A Brief Look At Boubacar Kamara And Why Manchester United Should Look To Sign Him

FootMercato, in 2021, quoted Marseille central defender Gonzalez (about Kamara): “What he does for the team, for OM, it’s incredible. He’s only 21 but it looks like he’s 30. For me, Bouba is the best player in the league!”.

A year has passed since, and the French defensive midfielder has gone on and improved even further. Under Jorge Sampaoli, Kamara has adapted to a system employed by some of the best teams in Europe and grown into a player that looks ready to make the step up to a Champions League side. 

This article will take a look into his playing style, strengths, weaknesses, and why Manchester United should be looking to snap him up.

The Sampaoli Revolution

Appointed as Marseille manager on 26 February 2021 after the departure of Andre Villas-Boas, Sampaoli brought with him an aggressive, high possession, and dominant style of play. Where in the 2020-21 season Marseille averaged 54% possession, good enough only for 7th in the French league, Les Olympiens currently keep 61.5% of the ball on average, 2nd in the league behind PSG (and 6th in Europe's top 5 leagues) - something that is also mirrored by the league table. How does this affect Kamara, though?

His total completed passes have jumped from around 55 to almost 72 per 90, and his tackles + interception numbers have also gone up from 4.1 to 4.65 per 90 - remarkable because this is not adjusted for possession. In a ball-dominant side, you would expect defensive numbers to fall off as there are not many opportunities to make challenges, but for Marseille to become one of the most ball-dominant sides in Europe and then for Kamara to increase his defensive actions is just a testament of his defensive ability.

In an article for The Guardian and Get French Football News, Adam White writes -

"Following Sampaoli’s arrival in March, Marseille lacked the ferocity and intensity of their coach. Now, however, they are playing with intensity and dynamism, embodying their manager’s snarling, prowling touchline presence. Club and coach are a perfect match and, after years of underachieving, Marseille may have finally found the right formula.". It looks like not only has Sampaoli led Marseille to become one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe, but he may have also molded Kamara into a midfielder who would fit any team that will look to dominate possession and suffocate opponents.

His Attributes And Playing Style

Boubacar Kamara is primarily a defensive midfielder capable of playing as a centre-back. Commonly playing alongside Matteo Guendouzi, he completes the 2nd most passes for Marseille and leads the French league in short passes for the season. He is somewhat of a metronome, always asking and getting the ball, keeping things ticking with short, quick passes, and never dwelling on the ball for too long.

To demonstrate his 'metronomic' tendencies a little better, I took a look at how he compares to other midfielders when it comes to passes completed vs passes made under pressure from the opponent -

Kamara isn't the most progressive player in the world, but that does not mean he doesn't have it in his locker. He is at the 67th percentile for progressive passes and progressive carries in Europe's top 5 leagues for midfielders, but when it comes to just getting on the ball, he ranks in the top 4% of midfielders for passes attempted and top 5% for pass completion rate. What does this mean? He gets on the ball, and is quite safe with his passing, with the ability to break opposition lines when the opportunity arises.

Here is a viz to demonstrate his progressive ability -

As we can see, it's nothing flashy - and that summarizes his playing style perfectly. He prioritizes efficiency over everything, and keeps things really simple. His progressive passes are very right-side heavy, which is a symptom of how Marseille set up and the areas their best players occupy.

He also has a lot of punched passes towards the central part of the pitch, areas where he can find Dimitri Payet who is the chief creator for Sampaoli's side.

To further prove the point that he 'keeps it simple', let's take a look at this scatterplot -

Scaling the number of progressive passes to 'per 50 passes' helps convey the message better - while he does complete a decent amount of progressive passes in a game, he doesn't do it very frequently. He doesn't really try outlandish long balls or diagonals from one side of the pitch to another - his game is much more about ball retention and circulation.

Now, while I did say that he likes to keep things simple, here are some examples of the passes he can pull off when the time is right -

This means that there is a big chance that his passing tendencies are a reflection of coaching instructions and the way Sampaoli wants to play rather than an absence of ability to be more expansive. It still may or may not be so.

Two excellent qualities I noticed about Kamara throughout the games were his frequent scanning and his communication. Kamara is always scanning the space around him to gauge where his teammates and the opposition players are, which allows him to receive passes and either turn or just play it back in a single touch. This is a big contributing factor to his passing success % as he always knows where to pass the ball without panicking. We saw this in the earlier visualization - he is very good when it comes to making passes under pressure. A prime example of this is his game recently against PSG, where he attempted 99 (!!) passes with a 95% success rate - incredible given just how dominant Pochettino's side are in the league.

When it comes to communication, he can always be seen talking to his teammates, pointing to where an open man is, asking the defenders and the keeper to calm down and hold possession after a frantic sequence of turnovers, and always demanding the ball from his players. Given just how many times he gets on the ball too, it's fair to say his teammates trust him to not lose the ball and make the right decisions.

One little scan here before he gets the ball allows him to play the pass before he is closed down

When Marseille look to build attacks, Kamara will come toward the ball to offer himself an outlet to the centre-backs and the keeper. However, in such a situation, he'll always stand in front of the centre-backs which means he occupies one opposition attacker - subsequently opening up a different angle for the defenders to exploit if he is marked and unable to receive a pass.

If the ball goes to the full-backs, which is often a pressing trigger for the opposition, Kamara will then drop to the same line as the centre-backs to provide cover or alternatively run towards the full-back to give him a passing option, depending on the situation.

Scans 3-4 times before getting the ball, looks up to see if there is a chance to play a long ball or a diagonal, keeps it simple upon realising that's not probable instead of rushing play.

Let's now talk a little about his defensive qualities.

When Marseille are defending, he can often be seen dropping between the two Marseille centre-backs to form a back 5 -

Kamara is a good defender, and combines his ball progression ability quite well with his defensive duties -

 When adjusted for possession, his defensive numbers really pop up and put him amongst some of the best players in Europe in his age bracket. When taking a look at defensive stats, midfielders of the 'shuttler' profile often stand out - the likes of Fred and Caqueret - because they are tasked with harrowing down opposition players and are afforted the freedom to press higher up the pitch in an attempt to win the ball. It is natural for such midfielders to rack up big defensive numbers, however, Kamara having numbers this good should show how good he is at winning the ball back even from deep midfield.

Kamara defending 1v1 puts in a good tackle to win the ball, holds off the opposition player to retain possession, and then passes the ball

Let us look at where he does his defending on the pitch -

This shows how deep he wins the ball for Marseille, and how centrally he does it. If playing a 4-3-3 with a 6-8-10 (eg. Ndidi, Tielemans & Maddison) or a 6-8-8 (eg. Fabinho, Thiago, Keita) profile of midfielders, Kamara would ideally slot very well as the '6' - marshaling the midfield from deep, winning duels and circulating possession. It should be noted that some of those defensive actions also come from the games he played as a centre-back.

Areas Of Concern

Having seen all the positives Boubacar Kamara can bring to a team, it is important to discuss some things that could be a cause of concern to any club that picks him up this summer.

Firstly, it's his physicality. Standing at 5'10'', he's not really short but is not a physically imposing midfielder either. He's also quite light, weighing just 68 kgs (150 lb). He can be bullied physically and can get pushed around, however, I will say that he is deceptively good at holding off opponents. It is still something that could be a worry, especially for Premier League teams where such midfielders are usually looked down upon. 

He's also not known for his pace, and can be caught out when opposition attackers look to transition when he isn't in an optimal position already. This happens sometimes when he and Guendouzi switch positions, as Kamara does have the tendency to go further up the pitch and almost join the attackers when Marseille have possession. In such positions, he's not really 'creative' and usually tries to find the winger or fullback first.

While this is not necessarily a negative in itself, problems arise when the opposition wins the ball and quickly launches a counter-attack against Les Olympiens - a situation in which Kamara's pace doesn't allow him to fall back as quickly as you'd want from someone who is supposed to be the 'deepest' midfielder.

Finally, while trying to play progressive passes, Kamara is also prone to sometimes overhitting passes so as to make it difficult for the opposition players to intercept passes, but also making it difficult for his teammates to control the ball. Again, this is not the end of the world, and this is something almost all midfielders do from time to time, but I just felt it was worth highlighting nonetheless.

Conclusion

At 22, Kamara is certainly one of the best young defensive midfielders in the world. He's a good short passer, isn't fazed by pressure or playing in an extremely demanding system, and is very reliable on the ball. Add to this the fact that his contract expires this summer and that the Frenchman will be available on a free (and on not-crazy wages), it makes this signing a steal for any club in Europe who are looking for a midfielder of his profile.

And that's why Manchester United should seriously be looking at signing him. As of 23rd April, the two clubs who are seriously linked to him are Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa. With Erik ten Hag having been announced to be taking over the Red Devils from the start of the 2022/23 season, United could actually use someone of Kamara's profile.

Ten Hag likes his deepest midfielder to form a back 3 along with his centre-backs, especially during buildup, and anchor the midfield while other more advanced midfielders do the majority of progressive and creative work. Kamara fits this role quite well in my opinion, and would also be an instant upgrade on Scott McTominay in that role. He wouldn't hide behind opposition players like the Scottsman, and would always be an outlet when the defenders or the keeper look to build from the back. He will also help Ten Hag's side recycle possession well as they try to push the players up in an attempt to shorten the pitch as much as possible and suffocate opponents.

There is still some fine-tuning to do with him, few of which I traced out earlier. But on a free, to be a primary rotation '6' behind a starting level defensive or holding midfielder, or as an option in a pivot of two defensive-minded midfielders, this should be a no-brainer of a deal. Manchester United can get a player who now has the experience of playing in a system (and a role) which they will look to build towards under Erik ten Hag, on a free. This is one of the smartest signings any club could make this summer, and I hope that club is Manchester United.

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References - 

HITC Sport

The Guardian

FBRef

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