Josip Juranović who delivered a solid performance in the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Croatia has received plenty of positive publicity in the wake of the tournament, and he has now joined Union Berlin — the team occupying third place in the Bundesliga at the time of writing.
In this tactical analysis, in the form of a scout report, we will look at Josip Juranovic’s style of play in-possession and out-of-possession.
He was born on August 16th 1995 in Zagreb. He spent his youth career with Dubrava and Croatia Sesvete. The Croatian has gained fame as a right-back for Hajduk Split, Legia Warszawa, Celtic, and the Croatia national team, among others.
He signed a five-year deal with Celtic FC in 2021 before quickly establishing himself as a first-team player, helping The Hoops to win the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in his first season with the club.
In 2021, The 27-year-old player was called up to the Croatian national team, making his debut in a match against Cyprus. He has since become a regular player for the national team and then played a big role in Croatia’s reaching the world cup semi-final and will likely be a key player for Croatia in the upcoming tournaments.
Player Profile
Juranović is a right-back and a versatile defender. He is known for his aerial ability and physicality, as well as his ability to read the game and make important tackles and interceptions. He is also a leader on and off the field and is known for his work ethic and commitment to training and improvement.
The 27-year-old retains the width for his side through positional discipline and powerful runs down the flank. From the right-back position in Celtic’s structures, Josip Juranović contributes to all phases of possession.
The above 2022/23 touch and heat map display Juranović’s desire to get up and down the flank, helping his team at both ends of the pitch — and the ability to play as a left-sided defender at times as well.
Juranović’s energy from the right-hand side of the pitch in Celtic’s 4-3-3 was one of the main reasons for their success in winning the league last season.
The speedy progressive man
Juranović is 173cm | 5’8″ and contributes a lot of energy to his team with and without the ball. He seemed to use one-twos or third-man combinations to bypass the opponents through progressive passes and carries.
During both the build-up and the progression phases, Josip Juranović has a significant role by getting involved in combinations and using his speed.
When playing out from the back, the full-backs typically open an extra passing lane from a higher position but sometimes stay in the first line of the penetration which can provide a different dynamic, at times, for the opponents to face.
He usually uses his worthy acceleration for overlapping or underlapping — and bypassing the opponent’s defensive lines as quickly as possible. Below, During the game against FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League, his off-the-ball run on the outside helped Celtic to progress his team into the opposition’s half via the third-man combination shown.
Meanwhile, in the below example from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, while Croatia faced Belgium, Juranović performed a one-two combination with Luka Modrić as the right-back underlapped, bypassing three players from Belgium and generating the necessary space to reach the final third from the wide area.
He also plays a big role in any transition from the right-hand side. Here, against Celtic’s historical rival Rangers, he used his ability to progress the ball forward via a nice one-two combination. Through this move, Celtic succeeded to bypass four players at the same time. Then, the transition became more dangerous.
Juranović’s vision and footwork provide the option of coming infield in possession or dribbling past his opponent. The below graphic illustrates his progressive runs and passes.
A final-third influencer
Juranović is a complete attacking fullback in the final third. He can both overlap and underlap from deep positions, possessing the ability to create from different situations.
Juranović enjoys participating in attacking moments, this season, he’s made 51.69 passes per game with an 84.2% success rate, 1.31 dribbles per 90 (won 65.8%), and when it comes to the final third, he had 0.59 shots per 90 (29.4% success).
Below, while they were stuck out wide in a 3v2 situation, rather than retreating, Juranović recognized the space behind the backline very well and pulled off an effective chipped through pass to the midfielder driving forward into space behind the opposition’s backline from a deep position.
Many elements contribute to a successful overlap or underlap. Having a good understanding with the winger is one vital factor — and Juranović knows this very well. Here, in the below image, he underlapped at a good time, giving his teammate on the ball a good option, and then delivered the ball quickly to the far post while Celtic had the numerical superiority there.
For every full-back, the last moment before the cross is vital to recognise the situation and look for the best solution. Here, After a successful underlap, he got his head up and chipped in an effective cross to put Aaron Mooy in a good goalscoring position.
While keeping the width, Juranović can make early crosses targeting the space behind the opponent’s backline or wait for the players to attack the box and then cross. We can see some instances of this early crossing from the below in-game examples.
The below graphic shows his contributions from the wing and how diverse his crossing can be.
Defensive approach
There is a simple rule in football. Get fat with possession and get skinny without possession, cover the central area to force the opponent to go wide then use the touchline as an extra defender. “The sideline is the best defender you can have” — Vincent Kompany said recently to his players, for example.
The modern full-back can play an important role in the offensive phases, but that does not change the fact that he is ultimately a defender, and thus, defending is a big part of the full-back’s job.
The 27-year-old’s strong running and tenacious personality have enabled him to get stuck in defensively. Below, you can see that while he faced Neymar in the World Cup, he carefully adjusted his body position to force one of the best dribblers in the world to go out before then aggressively pressing him and forcing the ball away.
This defensive territory map below shows how Josip Juranović is versatile in the defensive part of the equation both while defending low and high. He can often cover the entire right flank and the left as needed, making blocks and interceptions.
Juranović this season across all competitions, had 5.04 defensive duels per 90 (won 55.5%), even did minor sliding tackles 0.28 per 90 but won 62.5% and had 1.87 clearances per game.
Aerial duals are considered one of his weaknesses, he had 41 ones and 1.42 per 90 and only won 29.3% of them.
Furthermore, when it comes to the defensive transition, his acceleration provides him with the ability to cover the backline, as the below graphic when Croatia faced the eventual champions shows. Here, he tracked Argentina’s player very well and denied him the opportunity to explode into space beyond Croatia’s backline.
While defending high, Juranović has his impact. Here, against Real Madrid, he read the play sufficiently while Modrić was about to receive and made an important interception, regaining the ball in a high position and beginning an offensive transition for Celtic against the Spanish giants.
Here against Austria, while pressing high, he had to cover the exposed, high defence as the ball from the opponent was played into the vulnerable space behind the elevated backline.
Generally, his high regains illustrate how his acceleration and aggressiveness provide him superiority higher on the field and help his team to force dangerous turnovers in valuable positions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Juranović is a talented and accomplished full-back who will be bright in the Bundesliga with an ambitious Union Berlin side set to face Ajax in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League. We will see if Urs Fischer, the manager of the German team, will manage to integrate the Croatian into his setup quickly. With his passing and progression abilities and capacity to read the game, Juranović will be a good fit for the Bundesliga.
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