Tarik Muharemović
vs AC Milan
First half.
Contextually, in this game, Sassuolo are set up to give Matić the ball. Everything goes through him, and he sets the tempo. He sits just in front of the back two, sometimes dropping into a back three with the two CBs splitting. Muharemović, with the ball at his feet, hasn’t needed to be expansive; he doesn’t need to carry the ball or punch it through central areas because, well, he doesn’t need to. What he instead opted for was crisp passes wide with the perfect weight. Whilst these players were wide open to receive the pass, centre-backs don’t always get the weight of the pass right, and in this first half, the Bosnian got it out of his feet and played it more or less every time to whoever was on the left side of him. There was one hairy moment, in which he panicked and tried to overcompensate with a pass, but the ball into him was a hospital pass regardless.
Defensively, from a physical battle standpoint, he’s not been tested in this first half up against Nkunku, added to the fact that Milan went down to 10 men early on with Tomori getting sent off. But there are still interesting details you pick up on the centre-back when he’s defending crossing situations and turnover situations.
Crossing situations: He’s proactive. Rather than looking to hold a line or to stay compact with his teammates, he’s predicting where the ball will go and makes moves to go into that area even if the ball doesn’t arrive there, but has quick footwork, which allows him to readjust his position within the box too. He’s also constantly looking over his shoulder to get a feel for the attacker, and where he might go rather than wait and then go with, he wants to be a step ahead. Now that could come with its own problems in a quicker league like the Premier League because there’s a fine line between proactive and rash - the Sassuolo man in this first half was on the good side of that.
In the 10th minute, I think it perfectly encapsulates him as a centre back. Two quick scans behind him, waits for the Milan midfielder to wind his leg back and attempts to read the pass diagonally into Nkunku - the stance of Muharemović in this specific play was telling.
He’s got an eye on a runner within his proximity to take that out of the game for the opposition.
His 1v1 defending when an ongoing Milan player stood out the most this half. Going back to the footwork, he kept the same speed whilst turning his body to keep an eye on the ball. Knees bent, lowered shoulders, eye on the ball, then make a decision, and every decision was right.
Second half.
This was a formality in the second half, especially on the ball. He kept it simple and ticking over; 5-10 yard passes here and there. No carries, no central passes, all sideways and short to keep the ball.
In terms of reading the game and when required to intercept, he did that well. Throughout the entire game, he’s got this part of defending correct.
There is something I have noticed, though, and this might only be applied to this game, as I’ve not watched him extensively beyond this 90-minute match. But he drops very deep and regularly plays forwards onside. I don’t know if that’s because he’s personally noticed a move the attacker makes, or his default setting, also known as a bad habit, is to retreat to the box and close the distance from the keeper to delivery of the ball. He gets away with it vs Milan, and he nearly misjudged the flight of the ball because he dropped so deep, but it’s something that, if it stays consistent in his game, will be a hindrance to his team if he gets a move to a better quality league than Serie A.
Vs Genoa
First half.
Defensively, he struggled. When being a proactive defender, you have to make sure your judgment is correct because you isolate yourself as the only defender in that moment. He got caught under the ball a few times, and he’s tried to get in front of his man to intercept the ball with grass ahead of him = the forward getting away and either winning a foul or a potential chance on goal. He’s not absolutely rapid, but he’s got large strides, which allow him to catch up and make last-ditch tackles to make up for an error. This time, because the line Sassuolo was playing was a high one, he had more ground to cover, which he couldn’t get back in time.
His passing again, outside of one nice clipped ball to a runner, was more often than not safe to the left back. He values retention over risk, which is fine for a centre-back.
As I mentioned vs Milan, he tends to drop deeper in crossing situations or in settled possession for the other team. In this first half, he dropped back quite a fair bit to anticipate a run beyond him or a cross close to the keeper. I can only speculate why he does this, but I would guess that he doesn’t have to engage in a physical battle and can clear/mop up cleanly. The issues will arise if he keeps players onside too often. He again, though, hasn’t been tested aerially in this opening 45, as Genoa have two small 9s who prefer to run in behind rather than contest for high balls.
Second half.
I’ll be honest, not much happened between the two sides, especially going forward - a lot of huffing and puffing. The Bosnian on the ball was again, favouring retention over expansion. However, there was one pass he made in the second half in which he hit a perfect long ball to Pinamonti, who was ultimately flagged offside. But in the main, he doesn’t go for these passes when they’re on.
There is also another moment where the space opens up for him, and he carries it with speed. Again, another thing he just hasn’t done so far. But he then panicked because he hesitated on the pass and ended up passing it backwards quite awkwardly.
More of the same in the second half defensively. He’s heavily ball-focused, so he rarely watches the player in proximity to him which can sometimes mean he’s ball watching because well.. he is. He’s got some habits that have reared their head in both games vs Milan and Genoa. Firstly, dropping deep and secondly, overcompensating to try and win the ball, which = a foul, chance conceded and space in the middle. He’s shown to me so far he’s a live on the edge centre back. He also hasn’t been tested aerially yet, either in this second half. Former Leeds striker Caleb Ekuban came on and didn’t jump at all, so that was pointless.
Vs Lazio
First half.
By far the most impressed I’ve been of Muharemović so far. He still isn’t that dreamy progressive passer centrally, but he, in this first half, played lovely, punchy passes to the wingback or winger and utilised his clean long ball passing technique to the opposite flank. The technique is there, the weight of his pass is there, the confidence to change pass selection isn’t there - to me, that’s easily fixable under the right coach. If you have the tools to do it, but can’t, that’s simply a mentality issue that can be solved through comfort.
You can tell manager Fabio Grosso is properly leaning into the central defender’s instincts of being aggressive in his actions. In this game, he’s been tasked with man-marking Guendouzi and following him as soon as the ball reaches past the halfway line, and doing a very good job too. Winning the majority of duels with his style of defending, again, being low shoulders and watching the ball in proximity. Because he can shift his body left to right quickly, his size, power and understanding of how to use this means he is very good at winning ground duels.
Second half.
In possession, there are two passes I want to bring up. One of them is his favourite, which is the punch pass to the left back. I’ve mentioned this many a time before, but if he can do this at that speed and that weight, there’s again, no reason why he can’t make these passes to central players way more often.
Do this more!!! Granted the gap is wide open for him to do it - but he has the ability in his locker, and the more he does it, the weapon he could become in his team would go up tenfold. To be able to play passes like that, in two different but effective zones of the pitch, makes your team much more adept at getting into good attacking areas of the pitch.
I think what is abundantly clear is this man is very, very front-footed in his defending and doesn’t really attempt many aerial duels, or contested aerial duels for that matter. He wants to get ahead of the marker or predict where the ball is landing when the ball is again in settled possession. This game was played in September too - so there’s a slight difference in his approach to runners in the two games towards the end of the season. When the ball was central, he would step up; when the ball was in a deep crossing zone, he would drop back deeper than his line. He’s all about anticipation. He nailed it vs Lazio, it was a fairly complete performance from the centre back.
Vs Juventus
First half.
I want to point something out first, and it’s something I’ve noticed he does - while it’s not a hindrance, so to speak, it might be an issue if he moves to the Premier League up against more aerially dominant attackers. So, in three aerial contests he’s made in this game, he’s jumped with both feet. I’ve spoken about this before but jumping with both feet limits your spring, and you can’t get to your true leap quickly enough, and you’re capped at a certain height. Now, given he’s 6’5, it’s not a huge issue - but if the timing is wrong, which will happen, and he’s not exactly colossus in the air, hovering around the 64% mark career-wise, which is still good, but it’s in a league where most of the 9s are fairly small or not that type of striker. I still expect him to win the majority of his aerial battles, but this is just something to keep an eye on.
He’s also standing deep again. I think at this point, this is what he does, and it’s his way of combating what he perceives to be his own weakness of defending the box in a battle and wants to get ahead of the play.
Passing-wise, it’s what you’d expect. Kept it simple 90% of the time and then showed his long passing ability, and playing it wide under the perfect weight ability, too.
There’s a moment of defending I really liked from him in around the 19th minute where he’s way high the ball all the way, and following the run of Boga - realises that’s covered and stops running himself to turn and block the potential shot of Weston McKennie, which leads to Sassuolo clearing the ball. Split-second decision-making like that is always a big green tick in my box.
Second half.
Sassuolo are very good at shutting games down. Well, from the games I’ve tuned into anyway. This second half was effectively them getting an equaliser and then Juventus playing pointless passes wide and doing pretty much nothing with it until they got a dubious penalty, which Muric saved anyway. He was back to his usual task of man-marking players that came into his proximity and jumping as soon as the ball was played.
There are two clips in the second half that I want to focus on that I enjoyed. They’re combined, but the first example of the 23-year-old’s defending in a nutshell is the opening 13 or so seconds of the clip. Ball goes wide = he drops deeper. Realises the ball will be recycled back centrally and then steps up. Starts to follow the run of the spare man (15) on his left as he sees Garcia is on the wrong side, but then scans again to see the ball going the other side - jumps up again and closes the angle so a ball can’t be played through and Sassuolo clear. The second clip is him retreating to the box as Juventus are on a break - again becomes deep in the box - notices Weston McKennie behind him free as a bird, but also sees Jeremy Boga making a near post dart and decides to follow that to then eventually get a big long touch and clear the ball.
Player conclusion.
Physically, Muharemović is a match for anyone. Whilst his style of defending is not to get touch tight or engage in being rough with the attacker, he can hold his own when it comes to simply holding an attacker or barging them off the ball. Because of the nature of this style, though, he can be caught wanting when he’s aggressive and charges out, which in a better league like the Premier League, will expose some of his decisions to be front-footed, and that idea of the line being either proactive or rash, you tip that in the rash favour. I think if he can harness that slightly more, and rather than looking to dive in, stay on your feet and usher the danger away. He does struggle against more shifty attackers, too. Kenan Yıldız and Vitinha for Genoa both got down the sides of him by making him go side on to the ball and quickly shifting the ball outside.
He’s good in both boxes, though. Despite my concerns about jumping technique, ultimately, he’s a massive fucker that’s fairly agile for his height, and his anticipation of where the ball will be is top-notch. I do have some concerns when he goes to drop deep and be behind his line = conceding goals from in-swinging crosses if he doesn’t get the timing right of his jump, and keeping attackers onside in the process.
His on-ball is what bugs me the most. I’m not saying he can’t progress the ball - it’s more than that, and he’s got the ability to do so, but doesn’t. He’s a crisp, clean passer. He’s Sassuolo coded with the ball rolling, studs on the ball, fizz it wide. Good-not-great long passer too (inconsistent, but again, technique is there), but he doesn’t do it. It’s the same with his carrying. You’re rangy, powerful and have speed; you have it in you to be an almost complete centre back. Maybe that comes with time, maybe it doesn’t. You know what it reminds me of. The song “Tears in Heaven “ by Eric Clapton. Unbelievably written from the words to the choice of actual music, but the voice is a bit eh - but everything around it is great. We need this Bosnian brute to improve his voice.
Move to Leeds United.
As far as Struijk replacements go, I think they’ve done well here from a player profile standpoint and a cost standpoint (£34m package). Performance-wise, I think he’s currently a touch behind Struijk, but, crucially, I think he can go beyond what the Belgian-born defender can do. Main reason being the fit into the team - again, that’s not me saying Struijk was a bad fit - but I do think in this current iteration of the Premier League, and where this Leeds side looks to be going, Muharemović is an upgrade. At Sassuolo, he played in a back four. But to me, to get the best out of him, he suits a back three down to a tee. Has cover behind, so he can be aggressive in his defending. Means he can play his favourite pass to the left wing back who’s high and wide on the left flank, and has the option to play a clipped/long ball to the left winger down the line, which he also likes to do. Football will always be about hiding weakness and extrapolating strength, and putting him on the left side of a back three does this. We already know Leeds are building a team that can handle set pieces too, and that’s something Muharemović, as I’ve mentioned, is great at. You know, when you see a signing, and you think, yeah, don’t overthink it, just get it done, it makes perfect sense? This is that. Well done, Leeds.
Hopefully he's not shit for us and we can start to move away from bringing in yanks and israelis to more bosnians 😊