Scouting Insight: Kenzo Goudmijn
I’ve reviewed the Dutch midfielder’s loan spell at Excelsior, from January 2024 until the beginning of June 2024. The season concluded with Excelsior losing in the relegation play-off 7–6 on aggregate. Goudmijn played all 90 minutes in 20 of the 23 matches for Excelsior since January and was mostly commonly used as a defensive midfielder in a double-pivot.
Here’s my analysis of his strengths, weaknesses & an honest assessment of how his qualities could be better utilised…
Profile:
Name — Kenzo Goudmijn
Age — 22 years old (D.O.B 18/12/2001)
Height — 1.76m (5 feet 9 inches)
Nationality — Dutch
Club — AZ Alkmaar (loaned to Excelsior in January 2024)
23/24 Stats at Excelsior: 23 matches, 1 goal, 4 assists & 2 yellow cards
Playing Role:
He was mostly utilised in a defensive midfield double-pivot alongside Julian Baas in a 4–2–3–1 formation, but also featured in a more attacking role just ahead of the double-pivot in a 3-man midfield when they played more of a 4–2–1–3 style. He also featured once or twice in the left midfield position in a 4–2–3–1/4–3–3 formation. When in possession, Baas bombed forward more often and Excelsior had 5, or even 6, in attack with Goumijn holding the central area of the pitch alongside one of his full-backs.
Goudmijn’s role was to drop deep between the 2 CB’s who spread to the edge of the area when his GK had possession. In doing so, he was often the tasked with receiving on the half-turn and playing forward or playing back if pressured intensely. His role within the team’s set up was to be a deep-lying facilitator and play longer passes to hit a teammate in their forward run or to play out to a full-back or winger and try to launch an attack down the channels.
Technical/Tactical:
He has exceptional vision and was able to play several long, direct passes behind the full-back for his winger to run on to — often hitting them in stride with wonderful weighting. Goudmijn passes with good velocity, able to find feet with zipped passes or engage in more delicate combination plays down the right-hand side of midfield. He displayed the capability to hit different types of passes accurately, and in a plethora of scenarios, with good technique. This coupled nicely with his strong first-touch to allow him to facilitate attacks and pass & receive in a crisp manner to link defence & attack.
Something that brought him success was receiving on his back-foot when in the right-hand side half-space and taking a touch with the outside of his left foot to break inward before shooting on his left-foot from the edge of the area. If you look at his shooting map, 4 of his 5 left-footed shots come from the same portion of the pitch — highlighting his quality in changing direction, shifting his balance and driving back in towards the centre of the goal before getting the shot away.
During matches, when he was pressed aggressively he used good footwork and close control to evade the pressure and break out into space, away from the on-rushing defender. When given little time to consider his options, he instinctively uses his feet to manouvre the ball and get into a yard of space to cross/pass/shoot — which was highly impressive and created opportunities to progress where there hadn't been previously.
The Dutch midfielder was rarely given the license to attack and get into the box when he played alongside Baas, but when in a midfield 3, he was afforded more space and given opportunities to combine with the forwards more rather than being the midfield anchor. He showed evidence of a ability to deliver crosses into the box at pace and with impressive accuracy for someone who is rarely in the wider areas of the pitch.
Furthermore, his ability to shoot is rather limited — opting to drive the ball with his laces at goal almost every time. His shooting was quite sporadic and it was difficult to reach a conclusion about how accurate his shots from distance were due to deflections and good blocks from opposition defenders.
Out of Possession
In matches against ‘stronger’ opposition such as Ajax, PSV Eindhoven & AZ Alkmaar, he showed good application to press high up the pitch and try to disrupt passing patterns in the opposition half. On the other hand, there were many matches where Goudmijn and the rest of Excelsior’s team played in a low-block and tried to prevent being penetrated centrally by opposition. He looked more content in the role of cutting off passing lanes relative to when he was tasked with pressing more aggressively and man-to-man.
However, Goudmijn and his midfield partner often found themselves struggling to be effective at cutting off passing lanes and preventing line-breaking passes. There were many occasions that Goudmijn was bypassed by a direct pass through the lines to an on-rushing attacker that had burst into the gap between Excelsior’s midfield and defence. He was caught flat-footed due to poor body position and there was a noteable moment of ball watching vs Ajax which was avoidable. Tactically, there needs to be a better level of understanding between Goudmijn & his RW as to whom they are marking & responsible for. However, it’s important to acknowledge that he was beaten by a couple of excellent, line-breaking progressive passes that were largely out of his control.
Psychological:
There were several occasions that Goudmijn received the ball in the opposition half, under no significant pressure from the opposition, and his decision-making was poor. In these situations, he scanned less frequently and didn’t plan ahead for his next move, meaning that he was on-the-ball for longer than necessary and then misplaced a pass or gave the ball to a teammate who was tightly marked. If he was to scan more often and be able to process the positioning of the opposition and decide quicker, he could have progressed the ball by making a different decision. His inability to have quick, consistent decision-making concerns me and in my opinion, limits his capability to consistently progress the ball for Excelsior.
He possesses good situational intelligence of when to receive on his back-foot and roll a defender vs when to take a heavier touch inside to evade pressure. This ability comes from scanning around and getting an understanding of which opposition players and teammates are within his vicinity; which Goudmijn showed often.
Goudmijn lacks bravery when embracing for duels too, sometimes leaning away from the challenge as to avoid injury rather than going in full-blooded to win the ball & show presence physically. The lack of bravery he showed when in possession seeps through in his defensive abilities too, where he turned his back on the opposition winger who was about to cross into the box. Perhaps we can infer that he doesn’t have a particularly tough character because of this, or it may be due to the limited time he has spent playing at the intensity of the Eredivisie & his natural instinct is to turn his back.
I believe his sub-standard defensive awareness is partly caused by his tendency to want to keep the game/the ball in front of himself, leading to very limited scanning & information gathering for opposition movement.
Fundamentally, I believe that Goudmijn struggles to hide his emotions and his body language was that of exasperation at having to transition defensively at times.
Social:
Also, while he lacks notable pace, I would like to have seen him make more conscious effort to create better angles for his teammates to receive the ball. Other than dropping in between his 2 CBs, he floats around ahead of his defenders to try and receive on the turn and play forward but is often blocked off by the opposition’s guided runs when pressing. I’d like to see him recognise this and be able to create a new angle with a different kind of run or attacking other areas of space to counter-act the opposition’s lane-cutting press & receive the ball.
Physical:
Goudmijn lacks physical presence at just 5'9" but with great balance and his slightly lower centre of gravity, he was able to stay upright when dribbling and driving at defenders. He possesses an ability to accelerate well and break away from defenders when left in a 1v1 on the right-hand side of the pitch, sometimes finding himself overlapping a RW or keeping the width when played at RCM in a midfield 3. Goudmijn showed sharp, decisive body movements when on the ball in the final third, breaking past the full-back on a few occasions with his turn of pace.
There were several occasions where he got to the ball first but was quickly dispossessed in a physical tussle, usually from behind — which I think highlights his lack of information gathering through scanning at times. His inability to use his body intelligently to protect the ball is a factor that limits his effectiveness at turning defence into attack in the double-pivot too.
His lack of notable pace was evident in how slow he was to re-establish his defensive positioning when Excelsior lost the ball. His inability to react quickly was evident where he failed to track runners who made runs behind him and into the space behind either full-back, exploiting the space. Michel Vlap of FC Twente exposed this all afternoon in their 3–0 win over Excelsior in February, enjoying great success from targeting this gap behind the full-back — with the knowledge that the much slower Goudmijn was marking him man-to-man.
In addition, he is very rarely seen defending in the box due to his lack of physical presence & limited aerial/physical capabilities. Being positioned away from the box at set-pieces, both attacking and defensively, isn’t necessarily a flaw but it highlights how Excelsior have tried to limit scenarios when his physical flaws may be exposed.
Personal Judgement:
Goudmijn clearly has strong technical capabilities when in-possession, with a trademark long pass that breaks the lines and puts the winger into space or hits the forwards’ feet with their back-to-goal. His quality vision and anticipation ability felt far superior to some of his teammates and there was evidence of frustration when his teammates weren’t on the same wavelength. His decision-making has room for improvement but he is capable of improvising to get out of trouble with good footwork, balance & close control when under pressure. In addition, Goudmijn’s intensity and energy when out-of-possession requires significant improvement if he is to be considered a strong player in the Eredivisie.
If he was able to develop more finesse on his shots and broaden the range of finishes/shots that he takes, then he could become a more effective shooter from long range. I believe that the freedom of playing at RCM in a midfield 3 gives him the best opportunity to utilise his excellent vision & passing, as well as masking some of his defensive weaknesses. Furthermore, if he was played there with a RW that likes to invert, he could be utilised out wide more and be able to produce more overlaps, deep crosses and long diagonal passes that brought him some success at Excelsior. Personally, I’m intrigued to see if AZ Alkmaar loan him back out next season as he seems to be down the pecking order in a stacked midfield department at the club. I think he needs another year in the Eredivisie, playing regularly in order to have the best chance to refine his out-of-possession capabilities, tactical awareness and sharpen his decision-making.
