On the 23rd of May 2021, Noah Mbamba made his senior Belgian Pro League debut for Club Brugge at the age of just 16, starting against KRC Genk. Just six months later, the young Belgian made his debut in the UEFA Champions League against English powerhouse Manchester City. Since those two debuts, Mbamba has become a squad player for the current Belgian champions, with a majority of his playing time coming with the Club Brugge second team, Club NXT.
Even with limited senior experience under his belt, this did not put German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen off signing the 18-year-old to a pre-contract agreement for the summer when his Club Brugge contract runs out. With that being said, Mbamba has already become a Leverkusen player, with the two clubs agreeing on a fee for him to join now rather than waiting until the summer. This tactical analysis and scout report will take a more in-depth look at the young Belgian’s strengths, as well as assess how he fits into the tactics of manager Xabi Alonso.
Player profile
The young Belgian was normally deployed as a defensive midfielder for Club Brugge but was also sometimes used as a centre-back if the Belgian side opted for a back-three formation.
The image above shows Mbamba’s heat map from this current season, taking into account his time spent playing with both the first team and second team at Club Brugge. As the graphic illustrates, the young Belgian midfielder spends most of his time in and around the central third of the pitch. As previously mentioned, the 18-year-old normally plays as a defensive midfielder. However, he will get involved in the attacking side of the game as well, with Mbamba having three goals and one assist in nine appearances with the Club NXT this season.
The young Belgian is also a ball progressor, with Mbamba looking to get on the ball in these deeper-lying central areas and progress the ball forward into the attacking third. With Club NXT, he normally acted as the fulcrum in the side, being the one to shield the defence, while also helping out in the attack, much like the role Rodri plays under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. It would be unsurprising to see Mbamba play this role under Xabi Alonso, who played for Guardiola at Bayern Munich, when he gets settled into the squad at Bayer Leverkusen.
Quality in defensive duels
During his time with Club NXT, Noah Mbamba normally operated as part of a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 formation. While he would move forward and operate in the attacking half of the pitch, the 18-year-old Belgian midfielder was normally tasked with protecting the back four.
The data viz above shows the defensive territory that Mbamba has covered for Club Brugge in the last couple of seasons. As we can see, most of the defensive territory Mbamba has covered has been in the defensive half of the pitch, which reiterates his role of protecting the defensive line. The majority of Mbamba’s defensive actions and interceptions have occurred in the defensive half, with his average line of engagement being inside the defensive third of the pitch. Throughout his senior career in Brugge, the Belgian is averaging 9.06 defensive duels per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 69.2%.
The image above shows an example of Noah Mbamba’s quality when it comes to defensive duels. In the phase of play above from a recent Belgian second-division match, the young Belgian is operating as part of a double-pivot, with the opposition in possession in the Brugge half. As the opposition player in possession looks to turn and play the pass to his teammate, this allows Mbamba to attempt a tackle on the player. The 18-year-old midfielder can stretch and use his long leg to poke the ball away from the opposition player.
Being that the attacker’s back is turned to him, it would be rather easy for Mbamba to commit a foul in this type of situation. However, the midfielder was perfect with the tackle, winning the ball, but not making contact with the player in the process. This is a crucial strength in Mbamba’s locker, as most young defensive midfielders would likely feel under pressure in this situation and foul the player in the process. This can be credited to the coaching that he received in the Club Brugge system, as well as his experience already playing at the top level in the UEFA Champions League.
The image above shows another example of the quality that Noah Mbamba displays in defensive duels, with his quality in this attribute reminiscent of a player closer to 28 than 18. This phase of play above shows the positioning of the young Belgian midfielder, with him sitting just in front of the Club NXT back four. The opposition were able to get the Club NXT full-back isolated in an overload situation — a 2v1 on his side — and a numbers-even situation when counting all the defenders and attackers.
Mbamba notices this numbers-even situation and moves from his central position to the half-space where the opposition are in possession, now making it a numbers-up situation for Brugge. The 18-year-old is once again able to time his challenge to perfection, tackling the opposition attacker and winning the ball back in this dangerous area for his side. After winning back possession, Mbamba can get his side going on a quick counterattacking sequence.
Above shows another example of Mbamba excelling in a defensive duel from a relatively tough position to not foul as well. In the phase of play above, the opposition centre-back had the ball, with the defender looking to play an advanced pass to the midfielder inside the Brugge defensive half. Mbamba spots this potential passing option and moves onto the back of the midfielder, getting there as the pass is about to be played.
The 18-year-old can use his superior strength to his advantage, nicking the ball away from the midfielder as it reaches him, while also making sure he does not commit a foul. In most situations like this, the referee would likely give a foul in any circumstance, as it almost always looks like the defender makes contact with the opposition player. However, in this instance, Mbamba does well to win the ball and not the man. He also knows exactly where he wants the ball to go, with the Belgian knocking the ball into the path of the Club Brugge wide player who has dropped, noticing the situation developing.
As this section has illustrated, Noah Mbamba’s defensive qualities are quite impressive for a player of his young age. The 18-year-old did have a quick development at the Belgian champions, with him making his senior debut and Champions League debut at the age of only 16. While he may not slot straight into the starting lineup in Germany, he seems to be a perfect long-term replacement for the 33-year-old Chilean Charles Aranguiz, with Mbamba not shouldering the burden of instantly having to step into the starting XI for the German side. He will have time to acclimate to his new surroundings and fine-tune his defensive skill set, especially while learning under one of the best defensive midfielders of his time in Xabi Alonso.
Passing range and vision on the ball
Another strength that the 18-year-old Noah Mbamba has quite often displayed is his range of passing and vision on the ball. In fact, Mbamba has one of the best passing accuracies of the Club Brugge NXT squad, with the young Belgian averaging 36.05 passes per 90 minutes and a passing accuracy of 89.1%. The youngster also tends to play long passes from these deeper-lying positions in midfield, with him averaging 2.2 long passes per 90 minutes and a 71.7% accuracy. Mbamba also plays 3.67 passes to the final third per 90 minutes with an 80% accuracy, demonstrating his ability to spray passes to all areas of the pitch.
The data viz above shows Mbamba’s pass map this season, split between his time playing for Club Brugge’s first and second teams. As we can see, the Belgian will move into the attacking third of the pitch, with his passing map expanding from the defensive third all the way to the final third. However, the biggest concentration of successful passes for the midfielder have occurred in the middle third of the pitch this season, demonstrating a tendency for Mbamba to remain involved when it comes to the build-up phase as well as the defensive phase.
The image above shows a frequent tendency that Noah Mbamba will do when his side are beginning a build-up phase from the goalkeeper. The Belgian, who was operating as one of the defensive midfielders, dropped into the back line, splitting the two centre-backs as a result. This allowed him to receive possession from the goalkeeper under no pressure from the opposition at all.
With this time on the ball, Mbamba was able to scan the field for passing options, spotting the full-back in an advanced position on the far side. The Belgian proceeded to play a perfectly weighted pass into the feet of the full-back, bypassing two of the opposition’s defensive lines as a result. Though the full-back took an unfortunate heavy first touch, another Brugge player was able to regain possession, allowing the attack to continue.
This example was able to illustrate once again the awareness of Noah Mbamba, as well as his vision and passing range. The awareness to drop into the backline and split the centre-backs created the opening for him to have time on the ball to play the pass, as well as limit the opposition’s ability to press the Club NXT defenders.
The image above shows another example of Noah Mbamba’s passing and vision, this time in the final third of the pitch. In the phase of play above, the Belgian midfielder has moved forward into the final third, and he finds himself creating a goalscoring opportunity for the attacker. This example demonstrates the composure the midfielder displays when he finds himself in possession in these advanced positions.
He is being closed down by a defender from behind as well as the two defenders in front who are looking to close down his possible passing lane to the attacker. Mbamba does well to stay calm, with the pass being perfectly weighted for the attacker to run onto. Unfortunately, the attacker takes the pass too wide, allowing the goalkeeper to come out and make the save.
As this section has been able to show, while the young Belgian midfielder is more of a deep-lying midfielder who looks to spray passes around the pitch, he also has the capacity to advance into the attacking final third and play a part with his distribution as well.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis and scout report has shown, Bayer Leverkusen have gotten a potential star for the future in 18-year-old Belgian midfielder Noah Mbamba. The young Belgian should fit like a glove into the tactics of boss Xabi Alonso, with the former Real Madrid midfielder able to help refine Mbamba’s strengths even more.
Mbamba is unlikely to make an instant impact on the Leverkusen squad but should get a good amount of first-team minutes in the second half of this season as the German side look to climb up the Bundesliga table.
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