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Kenan Yildiz: The Juve Next Gen starring at Euro 2024 with Turkiye

Kenan Yildiz: The Juve Next Gen starring at Euro 2024 with Turkiye

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It has been a long time since Juventus have not been the dominant team in Italy. The club had won nine consecutive league titles from 2011 to 2020, a dynastic run the likes of which we’ve rarely seen in European football. Their obsession with winning the Champions League during the tail-end of the period led to expensive gambles to put them over the top, which included the signings of Gonzalo Higuaín and Cristiano Ronaldo. Those acquisitions failed in their goal, and the financial consequences have been dire.

By Mohamed Mohamed

To get back to the top, Juventus have been aggressive at accumulating young talents to help usher in a new era. Their squad is filled with several high-end prospects, including the likes of Fabio Miretti and Matìas Soulé. In many ways, the success of the Juventus Next Gen project will dictate whether the club can return to being a force in European football once again, as they no longer have the financial resources to compete with the top clubs in Europe. 

Arguably the headline talent acquisition was Kenan Yıldız in the summer of 2022, as several big clubs fought hard to get his signature, including Barcelona. His debut campaign with the under-19 squad was quite fruitful, registering 12 goals and 7 assists in just over 2100 minutes. This was part of the reason why at 19 years old, he graduated to the first team and played regular minutes once the calendar turned to 2024, forming a striker partnership with Dušan Vlahović. 

The best attribute to Yıldız’s game consists of his close control. Despite primarily playing as a second striker, he looks more like an advanced playmaker. He’s not an overt athlete in the sense that he’s got an elite first step or overpowers his marker with physicality. Rather, he’s adept at turning away from pressure within the channels once he finds space between the lines, and using tidy footwork in tight areas to keep possession chains going. When situated near the flank, he’s best at changing tempo to get the opponent off balance rather than pushing the ball to a spot and sprinting to it. Although tunnel vision can be an issue, he’s talented enough to get himself out of trouble. Yıldız’ success as a ball-carrier is reflected in his impressive dribbling numbers, with 2.19 completed per 90 minutes at a 65.7% success clip. 

Yıldız’ delicate touch as a dribbler also shows itself in terms of passing and creativity. His passing during combination sequences is pretty good, not often mishandling the weight of the delivery. He’s constantly looking to create quick hitting combination sequences if he’s afforded time on the ball, which is why it’s common to see him gesture to receive ground passes when he’s found pockets of space in deeper areas. This is the case whether it’s against a set defense or during transitions. He doesn’t yet have all the passes in the repertoire that the elite playmakers possess, but he’s willing to attempt to make things happen, which is a promising sign.

The big drawback with Yıldız as a second striker is he doesn’t generate shots for himself at an above average level. 1.81 shots per 90 at an expected goals clip of 0.15 per 90 in just under 1000 minutes are not the figures you’d want to see from a young forward. Some of this is due to his limitations as a runner, since he doesn’t possess that power in short distances to attack gaps in the opposition. There are also issues in him not being proactive in looking for space in behind, possibly in part due to the concerns with his burst. He could be more aggressive in attempting straight-line runs towards the wide areas of the box to help enhance his final third creativity. The best strikers have a bit of a gambler’s mentality with their off-ball movement. Some of those runs will not lead to anything but they help keep the opposition backline honest and wear them down over the course of a 90-minute match.  

Yıldız is an interesting prospect because there’s a credible argument to be made that he’s better suited to being an advanced central midfielder or no. 10, and having to attempt to masquerade as a second striker to get playing time was suboptimal for his development. Subtly looking for space as a receiver, and having the ability to credibly operate in limited space for both dribbling and short distance passing, are the type of traits which translate to having a higher usage as an on-ball creator.    

It’s fair to point out that Yıldız’ style of play was not a seamless fit with the tactics used by Max Allegri. Juventus don’t dominate possession and final third territory in a manner you see from some of the biggest clubs in football, which doesn’t suit how Yıldız plays as a technician. Under Thiago Motta, who coached a fluid and exciting Bologna side to a Champions League spot, he stands a better chance at finding a suitable role for his skillset.

In the meantime, Euro 2024 could be a breakout tournament for Yıldız to make himself a household name. Game one vs Georgia showed some of the promise he has. His fluid interchanging of position with Ferdi Kadıoğlu and quick hitting playmaking stood out in their 3-1 victory. Against less sophisticated defensive schemes than what’s seen in domestic football, a player of his technical quality could shine on the international scene and help Turkey become a dark horse in the competition. Keenan Yıldız is someone who Serie A fanatics and football hipsters hold in high regard. Just over a week from now, he could elevate himself to a higher level of name recognition in the wider football sphere.     

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Kenan Yildiz: The Juve Next Gen starring at Euro 2024 with Turkiye

It has been a long time since Juventus have not been the dominant team in Italy. The club had won nine consecutive league titles from 2011 to 2020, a dynastic run the likes of which we’ve rarely seen in European football. Their obsession with winning the Champions League during the tail-end of the period led to expensive gambles to put them over the top, which included the signings of Gonzalo Higuaín and Cristiano Ronaldo. Those acquisitions failed in their goal, and the financial consequences have been dire.

By Mohamed Mohamed

To get back to the top, Juventus have been aggressive at accumulating young talents to help usher in a new era. Their squad is filled with several high-end prospects, including the likes of Fabio Miretti and Matìas Soulé. In many ways, the success of the Juventus Next Gen project will dictate whether the club can return to being a force in European football once again, as they no longer have the financial resources to compete with the top clubs in Europe. 

Arguably the headline talent acquisition was Kenan Yıldız in the summer of 2022, as several big clubs fought hard to get his signature, including Barcelona. His debut campaign with the under-19 squad was quite fruitful, registering 12 goals and 7 assists in just over 2100 minutes. This was part of the reason why at 19 years old, he graduated to the first team and played regular minutes once the calendar turned to 2024, forming a striker partnership with Dušan Vlahović. 

The best attribute to Yıldız’s game consists of his close control. Despite primarily playing as a second striker, he looks more like an advanced playmaker. He’s not an overt athlete in the sense that he’s got an elite first step or overpowers his marker with physicality. Rather, he’s adept at turning away from pressure within the channels once he finds space between the lines, and using tidy footwork in tight areas to keep possession chains going. When situated near the flank, he’s best at changing tempo to get the opponent off balance rather than pushing the ball to a spot and sprinting to it. Although tunnel vision can be an issue, he’s talented enough to get himself out of trouble. Yıldız’ success as a ball-carrier is reflected in his impressive dribbling numbers, with 2.19 completed per 90 minutes at a 65.7% success clip. 

Yıldız’ delicate touch as a dribbler also shows itself in terms of passing and creativity. His passing during combination sequences is pretty good, not often mishandling the weight of the delivery. He’s constantly looking to create quick hitting combination sequences if he’s afforded time on the ball, which is why it’s common to see him gesture to receive ground passes when he’s found pockets of space in deeper areas. This is the case whether it’s against a set defense or during transitions. He doesn’t yet have all the passes in the repertoire that the elite playmakers possess, but he’s willing to attempt to make things happen, which is a promising sign.

The big drawback with Yıldız as a second striker is he doesn’t generate shots for himself at an above average level. 1.81 shots per 90 at an expected goals clip of 0.15 per 90 in just under 1000 minutes are not the figures you’d want to see from a young forward. Some of this is due to his limitations as a runner, since he doesn’t possess that power in short distances to attack gaps in the opposition. There are also issues in him not being proactive in looking for space in behind, possibly in part due to the concerns with his burst. He could be more aggressive in attempting straight-line runs towards the wide areas of the box to help enhance his final third creativity. The best strikers have a bit of a gambler’s mentality with their off-ball movement. Some of those runs will not lead to anything but they help keep the opposition backline honest and wear them down over the course of a 90-minute match.  

Yıldız is an interesting prospect because there’s a credible argument to be made that he’s better suited to being an advanced central midfielder or no. 10, and having to attempt to masquerade as a second striker to get playing time was suboptimal for his development. Subtly looking for space as a receiver, and having the ability to credibly operate in limited space for both dribbling and short distance passing, are the type of traits which translate to having a higher usage as an on-ball creator.    

It’s fair to point out that Yıldız’ style of play was not a seamless fit with the tactics used by Max Allegri. Juventus don’t dominate possession and final third territory in a manner you see from some of the biggest clubs in football, which doesn’t suit how Yıldız plays as a technician. Under Thiago Motta, who coached a fluid and exciting Bologna side to a Champions League spot, he stands a better chance at finding a suitable role for his skillset.

In the meantime, Euro 2024 could be a breakout tournament for Yıldız to make himself a household name. Game one vs Georgia showed some of the promise he has. His fluid interchanging of position with Ferdi Kadıoğlu and quick hitting playmaking stood out in their 3-1 victory. Against less sophisticated defensive schemes than what’s seen in domestic football, a player of his technical quality could shine on the international scene and help Turkey become a dark horse in the competition. Keenan Yıldız is someone who Serie A fanatics and football hipsters hold in high regard. Just over a week from now, he could elevate himself to a higher level of name recognition in the wider football sphere.     

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Euro 2024 live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.