Since joining Roma for a fee of just under €30 million, Marash Kumbulla has not shown the potential he was destined for, which led to him being loaned out the past 6 months to Sassuolo where he had limited game time. Nonetheless, now at Espanyol, he has participated in every match since he joined and has given good performances at the newly promoted side. In this article, we will be investigating Marash Kumbulla and how he has performed so far this season.

Name: Marash Kumbulla

Position: Center Back

Country: Albania

Age: 24

Height: 191cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Kumbulla began his career at Hellas Verona where he spent 2 seasons in the first team before being signed by Roma at first on loan and then permanently for €27 million. After two seasons and a half, he was loaned out to Sassuolo for 6 months and is now on loan at Espanyol.

Forward Passing

Forward passes are crucial for center-backs as they are the ones who have to initiate the play.

Here we can observe that Kumbulla is a player who is comfortable on the ball and has great technique as he is above the average both in forward passes attempted and precision. This is something that is put to great use at Espanyol as they are a possession-based side and the center-backs are counted upon to play the ball forward.

Kumbulla is a player who is rather comfortable on the ball, nonetheless, he does not prioritize it and is not the type of player who is not comfortable playing out from the back with pressure on him. Also, he is very secure in possession and minimizes any risks with passes through the middle as he usually looks to play the full-backs or the wingers.

Progressive Passing

This passing metric gives us more depth into the danger of each player’s passing rather than just passing the ball forward 5m. This is because this metric only includes more specific passes such as a pass 10m closer to the opposition goal if the pass comes from the opposition side of the pitch.

In this image, we can observe that Kumbulla has great precision in completing progressive passes, nonetheless, he does not attempt these very often. However, he has the potential to be a great player on the ball as he does have a high precision with similar numbers to those of Antonio Rudiger of Real Madrid or Natan from Betis.

Passing

How many passes a center-back makes tells us how involved he is in possession and if he is comfortable on the ball.

This image tells us that despite Kumbulla being a center back in a possession-based team, he is not very involved in the build-up of his team. This shows us that perhaps he is not as comfortable on the ball and he leaves progressing the ball to other players such as the midfielders.

Defensive Duels

Dominating defensive duels is essential for any defender, as their fundamental purpose is to defend his goal, and for that, winning duels is key.

Thanks to this graph, we can say that Kumbulla has excellent defensive capabilities, being above average in both those participated in and his success rate. This is clearly something that is essential for Espanyol as for a newly promoted side, conceding few goals is crucial to stay in the first division and Kumbulla has proven to be very solid.

In the video footage, we can observe that Kumbulla is very aggressive with his marker and likes to be physical so the opposition player cannot feel comfortable. We often see this, when the striker receives the ball with his back to goal and in duels.

Aerial Duels

Aerial duels are essential for any defender who wants to succeed and even more, for those who press high and recover the ball up the pitch, as the opposing team will look to play long, and for that, aerial duels are required.

With this image, we can identify that Kumbulla participates in many aerial duels, however, his success rate is not that high. Nonetheless, considering he has similar numbers to players like Éder Militão of Real Madrid and César Tárrega of Valencia who are both excellent in the air, we can say that his case must be similar where the data does not portray the reality, meaning that in the air he is dominant.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Marash Kumbulla is a player who faces issues in a possession-based side as he does not have the ability to play passes under pressure, but rather he kicks the ball up the field. In addition, he is incapable of making intricate passes between the lines and is usually limited to playing with the closest players around him like the full-back or the center-back.

Nonetheless, he is a very aggressive and effective defender who knows how to use his body to annoy the attacker and win his duels. In addition, in the air he is very capable and does not have any issues whatsoever in these situations, so considering these qualities he would be more effective in a more defensive side. However, he has been playing well for Espanyol seeing as they lack defenders who have that physical presence necessary in possession-based sides.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto