Why Bahoya’s profile is so in-demand
Premier League managers are being forced to come up with new solutions to combat the craze of man-to-man marking that has swept the English top-flight. The challenge is breaking the defensive chain, because once you do, more often than not, chaos ensues.
Having a player with the capacity to consistently beat their man is kryptonite against man-to-man marking. Only four Premier League players completed more take-ons per 90 in the league last season than Bahoya, while only two outperformed him in the Bundesliga.
Jeremy Doku is the gold standard for this metric. The word often associated with the Belgium winger is “unpredictable”, and that is exactly how Bahoya’s U17s coach at Angers describes the 21-year-old.
Like Doku, Bahoya’s unpredictability is not limited to his one-vs-one supremacy. “He can make runs from deep, play between the lines, and wide on the touchline,” Manu Guidicelli tells Sky Sports. “He can go right or left for a dribble – and above all, he can finish the actions.”
Having the capacity to drag your marker into areas of the pitch they do not want to be is another effective method of unlocking man-to-man marking. Guidicelli taught Bahoya how he could exploit his speed advantage in these scenarios at Angers.
“We made him understand he had this ability, and he quickly understood,” says Guidicelli, who highlighted Bahoya’s footballing IQ as one of his strengths, “and then he scored more goals. When he made those runs from deep, it was hard for defenders to catch up with him.”
Asked about Bahoya’s acceleration, Dina Ebimbe says: “It’s too much. Maybe you can catch him after a while, but at the start, you’re definitely not going to see him again. His steps are so quick and he can change direction very fast.”
Winning duels and making interceptions can be an even more effective way of creating an offensive advantage. Bahoya has made this another strength in his game after a lot of work since arriving in Frankfurt.
“He works a lot in the gym,” says Dina Ebimbe. “It changed everything for him because he was too slight when he joined. Everyone pushed him. He was always on the floor. He started work in the gym, and last season we saw his body was really different.”
Bahoya ranked in the top 11 per cent for duels won per 90 (8.9) and top 10 per cent for interceptions per 90 (0.88) among wingers in Europe’s top five leagues last season. His 2.1 tackles per 90 also placed him in the top 13 per cent of that same group.
“Jean-Matteo, in the athletic point, he’s really top,” says Dina Ebimbe. “He can run and make a lot of sprints. He’s one of the fastest players in this league. And now he’s becoming stronger.”
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