Since being promoted from the second tier of Belgian football a few years ago, Union Saint-Gilloise have been one of the best teams in Belgium, both to watch and from an on-the-field success perspective. One thing the club owned by Brighton owner Tony Bloom do extremely well is recruit, with Mohamed Amoura another example of the well-run scouting department within the club.
The 23-year-old Algerian forward was signed from Swiss Super League side FC Lugano in the summer for a fee rumoured to be in the region of €4 million. Since signing, the Algerian has hit the ground running in Belgium, with nine goals in 11 appearances domestically. He has started all but one of RUSG’s UEFA Europa League group-stage matches. In contrast, he has started the last three matches domestically, displacing Dennis Eckert Ayensa in the starting XI and beginning to form a partnership with Swedish forward Gustaf Nilsson. This tactical analysis will be a scout report on Mohamed Amoura, analysing the 23-year-old’s strengths, style of play and potential weaknesses, as well as looking at how he has been implemented into the tactics of Alexander Blessin.
Positional overview & style of play
Since arriving at Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer, Mohamed Amoura has typically been deployed up top by Alexander Blessin in the German’s preferred 3-5-2 formation. The 23-year-old Algerian has tended to start on the left side of the front two, with his tendency to drift wide to the left and look to take opposition fullbacks on with his dribbling ability.
The heat map above shows where Amoura tends to find himself when in possession of the ball, with this graphic helping to illustrate the forward’s tendency to drift wide left when in possession. While he may sometimes drop deeper into midfield to support during build-up phases of play, the 23-year-old tends to stay higher up the pitch, with his pace and 1v1 ability a weapon in quick transitional moments. Amoura excels in these moments when RUSG are playing against a side that tends to hold a high defensive line, with it common for Blessin’s side to look and exploit Amoura’s quickness up top.
Though he prefers to drift wide in attacking phases of play, this is not to say that the Algerian forward does not also excel in central areas. Amoura only stands at 5’6″ tall, but he still displays somewhat of an aerial presence. In recent matches domestically, Blessin has also opted to start with Amoura instead of bringing him off the bench, with Dennis Eckert Ayensa dropping to the bench in the Algerian’s place. The introduction of Amoura into the starting XI has also allowed RUSG the ability to more easily break through opposition defences at times, with the forward’s pace allowing him to make darting runs behind opposition defenders and allow Blessin’s side more success at penetrating opposition sides who tend to sit in a low block defensively against them.
This leads us to Amoura’s off-the-ball movements, with the Algerian forward being excellent in this aspect of his game. These darting runs behind opposition defenders from different angles has brought another dimension to this Union Saint-Gilloise side, with these movements allowing Amoura to form a good partnership with 26-year-old Swedish striker Gustaf Nilsson. The 6’6″ forward offers a much different skill set to the Algerian, with Nilsson looking to drop into pockets in the midfield and either hold the ball up and allow time for runners to get beyond him, or flick the ball on into the space behind opposition defences, something that meshes well with what Mohamed Amoura excels at. As this scout report will show, these are just a couple of reasons why Alexander Blessin has turned Mohamed Amoura into a key player for his side.
Dribbling ability
The first thing that this scout report will look at in regards to Mohamed Amoura is the Algerian’s ability to take opposition defenders on 1v1. In all competitions for Union Saint-Gilloise this season, Amoura has averaged 8.4 dribbles per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 52.2%. This average per 90 minutes ranks 6th among all players in the Belgian Pro League, highlighting his strength in this area of his game.
The data viz graphic above shows the dribbles and other actions of Mohamed Amoura in all competitions for RUSG this season when he is in possession in the final third area. As we can again see from this graphic, the Algerian favours the left side of the pitch when he drifts away from his central starting position. Inside the attacking third of the pitch, Amoura becomes very dangerous with the ball at his feet, though one potential weakness in his dribbling is his consistency with being successful at completing them. With a success percentage of just over 50%, the 23-year-old would be even more dangerous if he were to improve this number. The following examples show some instances of how his dribbling has been utilised by Alexander Blessin to create quality attacking chances.
This image above from a recent match against Cercle Brugge shows an example of Amoura’s dribbling in action. In this phase of play above, the ball is in possession of RUSG’s Finnish wingback Casper Terho. The opposition are looking to lock the ball to the touchline, with essentially the entire Cercle Brugge team shifting onto this near side. Amoura has already come wide from his more central position, with the 23-year-old finding a pocket of space in the wide channel.
His movement allows him to make himself an option for Terho to pass to, with the only other option to play long and give the ball back to Cercle Brugge. The Algerian glances and is able to see the defender behind him, looking to put immediate pressure on him as he receives possession. So, instead of receiving possession with his back to goal, Amoura dummies the ball, with this allowing him the space to turn the defender and get away from him into the space, with Amoura able to get back onto the loose ball and drive into the opposition’s penalty area.
The image above shows another good example of Mohamed Amoura’s close control and dribbling ability, this time from their UEFA Europa League match away in France to Toulouse. In this attacking phase of play for RUSG, Amoura receives the ball and is faced up with one of the Toulouse centre-backs. What this figure is able to illustrate is the close control to go along with the dribbling, as the pass played into Amoura from the midfielder is sent in with a bit of pace.
The Algerian forward is able to take the ball under control with the outside of his right foot, essentially stopping the ball in front of him. The 23-year-old angles his run to make it look like he was planning to take the initial touch and drive into the gap between the fullback and centre-back, but he instead is able to quickly change directions and cut inside after getting the pass under control. As a result, the Toulouse defender’s momentum continues to send him towards the outside, essentially allowing Amoura the ability to cut inside and drive into the penalty area, where he finds himself in a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper.
In this instance, the Toulouse goalkeeper does well to anticipate this and gets off his line fast, putting Amoura off and saving the ensuing shot from the 23-year-old. However, this is still able to illustrate the moments of magic that Mohamed Amoura is capable of, with the forward creating a chance out of nothing due to his close control and dribbling.
Another benefit that Amoura displays in 1v1 moments that helps to compliment his dribbling is the turn of pace that the Algerian displays. In this attacking phase in the figure above against Gent, the turn of pace from Amoura helps him to get past the defender, while his close control and dribbling allows him to keep the ball close.
The 23-year-old also displays a very good change of direction in this figure, with Amoura showing inside to get the defender off balance before using a burst of acceleration to get around the defender on the outside. This is something that Amoura does often, so it could be considered his trademark move on defenders. With Gent playing a back three, his movement also drags the centre-back into a position he does not want to occupy, with the Gent wingback caught high up the pitch.
After getting around the defender on the outside, the Algerian is able to drive towards the endline before sending a cut-back pass centrally, looking to find the onrushing attackers. As this section has been able to illustrate, all of these factors together make Mohamed Amoura a real danger for opposition sides when he is allowed time and space with the ball at his feet.
Shot selection and composure in front of goal
When it comes to shot selection and composure in front of goal, the Algerian forward has shown since his arrival in Belgium that he has the capability to be a double-digit scorer consistently. In Amoura’s second full season in Switzerland with FC Lugano (2022/23), the 23-year-old managed 10 goals for Lugano in 36 appearances in all competitions. So far, Amoura has managed nine goals for Union Saint-Gilloise in all competitions, and there is still over half the season left to go in Belgium.
Looking at the statistics, the 23-year-old has averaged just over four shots per game for RUSG in all competitions this season, with 56.8% of these shots being on target. The 23-year-old actually possesses the highest total shots per 90 minutes in the Pro League this season while also having the third-highest shots-on-target percentage.
The data viz graphic above shows the shots for Amoura this season, with the Algerian totalling 44 shots this season for the Belgian side. As we can see from the graphic, the 23-year-old has a rather favourable shot selection, with only 8 of these total shots coming from outside the penalty box, and one of those resulted in a goal. Amoura looks to get into good positions before attempting shots, something that is able to display his tendency to not just give possession away cheaply by taking shots from distance or whenever an opportunity presents itself.
The figure above shows an example of Mohamed Amoura’s shot selection, with this shot resulting in a goal against RWDM. In this attacking phase of play, the Algerian forward receives possession in a wider position with the outside of his right foot, essentially stopping the ball dead and allowing him to take a touch inside with his left before shifting the ball back onto his right. The opposition centre-back drops off, which allows the forward the time and space to line up a shot from the edge of the area. The ensuing shot from Amoura is bent into the far corner, away from the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The image above shows another example of the shot selection and composure in front of goal that Mohamed Amoura has demonstrated this season. In this phase of play from their last league match against Cercle Brugge, the Algerian is in on goal after receiving a ball over the top after sitting on the shoulders of the Cercle Brugge defensive line. After taking the ball down and controlling possession, the 23-year-old was able to drive into the penalty box with the defenders bearing down on him.
This is where Amoura is able to display a good deal of composure, with the 23-year-old forward able to slot the ball into the far corner past the onrushing Warleson in the Cercle Brugge goal. This example is able to display the full package that Amoura displays in front of goal for Union Saint-Gilloise. As this section has been able to show, while Mohamed Amoura is not the finished product from a goal scoring perspective, he has improved under the tutelage of Alexander Blessin. The 23-year-old Algerian forward has already displayed the qualities that he possesses in front of goal often this season, one that makes him a potential player to watch out for from a goalscoring perspective over the course of the rest of this Belgian Pro League season.
Off-the-ball movements & positioning up top
The last thing we will look at in regards to Mohamed Amoura is the forward’s off-the-ball movements and positioning up top, with this arguably one of the strongest traits in the Algerian game. As mentioned earlier in this analysis, Amoura has been able to form somewhat of a strong partnership with Gustaf Nilsson up top, with the two players skill sets complementing each other well.
He also offers a different dynamic to Eckert Ayensa, with the German forward falling somewhere in between both Nilsson and Amoura in regards to style of play. The Algerian is able to bring more dynamic movements up top and off the ball, with the 23-year-old able to play on the last line and make darting runs into wide channels and in behind the defence. This partners well with what Nilsson brings to the table, with the tall Swedish striker looking to hold play up and allow players to run beyond him.
The image above shows an example of Mohamed Amoura’s off-the-ball movements, with his constant ability to make darting runs looking to cause trouble for opposition defences. In this phase of play from a recent domestic match against Gent, the 23-year-old forward looks to reinvent his run to create a passing lane for the Union Saint-Gilloise midfielder to look to find. Though Amoura finds himself positioned between three Gent defenders, the Algerian forward does well to make a run off the blind side of the front post defender, with this darting run going into the space between the Gent defenders and goalkeeper.
He holds off on making the run for a long period of time, with this then keeping the defenders at home and stuck in two minds, as they do not want to step out to engage and risk playing Amoura onside for an easy through pass in behind. Unfortunately, the attempted through pass has too much weight on it, with the goalkeeper able to claim the pass before Amoura can get onto the end of it. This still is able to demonstrate the movements that Mohamed Amoura looks to make, as well as his ability to pin opposition defences back and open up space for midfielders to move into more advanced positions.
Along with the darting runs and tendency to drift wide, another thing that Amoura tends to do off of the ball is look to stay on the shoulders of the last defenders, with the Algerian typically the furthest player forward for RUSG in either build-up or defensive phases of play. Though he does not typically start with Eckert Ayensa, in this recent Europa League match against LASK, the 23-year-old was paired with the German up top from the start.
However, notice how Eckert Ayensa is looking to drop into pockets of space in midfield, with Amoura staying high and keeping the LASK backline honest and at home. Due to Amoura’s position when Union Saint-Gilloise have possession and are building, it forces opposition defences back, with Amoura essentially pinning them in and not allowing them to push up and limit the space between the lines. This positioning allows Eckert Ayensa to be free in a pocket of space between the lines, with the German striker in an advanced position for the ball to be played vertically to him.
As this section has been able to show, Mohamed Amoura offers a lot as well to Alexander Blessin when it comes to his positioning and movements off the ball. As the Belgian Pro League continues to progress, make sure to keep an eye on how Amoura looks to play out of possession with this Union Saint-Gilloise side.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis and scout report has shown, Mohamed Amoura has turned himself into a key player for Alexander Blessin since his arrival at Union Saint-Gilloise from FC Lugano in the summer. He has evolved in his position and role, with the German tactician surely playing a part in how well the Algerian is playing and the current form he finds himself in. Amoura is already playing against Liverpool in the Europa League, but with RUSG at the top of the Belgian Pro League, there is a chance the 23-year-old forward may be playing UEFA Champions League football this time next season.
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