This is part of a series of player and opposition Video scouting reports. If you’re looking to source my video scouting expertise for your club or organization you can reach out to me at laioketomisin9@gmail.com or on twitter @_tomlinsin_. In this report, I analyze Rayo Vallecano defender Abdul Mumin, highlighting his strengths, weaknesses and current overall abilities.

Profile

Khalid Abdul Mumin Suleman, commonly known as Abdul Mumin, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a center-back for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano. Abdul Mumin underwent his youth development with Right to Dream Academy where he played an important role in their U18 squad’s back-to-back triumphs in the Gothia Cup tournaments (2014 and 2015). 

Mumin signed a professional contract with Danish Superliga side FC Nordsjælland, and joined their U19 squad in August 2016. He then went on loan to Danish 1st Division club HB Køge in January 2018, before signing a four-year contract with Portuguese Primeira Liga club Vitória S.C in August 2020. He recently made his most recent move to La Liga side Rayo Vallecano on the 1st of September, 2022, where he has made 26 appearances.

Injury History

Strengths

Defensive Awareness

Having a strong defensive awareness is one of Mumin’s biggest qualities, and he ensures this with two skill sets: scanning and physical touch. Mumin is always on his toes, scanning and looking out for any opposition trying to make runs beyond him or into space. 

Secondly, Mumin always makes sure to place his hands on the players he is marking (holding or jostling with them) to always have a feel for where they are when he decides to take his eyes off them and look at the ball. This helps him get the best of both worlds because instead of focusing on the ball and losing his marker or focusing on his marker and not knowing what is happening with the ball, he is able to give his attention to both, in the best way possible.

Anticipating And Breaking Up Play

Abdul Mumin constantly keeping his head on a swivel means he can anticipate different plays before they happen. Once he spots a player peeling into space, he can take a few steps to get closer to them so that he’s right on them once they receive the ball. Due to this ability, it is usually rather easy for Abdul to break up play and win the ball back for his team since he is already a step ahead of play.

Strong In Defensive Tackles

Abdul knows how to put his body about, using huge strength to make hard tackles. Due to his immense upper body strength and strong conviction when going for tackles, he is usually able to shrug opposition players into mistakes or loose passes, even when he is not able to win the ball, the little body checks/shoulder barges help his team win possession back. 

Soft, Quick Passing

Abdul never dwells on the ball too long, usually releasing fast, short and vertical ground passes immediately he receives the ball to speed play up and let the game flow, instead of holding onto the ball and slowing down the game. This helps his team attack very quickly and does not give the opposition team any time to settle or get back into their defensive shape. Although, in Rayo Vallecano’s 4–2–3–1 formation, it is usually LCB who does a lot of on-the-ball work, Mumin is also usually able to come out with accurate long and short passes every now and then.

No-nonsense Clearances

When Abdul’s team find themselves under the cosh, he always manages to come out with long, no-nonsense clearances that relieves pressure for his team, and pushes them up a few yards.

Weaknesses

Occasional Defensive Indecision

On some occasions, when Mumin steps out of his defensive line to intercept play or try slowing the opposition’s progress down, he only manages to stop ball carrying by blocking a vertical run by the opposition player on the ball, but he doesn’t cover his surroundings well enough which sometimes leads to him being bypassed by simple forward passes.

Releasing The Ball Too Early 

Abdul is often fond of releasing the ball a tad too early sometimes, this leads to misplaced/rushed passes that often don’t get to the intended targets, leading to more pressure on his team.

Getting Sucked Into Challenges

Mumin likes to hold off his markers before they receive the ball so as to get a feel of where they are, but sometimes, this may result in him being dragged into uncomfortable situations that can affect the team. In the example below, he was forced into extending the offside line which could have affected his team negatively.

GRADING

Current Ability:

A club/level of club where the player has the qualities to play at least 70% of available minutes right now.

4/10 — A team in and around the relegation battle in the Premier League.

1. Luton
2. Sheffield United
3. Burnley

Potential Ability

A club/level of club where the player has the qualities to play at least 70% of available minutes at his career peak.

5/10 — A mid-table side in the Premier League or Ligue 1.

1. Everton
2. Rennes
3. Reims

Summary

Abdul Mumin is a very well-rounded defender player, who doesn’t particularly excel strongly at many things. He has a lot of strong defensive qualities in his repertoire allowing him to remain on top of defensive situations. His biggest strength though, is his anticipation and reading of play, allowing him to win possession back very quickly for his team. Reaching the next step of his career will see him have to develop his work on the ball and moderate the eagerness he often shows in stepping out of position.

By: Tomisin Lai-Oke / @_tomlinsin_

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Denis Doyle / Getty Images