Despite achieving a ninth-place finish in Ligue 2 last term, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard were relegated to the third tier, Championnat National, for the 2023/24 campaign after owners Nenking failed to prove the necessary financial capacity to remain a second-tier side.
A hectic summer saw former Club President Jean-Claude Plessis complete a takeover and scramble together the necessary funds to ensure Les Lionceaux would even be able to compete in the third tier this season, preventing even worse punishment from being inflicted on the historic club who were once Ligue 1 regulars.
Several key players from their respectable 2022/23 season, including midfield academy products Skelly Alvero (Lyon) and Rassoul Ndiaye (Le Havre), wingers Moussa Doumbia (Al-Adalah) and Aldo Kalulu (FK Partizan Belgrade) and centre-backs Ismaïl Aaneba (Ferencváros) and Saad Agouzoul (Auxerre) left in a pre-2023/24 exodus in which, of course, no funds were available to be spent on incoming transfer fees.
There does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel, however, with what remains of Sochaux pulling themselves together and helping the club make progress back towards where they’ll believe their rightful place is — in France’s second-tier.
At the time of writing this article, they sit fourth in Championnat National with the second-best goalscoring tally of any side in the division this term.
Oswald Tanchot, who took this job on during the summer, has moulded a largely very young group of players — many without much prior first-team experience and/or experience playing together — into a formidable unit that deserves its spot at the higher end of the third tier table at this stage of the campaign despite the turbulent summer that preceded the season’s kick-off.
Several of Sochaux’s bright young stars from the 2023/24 campaign have stood out not just as key players for Les Lionceaux but as some of the most promising young players currently plying their trade in France’s third tier.
Even if their vital role under Tanchot this term was born out of necessity rather than a choice on the coach’s part, they’ve risen to the occasion well and played with a fearlessness typical of young players with a point to prove, determined to make their way up the footballing ladder and stamp their mark on the game every time they get the opportunity.
This tactical analysis and scout report aims to provide an in-depth analysis of four key young players from Tanchot’s side (Allan Ackra, Malcolm Viltard, Alex Daho and Noah Fatar) and why they’ve stood out this term within the context of their respective roles in the Championnat National side and their 50-year-old head coach’s tactics.
Before we detail those players, we’ll provide you with a brief overview of the tactical landscape they’ve played within this term.
Tanchot’s Sochaux
As well as being the second-highest goalscorers with 30 to their name thus far in 2023/24, Sochaux have generated the second-most xG of any Championnat National side, with that number currently sitting at 28.7.
They’ve done so firstly by accumulating a relatively high number of opportunities on goal (11.74 shots per 90 — second in the league), but also by accumulating a lot of high-quality opportunities and not snatching at chances too much — this is made evident by their 0.143 xG per shot, which ranks third in Championnat National at present.
Tanchot has primarily set his side up in a 4-2-3-1 shape — a very versatile formation which affords the holding midfielders freedom to roam forward in possession, providing one plays the disciplined role of staying back while their central partner bombs ahead. At the same time, the full-backs perform similarly, with one typically tucking in as the other looks to provide a wide option further upfield.
This sees Sochaux frequently deploying something of a 3-1-5-1/2-2-5-1 shape in possession, as indicated by figure 2, in which we’ve demonstrated an instance of the left central midfielder and left-back moving further upfield. In contrast, the right central midfielder stays deep, shifting over to a more central position, as does the right-back — be prepared to see the right-back overlapping and the left-back staying deeper on other occasions, too.
Off the ball, Tanchot’s Sochaux have been a relatively well-organised defensive unit, pressing with a pretty high level of intensity (as indicated by their 10.51 PPDA — the fifth-lowest in France’s third tier).
As well as discipline, tactical intelligence and the obvious high-quality coaching necessary for a team to play so well organised off-the-ball, a lot of commitment is required from players all across the pitch — whether that’s when asked to cover for teammates or use a lot of energy in defensive phases — in order to make their out-of-possession tactics successful.
Much more time could be spent dissecting Tanchot’s tactics to dissect the nuances of his game model and style of play. Still, we’ll just provide a broad overview for context in this analysis before now moving on to highlighting the aforementioned key youngsters who’ve thrived within this environment Tanchot’s created this term.
Allan Ackra
Getting his first taste of senior football this season 19-year-old Allan Ackra plays as the ‘6’ in Tanchot’s side — the more defensive of the central midfield duo.
Some standout metrics in relation to Ackra’s game, per the pizza chart above which ranks him among players in his position from Championnat National and all leagues we’ve placed at a similar level, include his 96.5 percentile rank in defensive duels per 90, and, 81.7 percentile rank in defensive duels won %, demonstrating his high level of engagement and reliability off the ball, 82.2 percentile rank in aerial duels per 90 and 57.1 percentile rank in aerial duels won % — displaying his engagement and reliability in the air — as well as 83.7 percentile rank in pass accuracy, a result of his reliable secure passing.
Overall, this 19-year-old, who’s played 74% of all possible minutes for Sochaux in the league this term, as being Mr. Reliable for the third-tier side, quickly adapting to life in senior football.
In possession, you can expect Ackra to play it relatively safe and risk-averse; he provides a solid base for his side in the possession phase, frequently being found just in front of the backline where he can receive and either turn to progress the team forward if the coast is clear or, if marked aggressively, continue circulation without much concern from his teammates that he’ll do something silly and get caught in possession.
In this example versus Nîmes Olympique, he initially receives from the left centre-back but, thanks to his spatial awareness, knows the pressure is high from behind and quickly lays it off to the right centre-back.
Moving to find a bit more space as the pressing midfielder backs off, Ackra, scanning just as the next pass is in motion back towards him, now gets an opportunity to turn as the ball lands at his feet, get his head up and play a beautiful pass over the Nîmes backline and into space for left-winger Alex Daho to chase down.
This encapsulates Ackra in possession; he’s capable of excellent progressive passing but is, first and foremost, very disciplined and quite risk-averse, only taking these chances when he deems the chances of success quite high. Other than that, expect to see him perform as a reliable base to the team’s midfield, who will help his side move the opposition’s shape around and open up passing lanes into more advanced areas of the pitch.
As referenced earlier, both parts of Sochaux’s double-pivot retain the freedom to advance forward at times, and while this is mainly left central midfielder Viltard, we will see Ackra doing so as well at times. The key to Sochaux’s defensive security and structure on these occasions is communication, teamwork, and tactical intelligence from the players, especially Viltard, to recognise that he needs to drop off and cover for his partner.
Ackra is very capable as a dribbler, though still disciplined in how he uses it, with the 19-year-old typically occupying a very sensitive area of the pitch. When receiving under pressure, Ackra is excellent at using his body shape to manipulate the opposition player into making the wrong move, either winning a foul as a result or creating space to turn away into, with the latter being the case in figure 6.
Off-the-ball, particularly during the transition to defence as his team counterpresses aggressively, Ackra plays a vital role in stepping up and shutting down attacks as well as protecting the backline and ensuring they aren’t exposed to dangerous 1v1s with opposition attackers on the counter.
Ackra is very capable in 1v1 defensive duels, making him an excellent asset in the transition to defence. He also uses his aggression well, though sometimes can be a bit clumsy and rush in, leading to fouls or mistimed tackles that can let the opponent pass.
When defending deeper, Ackra performs a vital role in dropping into the backline and protecting his teammates, particularly in the low-block defence.
At 19, there’s still plenty of development that could be done with regard to the midfielder’s physicality; he can still bulk up more and increase his strength, which could help him succeed even more in defensive duels where he’s sometimes outmuscled, still adapting to the senior football environment.
Malcolm Viltard
Ackra’s midfield partner, 21-year-old Malcolm Viltard, can call himself a Sochaux first-team regular for the very first time this season, having spent last season out on loan in the third tier with Châteauroux after coming through the youth ranks with Les Lionceaux since 2019.
Viltard holds the captaincy for Tanchot’s men this term and plays a bit of a more attacking role than Ackra, frequently sitting a line higher during possession phases, receiving in or on the edge of the final third from where he’ll be tasked with either linking up with other advanced Sochaux players to sustain pressure on the opposition in a dangerous area or finding a defence-splitting through pass to put his team into a goalscoring position.
The 21-year-old midfielder stands out for his relatively high volume of shots per 90 (90.3rd percentile), dribbles per 90 (76.5th percentile), goal contributions (80.65th percentile), dangerous passes (75.3rd percentile), defensive duels (78.2nd percentile), defensive duel success (64.9th percentile) and defensive positioning (72.85th percentile) — a very well-rounded set of positive attributes fitting for the box-to-box midfielder.
Viltard can contribute significantly on the ball via his intelligent and dangerous off-the-ball positioning, line-splitting passes and equally impressive ability to break lines via his dribbling. Figure 9 displays the 21-year-old’s ball progression map for the 2023/24 campaign thus far at the time of writing.
Though he’s prone to some loose first touches, Viltard is a quality dribbler with decent ball control who you can primarily rely on to successfully link up with teammates in tight spaces or escape pressure. His dribbling ability has proven especially effective during transitional attacks, where he’s single-handedly been tasked with moving his team quickly up into the opposition’s half and beyond on the counter after picking up the ball deep.
In terms of his passing, Viltard is undoubtedly more of a risk-taker than Ackra, as his role would suggest. This can be a negative area for him at times, as he’s not always careful enough in possession and sometimes loses it cheaply or plays passes where you really are left scratching your head with regard to what the intended outcome was.
However, that’s a price you pay with Viltard for the creativity he can offer, especially via his long passing and tendency to look for switches of play to isolate Sochaux’s dangerous winger’s with opposition defenders 1v1.
Overall, Viltard is a very capable playmaker in central midfield who can provide assists or second assists quite effectively in the role he plays and with the quality he possesses.
Off the ball, like Ackra, Viltard is vital when his team enters defensive transitions, with plenty of counterpressing recoveries present on his high regains map above.
Viltard positions himself intelligently and defends in quite a disciplined manner, with plenty of spatial awareness evident in his game. Like Ackra, he’s crucial for positioning himself in places that protects the backline from being isolated in 1v1s, and he possesses excellent ability in 1v1 defensive duels, using his body well and usually challenging for the ball with good levels of aggression.
The 21-year-old will typically press more aggressively than Ackra in settled defensive phases, often joining Sochaux’s ‘10’ in a slightly higher line, which can leave space behind him that Ackra or a centre-back must cover.
Alex Daho
Moving onto our third player, we’re going to turn our attention to 20-year-old left-winger Alex Daho, a JA Drancy academy product who’s enjoying his first season as a full first-team squad member this term.
A right-footed left-winger, Daho is a high-volume dribbler whose completed enough dribbles to rank him in the 95.7th percentile for that particular area in his first proper season of senior football.
The 20-year-old wide man also ranks in the 81.45th percentile for goal contributions per 90, 85th percentile for dangerous passes per 90 and 92.4th percentile for defensive duels per 90, to focus on some critical metrics within his statistical profile as indicated by the above pizza chart.
We saw an example of Daho being released in behind by Ackra back in figure 5 — this was not a rarity and is, in actual fact, a highly prevalent part of the young winger’s game. He’s a pacey player, and Tanchot’s side like to use this part of his skill set regularly to find a path through on goal.
This can lead to Daho racking up a relatively high number of offsides, which is a downside that can be limited by the timing of his runs but is an inevitability for a winger who’s often being tasked with sprinting in behind. Still, when everything is timed well, Sochaux can reap great rewards thanks to Daho’s physical and technical qualities.
As well as long balls over the top, look out for Daho to link up a lot with the ‘10’ and use the one-two as a way to get in behind — though, again, the timing of his runs will be crucial here.
While we can see a handful of crosses from deep in figure 13, the vast majority of Daho’s crosses will come from very advanced positions. The 20-year-old loves to drive into advanced areas — the by-line or edge of the box — from where he can drill low crosses into the box for attackers to finish from high-value positions; he’s proven effective at providing accurate balls into the box from those advanced positions along with very inviting cutbacks for those occupying valuable shooting positions this term.
While he snatches at opportunities sometimes, this youngster is an agile dribbler with impressive acceleration who thrives when tasked with creating space for a shot when 1v1 with a defender.
Basically, all of his shots have come from wide on the left this term, and while his xG per shot of 0.09 needs improving, he has converted three goals from an xG of 1.84, highlighting some decent success from his 21 shots — a goal per shot rate of 0.14.
By snatching at opportunities less and perhaps aiming to be a provider even more from these types of positions rather than a goalscorer when the odds of converting are low, we may see Daho become an even more valuable left-winger in terms of overall goal contributions.
Out of possession, Tanchot requires his wingers to provide a lot of energy in the high press, following his tactical instructions in terms of positioning and pressing triggers — aggressively closing opponents down as required.
Similarly, in deeper defensive phases, the wingers must track back, support their full-back and give their energy to the team’s efforts to stop the opposition’s attack and regain possession.
As evidenced by his extremely high percentile rank in defensive duels per 90, along with a decent rank in defensive duel success, Daho has performed his defensive duties adequately this term, and Tanchot will likely be satisfied with the winger’s contribution.
Noah Fatar
Lastly, our fourth and final Sochaux star of 2023/24 is Noah Fatar, a 21-year-old left-footed right-winger who joined Sochaux from Angers this past summer after having made just nine career appearances for Le SCO.
Fatar is a different type of winger entirely to Daho on the opposite side of the pitch, with an immediate contrast evident on the pizza chart, with Fatar falling into just the 50.8th percentile for dribbles per 90 — far lower than the 95.7 rank of his left-sided teammate.
However, Fatar shines when it comes to goal contributions per 90 (96.65th percentile), expected goal contributions (87.9th percentile), shots per 90 (83.6th percentile), dangerous passes per 90 (84.43rd percentile) and all defensive metrics, with a relatively high rank in defensive duels per 90, defensive duel success, aerial duels per 90, aerial duel success and defensive positioning.
Whereas Daho loves to make crosses from advanced areas and use his pace to get in behind, Fatar plays a lot of his crosses earlier, from deeper areas, and likes to cut inside to more central parts of the pitch rather than go in behind. This sees Daho doing a lot of his playmaking in the form of through passes and defence-splitting balls from the half-space or even a ‘10’-like position rather than the wing with a variety of technically-impressive pass-types in his locker.
Though the 21-year-old is not as frequent of a dribbler as Daho, he’s arguably the more technically proficient of the pair with excellent close control, a decent level of pace and an impressive ability to hold off defenders with his strength — despite being just 170cm tall — along with manipulate their positioning via his body shape as he receives in advanced positions. You’d trust Fatar to receive with his back to goal and a defender marking him tightly and still beat his man the majority of the time, thanks to his technical proficiency.
Sochaux’s right-winger is very unselfish in front of goal, which helps his assist and dangerous pass numbers while ultimately helping his team put more in the back of the net than they otherwise would — a good indication of his maturity and sensible decision-making despite his young age.
From the above shot map, we can see that Fatar tends to get opportunities from more central positions than Daho — a result of the two wingers’ contrasting styles and respective roles within the team.
When Fatar carries inside, Daho will be wide on the left, holding the width and providing a distant option. In contrast, when Daho is carrying in behind towards a cutback or low crossing position, Fatar is expected to make late runs into the box to provide a potential crossing target and goalscoring threat.
Due to his role, his ability to play it to a reasonable level and his decent decision-making for the most part, Fatar has generated 3.02 xG from 22 shots this season, averaging 0.14 xG per shot and scoring four non-penalty league goals.
The 21-year-old is capable of pulling off some highly impressive strikes from a technical standpoint, but his composure does seem to let him down on occasions when he’s afforded lots of time to think before releasing the trigger.
Conclusion
To conclude this tactical analysis and scout report, we’ve highlighted Allan Ackra, Malcolm Viltard, Alex Daho and Noah Fatar as the four key young players to watch within Oswald Tanchot’s young (with an average age of 24.2 — the second-youngest in Championnat National this term) Sochaux side.
Les Lionceaux have had to bank on youth out of necessity due to the drastic situation they found themselves in last summer, scrambling to stay afloat. However, out of this necessary action has come a team and some impressive young talent that fans of the historic club can be proud of and look to carry them back up the pyramid into a brighter, hopefully, more sustainable, future.
Tanchot deserves plenty of credit for making a cohesive unit out of the players he has and nurturing their transition to regular senior football effectively.
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