Manuel Akanji is a Swiss professional who plays as a center-back for the German giants Borussia Dortmund and the Swiss national team.
When Akanji was a youth first term player, he plied his trade with Swiss club FC Winterthur in the 2014–15 Challenge League. In 2015–16, he had joined Swiss giants FC Basel, and after playing 3 seasons for them he joined Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga in 2018.
His main position is as a center-back. But he is flexible enough to play on either left or right at center-back
He has scored 9 goals in his 10 seasons.
He has scored 3 goals for Borussia Dortmund in his five-year stay at the club. Out of the 47 shots which he took, he was able to convert only 3 of them. He has an xG of 0.09 per shot.
Akanji has made a total of 2839 passes out of which 1352 passes were successful and 1487 passes that he executed but they blocked, intercepted, or went out of bounds. Akanji has 2 key passes to his name. Akanji is capable of playing long balls. He has played 282 long passes which were successful. He ranks 94 percentile in long ball passes.
In possession, Akanji’s passing traits are highly rated, especially because of Dortmund possession-oriented playing style. His perfect long ball passes imbalance the opposition team.
From the above picture, we can see where Akanji made his passes. They are mostly in the defensive third and the middle third, rarely going to the attacking third.
Akanji is a modern center-back, who is not afraid to make successful passes to the six-yard box and trouble the defenders. Manuel ranks 87 percentile in passes he made to the penalty area.
Manuel Akanji has 1657 touches, out of which he has made 192 in his team’s defensive penalty area, 828 in the defensive third, and 886 touches in the middle third.
Akanji is a good carrier of the ball as he ranks 91 percentile. He is able to carry the ball to the opponent’s half and to their goal area.
Akanji has the ability to slow the tempo down and make quick touches or two in the middle third or defensive third. Akanji’s ability to alter tempo under different amounts of pressure will benefit him going forward.
The ex-Basel man has made most of his touches in the defensive and middle third. He amassed 88 percentile in both of them.
From the above points we can see where Akanji made his defensive actions. He has made 166 loose ball recoveries mostly in the defensive third. He has made most of the goal line clearances from the six yard box and averted the danger. The defender has made crucial interceptions mostly in the defensive and middle third.
Akanji is strong built, standing at 6’1 and 85 kgs, he is not only able to outmuscle the opponent player but beat them in pace. His main responsibility is to mark players, who are positioned in their assigned place during the game. This is to make sure that the team doesn’t concede between their midfield and defensive lines. He maintains a compact shape when pressing, and squeezes the opponent to make mistakes once he loses possession.
Akanji excels in defensive transitions and preventing opponents to begin their transitions when they receive the ball. He makes sure that he presses aggressively, so that his opponent gets dispossessed or loses the ball due to lack of space.
Akanji had made a total of 42 tackles, out of which he won 30 of them. He had made maximum tackles in the defensive third. The Dortmund man has made 38 ball interceptions and he has made 58 goal line clearances.
Akanji has applied pressure aggressively in the defensive third. He has made 114 pressures in the defensive third. Akanji also came down in the middle of the park and tried to dispossess opponents or make sure they dont have the ball to carry or pass it forward. He has made 70 pressures in the middle third.
One weakness in his game is his big and burly frame effects his agility and acceleration. He has a hard time defending in 1vs 1 situations. He often struggles in dealing with tricky and skilled opponents.They take on him at ease, when he doesn’t have control of the situation.
Even though it doesn’t happen often, it happens against top-level opponents like Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Kingsley Coman and players of that type. He has not mastered the ability to anticipate the situation early. If he works on his weaknesses he can be one of the best center-backs in this business.
Manchester United are thought to be interested in taking Akanji to Old Trafford.
Looking at his defensive stats, Akanji ranks ahead of all Man utd players. With a new manager coming in, either Pochettino or Erik Ten Hag, they will bring defensive reinforcements for sure.
