Mohamed Ihattaren Scouting Report At PSV Eindhoven

PSV’s sensational prodigy Mohamed Ihattaren is quickly gaining fame after months of consistently impressive performances in Eredivisie.

The Netherlands youth international only made his debut with the senior side of PSV last season, coming in very late in the game in a 2-1 home win against Groningen.

He then made a couple more substitute appearances.

Finally, he first started in an away game against Excelsior in fixture 24 of Eredivisie 2018/19.

Despite failing to register a single goal or assist last season, Ihattaren performed magnificently, making good impressions every time he entered the pitch.

This season, Ihattaren is pretty much an ever-present figure in PSV. He has already cemented his place in the first team and is sitting above a few other senior squad members in the pecking order despite still being only 17.

Though PSV is currently struggling with an inconsistent run of form, Ihattaren is still showing his brilliance in every game he plays.

In this tactical analysis/scout report, we will examine Ihattaren’s performance this season and why he should be a player to watch in 2020.

How is he doing so far this season?

Ihattaren has been playing very well and in an impressively consistent manner this season.

The Utrecht-born midfielder has

which is a splendid tally for a 17-year-old who’s currently spending his first full senior season at a rather high level of football.

We’ll examine Ihattaren’s statistics to see how well He has performed in all competitions so far in the 2019/20 season.

Stats, of course, may not give you the full picture of how good of a player he actually is, but they can serve as a preview before we go into more detail in this tactical analysis /scout report.

The Dutch prospect has also recorded a total of 5.2 xG (0.22 per game) and 8.7 (0.36 per game) xA so far, showing that he has managed to get himself high-quality goalscoring chances per game while also fashioning high-quality chances for his teammates.

Passing is key in his game and the stats also show that he’s doing well in this department.

Ihattaren records an average of 43 passes per game with 76% accuracy.

This may not seem like an extraordinary number at first. However, due to his advanced positioning in the game, which means he often has less time and less space to shape up and execute passes comfortably, these numbers are actually very much acceptable.

So far, Ihattaren has also been PSV’s most creative player, creating at least 1.5 goalscoring chances per game and 3.5 key passes (57% success rate) on average.

He ranks third in chance creation, below Steven Bergwijn and Donyell Malen.

However, the 2002-born advanced playmaker ranks first in key passes, with Bergwijn and Ritsu Doan trailing.

Ihattaren also ranks second when it comes to successful dribbles, averaging around 2.8 per game

5.5 per game.

Aside from dribbling, Ihattaren also shows good ability to retain the ball in a 1v1 attacking duel, averaging 10 attacking challenges per game with a success rate of 54%.

He ranks second in this department, once again below Bergwijn, who has also been in monstrous form this season.

The latter registers an average of 14 attacking challenges per game, albeit with a lower success rate of 42%.

Style of play and role in PSV’s tactics

Ihattaren is a technically proficient player with an attacking flair and a high level of creativity, making him ideal for a central advanced midfielder role.

His elegance, explosiveness, technique, and tactical intelligence, despite his rather poor overall physicality, actually make him quite similar to Anderlecht’s Yari Verschaeren—who’s apparently also on the list of many top clubs around Europe.

Ihattaren is exceptionally proficient in playing in tight spaces and under intense pressure.

Although the 1.82m (5’11”) tall midfielder lacks sthe trength to shield the ball and can often visibly be outmuscled by bigger players, he uses his superb touch and ball control, intelligent body orientation, excellent body balance, coordination, and agility as well as explosiveness very well to be able to combine or avoid pressure.

The 17-year-old wonderkid is very effective in his movement.

He tends to try to receive the ball with an open shape by receiving with the inside of his back foot, which allows him to get a greater vision of the pitch and manoeuvre quickly in any other direction.

Of course, this is a prominent sign of his tactical understanding and awareness, which are already at an unbelievably high level for his age.

Ihattaren mostly played as an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation, although he can sometimes be seen playing as a right-winger or a right-central midfielder in a 4-3-3 system.

Despite being played as a central attacking midfielder, Ihattaren tends to sit in the half-space rather than staying central, most often sitting close to the right flank.

You can see his tendency in his positioning from the heatmap below.

From the picture above, you can see that Ihattaren is highly active in the opposition area. He is mainly involved in attack, of course, but he also helps his team press.

Ihattaren is fairly disciplined in maintaining the team’s shape when defending, for example.

When playing as an attacking midfielder, he’d quickly move to the half-space to help his team stay narrow when the ball is on the flank and create an overload on one side.

However, he doesn’t always drop deep when in the defensive phase.

By sitting in the half-space, PSV can create a triangular shape on the wing with Ihattaren and the wide players involved (full-back and winger).

Though PSV’s tactics mainly rely on combination in central areas and around the half-spaces, the flanks are usually where they are the most dangerous due to the sheer pace and technique of their wide players who can deliver the ball into the box from the byline or make a deep penetration before cutting inside and taking a shot or deliver a low, pacey cross across the goal.

Ihattaren is very good at spotting space and his teammates’ runs, which is a testament to his excellent vision and awareness.

Not only that, but his ability to direct, time, and hit his passes with perfect weight is also extremely crucial in his role as the advanced midfielder who often plays the last pass in midfield.

His quick thinking, decision-making, and intelligent positioning are also very important and certainly some of his strongest attributes in the game.

In the picture above, for example, Ihattaren saw the opportunity to receive the ball in a pocket of space and quickly moved into position.

Schwaab spotted him and played the ball towards him.

Ihattaren then received the ball and used his excellent mobility to quickly turn and try to slot one through into space and onto the path of Michal Sadilek, who was driving forward.

He doesn’t even need to take a lot of time to see Sadilek’s run and the space behind the defence, and he doesn’t take a lot of time to think.

It’s as if he already knew what to do next even before the ball was played, making him one step before his opponents.

His smart off the ball movements also prove to be extremely useful in attack.

Ihattaren’s a very clever player.

He’s always focused, aware, always in the game and actively moving, looking for spaces to move into and spaces he can exploit.

As explained previously, he tends to position himself in a pocket of space and receive on the half-turn, but when the ball is in the final third, he likes to arrive late in the box.

Above we can see Ihattaren’s movements when the team are already in the final phase of attack.

In this situation, Ihattaren initially delays his run, allowing Malen to drag the Sporting defender deep. Thus, a gap and space are created around the edge of the box, which Malen exploits.

Ihattaren then utilises his explosiveness, bursts into position, and takes a powerful and accurate first-time shot that goes straight into the gloves of the goalkeeper.

Weaknesses

As mentioned previously, his main weaknesses are his physicality and lack of strength and stamina.

His lack of strength can often be masked by avoiding physical challenges and pressure and relying on using his technical proficiency and tactical intelligence.

His low winning rate in defensive duels (31% from 3.38 attempts) and aerial duels (33% from 1.6 attempts) clearly indicate his lack of physical strength.

When it comes to endurance, there are some indicators that we can see too.

The first one is his body language.

Often after a long-distance run after a transition (attacking or defending), Ihattaren is visibly tired, with his hands on his hips.

Sometimes, when his team loses possession in the opposition half, he also starts his run very slowly, seemingly uninterested in tracking back.

The second one would be his apparent drop in performance in the second half.

As mentioned previously, Ihattaren would occasionally refuse to track back or track back very slowly.

He also seems a bit less interested in contributing and less disciplined in defence, especially in the latter stages of the game.

In a bid to save his energy in a game, Ihattaren tends to be more “calculated” when pressing rather than aggressively running around all the time.

He keeps his distance from a potential passing option and will only start pressing when the ball is played towards him.

Again, using his intelligence despite his lack of physicality.

Conclusion

Ihattaren is truly an amazing player.

One that can definitely grow to be a world-class midfielder someday if developed properly.

The 2002-born prospect is still so young but has shown so much.

2019 has been a brilliant year for Ihattaren’s development, and he can only get better next year.

PSV are currently struggling domestically and in Europe, and the team had to say goodbye to coach Mark van Bommel despite delivering a brilliant campaign last season.

Hopefully, the next man who takes charge will be able to maximise Ihattaren’s ability and realise his potential.

Interest is high for the 17-year-old wonderkid with Barcelona and Chelsea rumoured to be in the race to sign him.

Though it is unlikely for PSV to want to sell Ihattaren in January, we might as well see him in a different jersey in the summer of 2020.

Regardless of where he plays, though, he is definitely one of the most exciting players to watch in 2020.