When it comes to scouting up-and-coming talent in the modern women’s game, one place that should always be looked at is Africa.
The continent has produced some outstanding individual players over the years and currently boasts the most expensive player in the world: Zambia forward Racheal Kundananji, who moved to NWSL debutants Bay FC from Liga F side Madrid CFF last month.
However, the conveyor belt is constantly rolling, and there are always players emerging from that area of the world.
One who has caught the eye this season is Ivory Coast forward Rosemonde Kouassi.
Whilst predominantly a right-sided winger for Division 1 Féminine side Fleury 91 Féminines, she is capable of playing in numerous attacking roles and has become a crucial part of Fleury’s tactics during her time at the club, including helping them to a first-ever Coupe de France Féminine final later this year after they saw off Lyon Féminin in the semi-finals.
Her performances have led to reports of other clubs monitoring her progress, with L’Équipe listing Chelsea Women, Arsenal Women, PSG Féminine, and Lyon as potential admirers of her.
A move to the NWSL has also been suggested.
This tactical analysis will take a closer look at her game to see what she would offer them or any other team interested in acquiring her services and why she has become the subject of such a significant transfer rumour.
Rosemonde Kouassi Attacking threat
It might raise a few eyebrows to say that Rosemonde Kouassi has been a key attacking player for Fleury this season, given that she has only scored five goals and has picked up just four assists.
However, taking that viewpoint would be to discredit the amount of things that she offers her team inside the final third, with this section of the scout report showing that there is more to her game than simply scoring and setting up goals.
Her movement off the ball, for example, has been vital to Fleury’s building momentum and constructing promising attacking opportunities.
She demonstrates that she can anticipate what will happen next and so react to things earlier than others around her.
As a result, she can get into areas where she can help her teammates out, just as she did here by running through the gap between Saint-Étienne Féminines’ Faustine Bataillard and Algeria defender Morgane Belkhiter and allowing Belkhiter’s international teammate Marine Dafeur to play the ball into the goal area.
Even though nothing came of this particular opportunity, with Saint-Étienne tracking back in time to ensure that nothing materialised from the opportunity, it was still a clear sign of how dangerous Kouassi has been inside the final third.
The fact that she has averaged 6.16 touches inside the penalty area indicates that situations like this have been common in Fleury’s matches.
So, there is no question that she has been vital in allowing them to continually test their opponents and to create promising chances.
What helps Kouassi to pose such a threat is that she is decisive and never second-guesses herself, with her always trusting her instincts and never allowing those around her to settle into a rhythm.
As a result, situations like this, when she has received the ball on the far side wing and has instantly looked to drive forward with it, have also been prevalent in Fleury’s games, with her looking to get beyond Saint-Étienne’s Noémie Carage here and to deliver the ball into the middle.
Whilst crossing is not a strength of hers, with only 2.13 attempted per game and just 17.1% finding their intended targets this season, the key thing to point out here is what this offers Fleury when they have the ball, with Saint-Étienne tending to deploy attacking full-backs who support their high pressing tactics and so leave space open behind them that can be exploited.
As a result, Fleury knew that they needed to use that to their advantage if they were to have a chance of beating them, and Kouassi’s direct threat was vital in making that possible.
Having this pace and ability to be used in this way tactically is one of the likely reasons that she has been attracting so much attention around the world, with it always going to aid teams to find ways through their opponents and, especially those who often come up against wing-back systems.
Arsenal are one of those who put a strong emphasis on the use of the wide channels in their build-up play whilst the opening weekend of the 2024 NWSL season showed that many sides have adopted wing-backs in order to have balance in attack and defence, so it is a quality that many will admire greatly.
This is not to say, though, that Kouassi is only capable of staying wide and of driving towards the goal line because there have also been plenty of examples this season of when she has cut onto her inside foot and has looked to keep her and her team’s options open whenever they do get into promising situations.
In this case, she received the ball from Poland’s midfielder Ewelina Kamczyk, who had been closed down by Dijon Féminine right-back Léna Goetsch.
Her decisiveness once again comes into play as she makes a quick change of direction to open up her body and to send a cross into the middle.
Again, her delivery might not have led to anything, with Poland defender Małgorzata Grec clearing it with relative ease, but the fact that Kouassi has this ability to move in either direction whenever the ball is at her feet will attract a lot of teams.
Chelsea especially will admire it, given that it makes her capable of offering the same inside runs as England forward Lauren James has done this season.
However, it could also benefit Manchester City Women too.
Gareth Taylor’s WSL title-chasers are not among those reportedly watching the Ivory Coast forward, but they perhaps should be given that there is continued speculation about the future of England winger Lauren Hemp, who is out of contract this summer and who has been heavily linked with Barcelona Femení.
Kouassi is not on the same level as Hemp when it comes to overall quality, but she has the same ability to stay wide or to move infield with the ball at her feet.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Manchester City join the race to sign the Ivorian if Hemp were to move on in the summer, especially as they have previous experience with the French market after adding both Jamaica captain Khadija Shaw and Australia forward Mary Fowler from Bordeaux Féminines and Montpellier Féminines in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Rosemonde Kouassi Roles in transitions
Whilst it is clear that Fleury have mainly relied on Rosemonde Kouassi in the final third this season, it would be wrong to assume that that is the only area of the pitch that she contributes in.
Instead, she has been just as effective in shifting the ball up the field and into areas where her team can inflict some damage, and her 74.7% passing accuracy shows how this is another aspect of the game that they have come to rely on her for.
It would also be wrong to assume that she only stays in the central third when the team are in transition because there have been times when Kouassi has tracked all the way back to her own third in order to give her teammates passing options and ways to play out from the back, just as she has here during the match against Saint-Étienne.
This indicates how she has a desire to get on the ball and to make things happen regardless of where she needs to be to do so, and it is perhaps one reason that her numbers inside the final third have not been as high as some might have expected.
Whilst she was closed down quickly by Chloé Tapia here, the fact that she can drop back this far will have piqued the interest of many of those linked with signing her, most notably Chelsea, who will perhaps see this as evidence that she could be used in a wing-back role if they were to retain it next season.
There is no doubt that she would fit the profile needed to thrive in that role, with her pace and desire to make things happen already shown in the analysis, and it might be why the WSL leaders are reportedly monitoring her at this moment in time.
Her ability to move the ball around the field at will is just as evident when she gets into the central third, and what has really stood out here is her ability to maintain control of it in tight spaces and to ensure that her side can get numbers up the field in order to make the most of the chances that they do create.
In this case, Kouassi initially shaped as if to make one of the runs up the wing that was highlighted in the previous section but then doubled back and used her quick change of direction to drive into the central spaces, with Saint-Étienne midfielder Alex Lamontagne making an attempt to win the ball but not having the strength to compete with the winger and so unable to regain possession for her side.
This is something else that will have led to admiring glances, and one team that has always favoured wide attackers who can cut inside is Arsenal.
Canada forward Cloé Lacasse is a prime example of how they want those on the wings to make these inside runs and create numerical overloads in the middle.
It will also have led to PSG being attracted to her services.
They do not necessarily need wingers who can cut inside but prefer wide players who can operate centrally if possible, just as Sandy Baltimore did at the start of the campaign while France teammate Marie-Antoinette Katoto was still returning from her long-term injury absence.
The other thing that PSG will have appreciated about her is how her raw pace makes her a significant threat in counterattacks, with that being a key aspect of their tactics this season whenever facing tougher teams and it being the main reason that they were the better side against Lyon at the Groupama Stadium in February.
Again, what helps Kouassi here is her awareness, speed of thought, and desire to always be ahead of the ball.
The danger that this provides is shown clearly here as she finds the gap in Dijon’s back line as they attempt to recover from the attacking corner and allows her team to send the ball through the gap before left-back Morgane Martins can get back into position.
Counterattacking successfully requires the whole team to work together to pass the ball accurately and at the right pace, but individual players still need to be in the right areas to make them possible.
Kouassi has certainly fitted that category for Fleury, with there being no way that they would be able to make this final pass without her being where she is, and this will help any side interested in signing her due to quick breaks such as this being such a key aspect of the modern game.
Rosemonde Kouassi Defensive contributions
Rosemonde Kouassi’s contributions, however, do not only come when her team has the ball, with she also playing a pivotal role in Fleury’s play whenever they are out of possession, and this again highlights the depth of her game and the variety of things that she can offer around the field.
Again, it comes down to Fleury’s tactics as to why she is such a threat as soon as the ball has been lost.
A key demand of their game plan is to win the ball as high up the field as possible and prevent their opponents from instigating any rapid attacks of their own, and it has been common to see them implementing a staggered press in their games to make that approach possible as the season has gone on.
Their desire to win the ball inside the final third was especially important against Stade de Reims Féminines in their recent encounter, with the latter’s game plan this season tending to revolve around soaking up pressure and then hitting teams with well-executed counterattacks.
It was that that led to them giving Lyon a few headaches when the two met in October, despite the league leaders ending up with a comfortable victory in the end.
Fleury, therefore, knew that they had to cut Reims’ attempts to pass up the field off as early as they could, and Kouassi proved to be vital in making that possible due to her ability to work in tight spaces and to make dominant tackles when needed.
In this case, she has gotten tight to Nigeria international Rofiat Imuran, which has prevented her from gaining any more territory in her attempt to find a teammate, dislodging the ball and winning it back for her team.
As this graphic shows, making high regains like this has been a common feature of her individual play this season.
She made 25 in all competitions and contributed 36 counterpressing recoveries and 10 dangerous recoveries.
The majority of those have come down the right side of the field, as is to be expected given that that is her favoured side and the one that she tends to play on, but it is clear that she is as dangerous in all three channels when it comes to regaining the ball.
Therefore, again, her versatility and ability to pose a threat in every area of the pitch is evident, showing another reason that she has become such an attractive transfer target for so many big names around the world.
However, there are times when she is not as able to get up to the ball in the same way, and the match against Bordeaux was one where she needed to adapt and defend differently.
She sat back in holes like this and waited for Bordeaux to play out from the back, as Hillary Diaz does here.
What helped Kouassi to get into the correct position here was her ability to anticipate where the pass would go, and the fact that she has averaged 3.84 interceptions per game shows how she has been just as crucial in this side of the game as she has been when Fleury have had the ball.
Fleury knew going into this game that patience would be required because Bordeaux was sitting at the foot of the table and, therefore, likely to make mistakes.
So they didn’t look to press in the same way.
The fact that Kouassi adapted her own approach shows how she can fit different shapes and systems and is far from being a one-dimensional player.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has examined Fleury 91 Féminines and Ivory Coast winger Rosemonde Kouassi in detail.
It has picked out her strengths around the field and shown why she has attracted glances from major names in the WSL, D1, and from as-yet unnamed sides in the NWSL.
There is no doubt that she would be a good player to sign when breaking down her game, with it made clear throughout the analysis that she contributes in so many ways both with and without the ball and that she has really developed since moving to the French top flight, and there are plenty of ways in which she would improve any side who opted to move for her services.
As of yet, the interest in her is only speculation, and no concrete bids have been reported from any side.
and Fleury will be no doubt keen to retain their services beyond the summer as they aim to build on the success of this season and to close the gap between themselves and the top of the table further.
However, it will be interesting to see if anything happens in the summer and from which part of the world a bid comes because the reports are that Kouassi wants to play in the Champions League next season.
As a result, there is huge potential for this rumour to become more than that when the window does reopen, with it apparent that, after several positive years with her current side, the talented Ivorian feels that she is ready to take the next step.
Comments