels per game. Of course, it’s also highly difficult to keep the ball in a high-pressure environment so the low amount of success rate in his offensive duels certainly doesn’t immediately indicate that his lack of ball-retention ability.
Above is Deminguet’s pass maps from three different games this season. Against Châteauroux and Grenoble, Deminguet played as a
left central midfielder (though he seems to act more like a #10 in the Châteauroux match). Meanwhile, he played as a right-winger against Chambly. As mentioned before, he does get involved a lot in both deeper and advanced areas. A lot of his passes are forward passes and as you can see, he has the tendency to play the ball towards the flank from the half-space; usually giving the ball towards the winger or an overlapping full-back. Passes into the box are also not rare to see although not a lot of them successfully find the intended target.
Deminguet registers an average of 33.4 passes per game with an accuracy of 83.3% which is quite good considering he most often plays in advanced areas where it may be quite difficult to play accurate passes due to lack of time and space and more pressure. He also averages 8.82 forward passes per game with a success rate of 71.2%. The success rate is understandably high due to the fact that the majority of them are short (0-20m) and relatively safe forward passes. Lastly, the young Frenchman has an average of 0.67 deep completions and 0.32 key passes per game. Relatively low compared to other Ligue 2 players in a similar position which may indicate that creating chances via penetrative passes into the box is an ability Deminguet is yet to master, however, he still shows good initiative in the final third but perhaps need to be more precise in his execution.
Deminguet’s tendency to look up and around prior to receiving the ball and right when the ball arrives at his feet not only allows him to have a good awareness of his surroundings, but it also helps him make better and quicker decisions, making him one, two, or three steps ahead of his opponents.
He doesn’t just decide to play the ball towards the first and obvious passing option he sees without looking for other better options.
In the image above, for example, Deminguet drove forward with the ball and lifted his head up to take a quick look before making and executing his decision. He saw the striker’s run in the middle but he also saw that the opposing defender was going to trap him offside. Deminguet instead passed the ball onto the path of the onrushing winger on the right flank (not in frame) and his team ultimately managed to continue the counter-attack without slowing down or being caught offside.
Another part of his game worth looking at is his ball-striking ability. Firstly, let’s take a look at his shot map below.
Deminguet is quite proficient in long-range shots. In total, this season Deminguet has attempted a total of 25 shots with 44% of them being on target. 15 of his shots were from outside the box and six (40%) of them were on target. Meanwhile, the other 10 were from inside the box with five (50%) of them being accurate.
Deminguet favours taking a shot with his left and he’ll try to shift the ball into his left foot before shaping up to take a shot. From all 25 attempts, he only makes four shots with his right foot and one with his head.
Most of his shot are from the right side of the goal as in those positions he can make an inside cut to angle his body towards the goal and curl the ball in towards the far post with his left. Meanwhile, from the left side of the goal, he often tries to position his body square to the goal and strike the ball towards the near post with his left but the ball often ends up going straight at the goalkeeper.
Above you can see Deminguet trying to curl one in from outside the box. Often occupying the right side of the field, Deminguet tends to cut inside before playing a killer pass into the box or passing it into space in front of an overlapping teammate. Alternatively, if he has time and space, he’ll try to take a shot instead. Mostly he tries to strike the ball with the inside of his foot although sometimes he also hits his shots with laces depending on the situation, but he very rarely (if ever) shoots with the outside of his foot or with his toe.
His strong core gives him great balance when taking a shot and his impressive agility and coordination allows him to quickly shape his body properly before taking a shot. His great body posture and neat technique allows him to produce a shot with great spin and force to it.
Conclusion
Deminguet is Caen’s versatile playmaker. He has shown to be able to play in numerous positions and roles but proved to be most effective as a #8 or as a #10.
Deminguet possesses impressive athleticism and this gives him quite a lot of advantages in his role. Furthermore, his overall technical ability on the ball is nothing but excellent. He always plays with his heart but also have a cool head and high football IQ. He’s hard-working, determined, and shows a lot of aggression in the game, but he seems to be able to control his temper pretty well.
The 22-year-old midfielder has enjoyed a fantastic season with Caen this season although Dupraz and his men would surely have wanted to finish in a much higher position. Currently only Ligue 1 side Nice are rumoured to have a concrete interest in Deminguet while Rennes, Lyon, and Montpellier are also thought to have been keeping tabs on the talented midfielder. The French midfielder’s contract runs until 30 June 2023 but still may be available for a relatively low fee.
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