Nantes weren’t enjoying a brilliant season before the World Cup. In Ligue 1, they only obtained 13 points after 15 games, but they had talents growing inside the team. The 20-year-old Quentin Merlin registered his left-back position in the starting XI, despite the fact that he was an attacking player, playing as a left-winger or even as a striker two years ago. In this scout report, we will explore Merlin’s potential and explain why he should be one of the young players to expect a lot from in 2023.
This tactical analysis will combine the use of data, vizzes, and in-game situations to illustrate the player’s playing style, strengths, and weaknesses.
A talented passer
Though at a young age, Merlin has already shown that he is a great passer and contributed to the team a lot in the construction phases of the game.
Merlin was decent in ball progression according to the first data analysis. In the scatter plot, he was on the right side after providing 11.22 progressive passes/90 — only three other full-backs in the league have higher numbers. This shows he has a good passing length to help the team move the ball forward. When it comes to progressive runs per 90, Merlin’s number at 1.74 was fine, slightly above the mean (1.66). However, it also shows that he has plenty of room to develop his ball-carrying as well.
When it comes to passing, usually we praise a player’s ability because of his beautiful passing, or accurate cross-field balls, crossing, etc., but Merlin was impressive because he could recognize a pass that an average player did not see, especially in the construction part of the game.
The first in-game example shows Nantes vs Lens, where Merlin held the ball and got ready to become involved in the attack. There were two teammates in front, one dropped into the half-space and the other one was going behind. By observing Merlin’s body angle, it could be easily concluded that the pass was likely to go behind the last line, as most left-backs would hit that ball to their winger directly. Some better left-backs might be able to see the teammate in the half-space and connect with that option, but Merlin was something else.
Instead of the more noticeable passes, Merlin found the third option — the teammate in the centre with a lofted ball. It was a very difficult pass because he has to cover the ball with his whole foot, but Merlin managed to get the execution right. No one saw that, and it helped Nantes to move the ball forward.
It was a better option than releasing the winger behind as the opposition would have easily predicted that playing route, look at the Lens right-back’s body position, he was very ready to defend Moses Simon’s run from there and there was no clear advantage if Merlin hit an average ball forward. That recognition of the passing option, and the subsequent passing decision as well as execution were fantastic — it is not easy to have all of them together, and that’s why Merlin is a talent.
Merlin is also a left-back with good involvement in the final third, he was a winger before! This scatter plot suggests he could create chances in the final third. Although his 0.53 deep completions/90 were not too high compared to more famous players, such as former Ajax left-back Nicolás Tagliafico and Ismaily, who came from Shakhtar, but he has a very good xA/90 at 0.34, ranking second compared to the rest of the league.
With this viz, we might able to explain Merlin’s good xA value in Nanates’ tactics. Firstly, he is really useful in offence on the wings since he made some good crosses for his side this term, but he also created a lot of shots via his dead-ball delivery. He was the main corner-taker of Nantes, and the head coach trusted him because his passing was very good. He accumulated 3.52 xA so far in both UEFA Europa League and Ligue 1, it was a shame that he was only rewarded with one assist. Certainly, he can get many more as the season continues.
Specifically, this crossing example vs Belgium U21 was a good one. Merlin has the good sense to put the ball between the last line and the goalkeeper with a precise delivery, good speed and good height, allowing his teammates to attack the ball with power. This one turned out to be an assist as Nathan Ngoumou scored the header, the good cross from Merlin made it difficult for the defenders to clear the ball when dropping back.
Rooms for improvement
Despite Merlin’s impressive passing and offensive skillsets as described in the above analysis, to become a better player or reach a bigger club, there is more to work on and one area of improvement is the dynamic of his game.
This viz shows Merlin’s action on the flank, he has a lot of successful crosses, but he was not too active in the last third except for providing the crosses. The number of successful dribbles and intensity in those areas were not good enough; in this section, we will dig deeper to investigate where Merlin could improve as a player.
The main reason was Merlin being too settled in his individual pattern when he arrived in several situations. In the final third, he has a good delivery, but then he mostly has that option in his head and can forget other options. For example, he had the ball and was given some space in this scenario versus Clermont Foot, but he did not try to take on the defender. Even though there might be an opportunity to dribble, he still prefers whipping in early crosses, but Man City’s João Cancelo would have killed the opposition defender in those situations. And there were certainly more possibilities, Simon was going behind the wide defender, and he could be released by a short pass, but Merlin often neglected all these and opted for a cross into the centre.
Also, even though Merlin has good passing, there were small details he could work on in this area as well. Firstly, the body orientation when receiving was not optimal often, because when he travelled across from one position to another, he unconsciously put his body at his back to the opponent as shown here. Some players did this with a clear intention to invite an opponent to jump, but probably Merlin isn’t.
Because when he received, as shown here against Freiburg, Merlin would make a big turn and it took too much time. It might limit his next option because he would prepare for a pass instead of discovering other possibilities. For example, he was so into passing the ball forward even though the condition was not correct, we could say the Nantes central defender did not create enough depth for him, but in that big space against an isolated right-winger, maybe Merlin should have tried to take on the opponent to generate a different dynamic. That might explain why Merlin did not have very high progressive runs/90.
Requiring more work on defending
Apart from the offensive plays, Merlin also has to improve a bit on his defending to be a more established profile.
In terms of aerial duels, Merlin was weak with only 1.59 aerial duels/90, which suggested he did not contest a lot with the opponent, and the success rate at 38.1% was not good too. A Ligue 1 wide defender normally had 47% of aerial duels won % and Merlin was a bit far from that range too, he has to work on both the prowess in aerial battles and getting more into it.
But Merlin is a player with a good ability to shut the spaces in front, he has the potential to defend higher spaces. Here shows the defensive territory of the 20-year-old, he has a decent defensive range and a lot of defensive actions on the pitch. Particularly, there were some noticeable interceptions above the halfway line, which suggests Merlin would have the potential to defend with the team in higher areas.
But when it comes to individual defending technique, Merlin has a lot to work on. A possible reason is his lack of experience in this position. When the opponent was carrying the ball, he tended to make late tackles, enter challenges at the wrong angle or overcommit with poor timing, thus allowing the opponent to scoop the ball past. For example, this scenario vs Qarabag shows Merlin tried to use his body to bump the opponent, but he did not get the timing right, the opponent just escaped from that and kept driving forward.
In transitions, mostly TAD, Merlin still had many good traits. One of them was the willingness to track back and cover the centre. This example versus Lorient shows he was quick to come back inside, and he always slide into tackles if he felt necessary. He could be a good protection in the first rest defence line in this phase.
Conclusion
This scout report outlines Merlin’s strengths and weaknesses, he is a very talented player and this left-back position should not be his limit. At only 20, with his level of passing, he could play centrally when coaches want to develop him into an all-rounded player. He should get a stable position at Nantes in the short term, but to be able to establish himself in a bigger side, there are some more details he has to work on to make himself a better player.
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