Moise Kean’s Redemption Season at Fiorentina
It has been eight years since Moise Kean became Juventus’ youngest-ever debutant as well as the first player born in the 2000s to play in one of Europe’s top five leagues and the UEFA Champions League, winning a domestic double in his first season before heading out on loan to Hellas Verona. Since then, Kean has bounced around from Juventus to Everton to Paris Saint-Germain to Juventus again. He looked set to join Atlético Madrid on loan in January 2024, only for a medical to reveal that his tibia injury was three weeks away from healing.
Kean has struggled to live up to the early form that saw him make his senior debut for Italy at 18 as well as as be shortlisted as one of the 10 nominees for the 2019 Kopa Trophy, given to the best-performing youngster in Europe. However, as he approaches 25 years of age, it seems that Kean is finally finding his mojo and making the transition from an eternal golden boy to a seasoned striker who can deliver at the highest level.
The Piedmont native is a versatile and active attacker who moves between the lines to offer himself to his teammates and generate a more dynamic offensive game. His blistering speed and dribbling skills make him a nightmare for defenders on the counterattack, and he also has great static dribbling that is very useful against rivals who close down the space. He has an elite change of pace accompanied by his dribbling on the run to reach the box and finish the play, one of his greatest virtues.
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Kean’s great finishing skills are characterized by his exemplary first touch, the main soul of any penalty area killer. As far as his demarcation is concerned, he almost always moves along the central lane, although he can also do so on the left wing due to his great ball control with his right foot.
One of Kean’s greatest assets is his ability to play on the counterattack. His speed allows him to use the spaces generated by the team’s quick transitions. Having played in teams with fast and creative players, such as Juventus or PSG, Kean has benefited from having the opportunity to make use of quick runs into the opposition box.
Although his primary role is to score goals, Kean is also a defensive workhorse. His ability to press defenders and goalkeepers is a positive aspect of his game, especially in teams that implement a high-pressing game like Palladino’s Fiorentina. Kean is a great striker who, if he improves a few points, will be one of the best “9”s in Serie A.
Despite his great potential, Kean has struggled with consistency in his career. On several occasions, he has had streaks of good games followed by periods in which he has been seen less involved. Improving his consistency and finding greater stability in his performance would be crucial to his evolution as an elite striker, which is why his time at Fiorentina is proving so important to his career.
Another area to improve is his hasty decision-making in front of goal, which leads him to miss clear chances or make incorrect passes. Improving his composure in finishing situations and his vision in the final metres could make him even more lethal.
Palladino was a Serie A and Serie B striker who spent part of his training in the youth teams of Juventus… He knows the way and no one better than him to enhance an attacker like Moise Kean. One area Moise Kean needs to work on is the consistency of his performance.
Although he is a player with enormous potential, his level of play sometimes varies. Palladino, known for his ability to motivate and develop players, could help Kean to be more consistent in his performance and to be more decisive in key moments, especially in important matches, which is a fundamental piece in high-competition football.
His Fiorentina side have played two systems on paper: 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, in both of which the ex-Everton striker has been boosted by the style that Palladino brings to the team’s play. The former Monza player likes to play possession football. Although he does not seek a full possession style of play like teams like Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Palladino tends to go for controlled football, where possession of the ball is key to disorganising opposing defences.
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Palladino likes his teams to build from the back with patience, using quick circulation of the ball to wear down and find spaces between the opposing lines. This also allows him to dominate the defensive phase, minimising quick transitions by the opposing team. Although Palladino prefers ball control, he is also aware of the importance of high pressing and quick ball recovery in advanced areas of the pitch.
His players are expected to apply intense pressure on the opposition when they lose the ball, looking to quickly regain possession and launch quick attacks. However, he also knows when to retreat and fall back, depending on the circumstances of the match. Despite having heavy focus on possession, Palladino highly values quick transitions, especially when his team wins the ball back.
His teams are often lethal on the counterattack, with players exploiting spaces and attacking directly at the opposition goal. Palladino has shown a balanced approach between positional play and counterattacking, and does not hesitate to switch to a more vertical and direct mentality when the circumstances require it.
If we analyse the style of his coach, Kean is an ideal fit for this Fiorentina team, helping to enhance those spaces between the opposition lines, helping a lot in high pressing which makes it very difficult for their opponent to get out of the game. Palladino values the versatility of his players and the ability to move fluidly on the pitch. Kean, with his ability to play not only as a centre forward, but also in more wide positions (on the wing or as a second striker), adapts well to this demand.
While he is most effective as a centre-forward, his mobility and ability to drop wide or move between the lines allows him to vary his position and unsettle opposing defences. This kind of versatility also suits Palladino’s flexible approach, who does not limit himself to a single tactical scheme.
One of Kean’s most important qualities is his ability to finish with both feet and his instinct for scoring. In Palladino’s style of creating chances through ball circulation and running wide, Kean is being very effective at getting out of the box quickly and taking advantage of through balls or crosses from teammates.
His presence in the box and ability to take advantage of rebounds or through balls is fundamental to Palladino’s game, which combines control and chance creation with direct play towards goal. Palladino’s Fiorentina combine controlled possession with moments of quick transitions into attack.
Moise Kean is an explosive player who, with his speed and ability to get out of the box, is ideally suited to exploit these transitions. When the team wins the ball back, Kean is capable of making vertical runs towards the opposition goal, taking advantage of the spaces left by the defences.
This characteristic makes him a key player in the vertical playing system that Palladino is looking to implement, as Kean can receive long or through balls and finish plays quickly. Moise Kean fits well into Raffaele Palladino’s style of play thanks to his ability to press high, his speed in transitions and his ability to break free and finish plays.
Kean’s versatility allows him to adapt to different formations and roles within the tactical system, while his ability to exploit spaces on the counterattack is complemented by Palladino’s mentality of playing fast and taking advantage of moments of opposition disorganization. Although his consistency and decision-making in certain situations may be areas for improvement, Palladino’s flexible and developmental approach could be key to Kean exploiting his full potential in the manager’s tactical scheme.
Having amassed 14 goals and 3 assists across 104 appearances in the last three seasons (including zero goal contributions in 20 appearances last season with Juventus), Kean has already racked up an impressive 11 goals and 1 assist in 14 appearances for La Viola. He’s hit double figures for the second time in his career, after previously scoring 19 goals in 45 appearances in 2020/21, and after scoring six goals in his last three matches, he’ll be looking to pick up where he left off and lead Fiorentina into a busy holiday period.
By: Brian Guevara / @Brianguevarag
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Aurelien Meunier – PSG