Houssem Aouar — The ENIGMA
Today we look at one of France’s unpolished gems. A Player some Arsenal fans fell in love with last summer but one on which the majority is still undecided. A player I like to call the DISRUPTOR.
Aouar pronounced “Ow-arr” is one of the most talented advanced midfielders of his generation. Blessed with superb technique, deceptive physicality, a smart mind and an unbelievable half turn, the young Frenchman has been touted for great things since his teenage years.
Lyon have utilized Aouar in quite a few different positions (#10, AML, CM) but the left half-space area is where he spends most of his time on the pitch (When his team has the ball, ofc)
The following radar Displays his Passing and Ball Progression ability.
Passing and Ball Progression
Aouar is a fantastic ball progressor when compared to other attacking midfielders. Only 2 players have better Pass Completion % whereas only 4 complete more passes into the Final 3rd than Aouar (In our comparison group which consists of 55 players). This displays his superb efficiency and ball retaining ability alongside his verticality.
Fun fact: Every player completing more Prog pass/ Pass into the Final 3rd than Aouar have a much lower pass completion % than our man.
One thing he needs to work on is increasing the volume of his key passes. Aouar is only completing 1.25 key passes per game which is way too small when you look at the talent he possesses.
SCA & Ball Carrying
As the radar shows, Aoaur is quite good at carrying the ball and decent in SCA. He’s got a high percentile rating from SCA-shots which indicates when he takes shots, they create panic even if they don’t go in.
Ball Carrying is also another one of Aouar’s strengths. He looks slim and light, but he’s got good deceptive pace and strength. More importantly, he can ride challenges and contest shoulder to shoulder when running with the ball. Aouar’s ball carrying is beautifully displayed in attacking transitions and is also when it is the most effective.
On top of that, Aouar completes 2.69 dribbles per90 which puts him at rank 5 in our group. Messi for comparison purposes is completing 2.9. Aouar’s no touchline winger and most of his dribbles come in central areas but when required he can beat a man 1v1 from a standing position.
Attacking
It would be fair to say Aoaur is more an attacker than a midfielder. He excels in the second and third phases.
His best abilities are utilized when he has his back to the goal. Quite like Bernardo Silva (more on this later). He has averaged about 10–11 league goal contributions for nearly 5 years. And only once in the last 5 years has he racked up more assists than goals (league only). There’s a clear pattern here. Aoaur scores goals. I’m sure you’ve all seen the comps. He’s got some good ones under his belt, hasn’t he! Aoaur likes to attack the box from time to time. He is no Ramsey who rushes in at every opportunity but someone who picks his moments.
What is also clear is his poor contribution in terms of xA, Assists and Completed Crosses. I have watched him quite extensively these past few days. And I don’t think increasing these numbers should be a big problem for him. The issue here is not his execution. The issue is him not attempting these killer passes and half-space crosses. He’s got the technique, my eye test confirms that, he just needs to start doing it more. Often when he has the ball in and around the 18-yard box he looks for a give-and-go or to release a runner into space who can then attempt the final pass/cross.
Defending
I had heard a lot of “Aoaur offers nothing without the ball” nonsense and it may have been true in the past, but it sure hasn’t been the case this season. For example — This season he has made more tackles, interceptions and recoveries compared to the 2 seasons before that.
I would class him as someone with an above-average work rate. I won’t bother with successful pressures as they are highly dependent on the manager’s tactics, but he certainly must improve on his pressure success rate. It stands at an abysmal 24% and is in the bottom 25 percentile among his peers. His aerial duel win rate is also quite low but something that is rather expected from a player of his physical stature.
Overall
As you can see in the radar below, Aouar is a good progressor of the ball, a good carrier, has got decent goal contributions and is a below-average defender.
But what is it that excites me and a select few so much about this Frenchman? Why did I call him a disruptor and why do I liken him to Bernardo Silva?
Simply for the following reasons-
His insane ability to turn with the ball. One of if not the best in Europe. It’s like he’s got superhuman hip flexibility. One moment he’s there with his back to goal, next moment he’s turned you like hot chocolate (I know it doesn’t make sense, right? Thats what the defenders think too). To complement that, he is super calm under pressure and extremely agile. A deadly combo.
And that is exactly why I call him a DISRUPTOR. You put him in a square box 4 feet by 4, he will find space to turn and play the ball forward/carry/wtv. A player like this is a dream for JdP coaches. Because these players earn their keep by disrupting opposition defences, especially low blocks. It is why Pep singled him out for praise when he was 20. It is why Arteta was showing so much interest in him. It is why he is bound to succeed and become a world-class player as long as he keeps working hard. Eventually, a top coach is bound to sign him and make him explode (insert Jose Mourinho clip here)
A player like Aoaur not only acts as a superb half-space attacker but also a great press releaser against high-pressing sides (Like B. Silva again) He drops into spaces, plays simple one-touch passes and gets on with it. Most importantly he does not lose the ball in these situations, even under pressure.
Physically he has improved as well. You can see he’s been hitting the gym and getting in those calories. Shows a player who is committed and wants to get better.
Key Areas he needs to improve upon-
1 — Final Ball: As discussed above, more of a volume problem than a qualitative one. Should not take much time and practice before he starts racking up those numbers. They don’t have to be astronomical as his quality as a disruptor is enough to get him a starting position in most Possession sides but to play for a top team he must add quality to his bag as well.
2 — Suboptimal work rate in defensive transitions: I said before that Aoaur is an above-average worker. And that still holds true. But sometimes you find him slacking on during defensive transitions. One such example is seen below. Only 1 player in the clip is not busting his lungs out to get back. Guess who? Let me be clear, it’s a sometimes issue and not an all-the-time issue.
Fit for Arsenal:
Once being touted for 55 million, Aouar is reportedly available for a paltry 15 million now. His performances have improved, he’s got more experience, captained the side on many occasions and is still just 23 (will be 24 soon). This is what I call a market opportunity. If I were Edu, I would be trying my very best to sign Aouar. His stock is also at an all-time low so wages shouldn’t be that big of a problem either. As explained above, Aouar is a dream for JdP coaches. His insane ability and composure in the half-spaces is rare.
Arteta has shown that he prefers the 4–3–3 with 2 advanced midfielders or Free #8s. We are in the market for a Left-sided Free #8. Aouar is a Left-sided Free #8 available for cheap. Everything has lined up perfectly for us to grab this market opportunity.
We need to have better control in the Final 3rd as well as sustain more attacks. Aouar offers us exactly that. Up until now, Xhaka has been playing there and I kid you not, it’s unpleasant to the eye watching Xhaka try and turn in the final 3rd. This is in no way a slight towards Xhaka. He has had an excellent season playing as a left-sided CM in a pivot. That is his best position but that’s not the way forward for Arsenal. Xhaka is very effective in the 1st and 2nd phase of play but below average in the 3rd, we need someone who excels in the 2nd and 3rd phases and is okay in the 1st. Welcome, Aouar.
Even if we do end up getting Tielemans, Aouar is still a no-brainer signing for me. A midfield unit of Partey, Tielemans, Odegaard, Aouar, Sambi, ESR, Patino (taking over Xhaka’s position soon) is elite in every aspect and against every opposition out there. I like Xhaka but I think this window, the project will (and should) surpass him. Sell him while his stock is high and freaking SIGN AOUAR.
Thanks for reading, please share this with your friends and Aouar stans if you know any.
Also, give me i.e @Wanalyst007 a follow on the bird app.
Below you can find his overall radars compared with a similar profile of players.
Disclaimer — All data used for the radar plots is normalized to per 90. Then further normalized to percentile ranks among Ligue 1 attacking midfielders to play at least 1000 minutes in the 21–22 season. All stats here refer to successful events. For ex- Pass means a succ pass, tackle means a succ tackle and so on. The percentile for PL players here (ESR, Maddison and Payet are calculated using PL statistics)