Nicolas Raskin, an energetic ball-winning midfielder — Scout report 23/24
Nicolas Raskin, once being a transfer target for Feyenoord to play in the midfield, has chosen for Rangers on transferdeadline day in january 2023.
How has the midfielder developed since then? Is he now an improved prospect, or does it show why Feyenoord has not taken the move at the time? Rangers have played PSV, Feyenoords rivals, in the UCL playoffs. An amazing 2-legged game to prove himself.
Contents
- Biography
- Matches scouted
- Player style
- Technical attributes
- Physical attributes
- Mental attributes
- Current level
- Potential level
Biography
- Name: Nicolas Raskin
- Date of birth: 23–02–2001
- Nationality: Belgian
- Position: Defensive midfielder / Central midfielder
- Current club: Rangers FC
- Preferred foot: Right
- Length: 179 cm
- Previous clubs: Standard Liége
- Biggest transfer: 1.5 million from Standard Liége to Rangers
Matches scouted:
- Rangers — PSV
- Ross county — Rangers
Player style
Raskin against PSV has been seen as a supporting defensive midfielder. He played centrally, but ended up in both flanks to support fellow teammates. He would not often come into a 1 on 1 situation, but often will be the second guy to support, creating a 2 on 1 and often winning the ball off an attacker who already made his move.
PSV being a more dominant side also forced this kind of play. This is the reason he was also scouted in the game against Ross county(A). A game where Rangers held 66% possession and won 0–2. Raskin seemed reliant on his teammate, only asking for the ball when he was convinced he could make an impact. Often he tries to create space by moving to the flank instead, so a central player can move inwards with the ball.
When he does receive the ball, he often already looked around for his options and tried a longer, riskier pass. Resulting in an average pass-accuracy, but more created chances.
Technical attributes
Raskin is an aggressive defensive midfielder, good in using his aggression or standing his ground to win the ball back. As mentioned earlier, he excels as a second man defender, but also barely gets beaten 1 on 1.
His forward defending raises some questions, he is aggressive and knows when he can get the ball, but for a defensive midfielder he comes late too often and ends up out of position. You could say he has average timing.
On the ball he finds his passes, but this is mainly due to his vision. He is definitely not a playmaker type, his technique is not good enough for that. Thanks to his vision he can also pick out dribble attempts and in a more offensive playstyle as against Ross County, he managed a 75% succes rate. Again not because of his technique though, just because he knows when to go.
Physical attributes
He is a perfect Rangers player, meaning he is aggressive in his duels and often ends up with the ball. He does not give up quickly. This being until he has lost one, or is too late for a challenge. He does not seem to attempt to get back in defence on time anymore, because he is simply too slow.
He is not a quick guy and in a raised tempo against a team like PSV this definitely becomes an issue. With and without the ball he is outpaced and even his smarts can’t help him here, resulting in bad challenges or lost possessions, before he can even play a pass.
This lack of pace solves itself later in the game, using his amazing stamina he is consistent for 90 minutes, gaining him tempo over his opponents in the end. By this time he has also learnt about patterns of the match, which give him the edge and gave Rangers a late game dominant phase against PSV in the first leg.
Mental attributes
You’ve got managers and trainers. Both can talk, but only one can lead. This leadership wasn’t seen by Raskin in these few games, but this could be because he is not at the club for long and there is more natural leaders at Rangers (Goldson, Cantwell). He does coach his teammates well, because ultimately he knows this makes him come better out of situations. I’m again talking about those second man situations.
He does not always rely on his teammates though. His defensive positioning is great and as long as he is already in position, he will likely gain the ball back. Issues arise if his pressing has gone wrong earlier, because even in an UCL qualifier, he is not determined to be back to block the same attack.
As mentioned earlier, his top-notch vision make him the player that he is.
Current level
Players who rely on teammates a lot, often look like they could play at any level. Sadly, this is not the case with Raskin.
Defensively he can definitely hold his position, especially in systems that drop back and don’t press high. He definitely has the energy and aggression to play in a high press, but currently he needs to improve that game if he wants to do it on a higher level.
Talking about Rangers, he is definitely in a team and league he can easily cope in. He is a player with qualities and if used right, he could even take a small step up immediately. But having joined Rangers recently, a full season with them will definitely do him well.
Potential level
The most interesting part is someones potential. In this case, this really depends on which part of his game Raskin will still improve.
As a full number 6, I can definitely see him play in a Europa League side, maybe edge Champions League. In a Simeone type system at Atletico he would definitely fit in. He is smart enough to play in a thought through system where his options are created for him, which would solve his tempo issue. He could quite easily get up to that level.
But when looking at his potential buyer-club Feyenoord, he would be looking at a box-to-box position, pressing high and playing forward. Is the potential there?
He could definitely reach it, he is smart enough to understand better pressing techniques and when done as a team I think he would not miss often. Also, this would be less of a problem when he has a 6 next to him. He has the drive to play forward and when he improves his playmaking a little, he could even be better as a box-to-box than a defensive midfielder.
He would likely never have the tempo and technique to play for a top top team in the world, but he can definitely reach higher levels. I foresee a mid-table to UEL team in a top-5 league, or a top-team in Belgium or the Netherlands for Raskin. Definitely an exciting player!