Is Ryan Gravenberch the second coming of Mousa Dembélé?
Monday Night SCOUTED is the only way to find out.
Quick. It’s not long until another slate of league fixtures could make everything I have written look silly.
It’s the final month of the 2024. December brings with it lots and lots of football to watch and not much time to write about it. So let’s not waste any more time.
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We have somehow survived for 10 years. Help us make through one more at least.
That is the end of the begging. This is the beginning of the newsletter.
On this week’s Monday Night SCOUTED:
How good is Ryan Gravenberch’s Mousa Dembélé impression?
Are there any other Dembélé regens emerging?
SCOUTED Stats: Tom Bischof’s unique Double-Double
SCOUTED Stats: Amad Diallo joins an exclusive club
SCOUTED Stats: A 206 cm centre-back puts the long into long passes completed
All stats are correct as of 02 December 2024.
Mousa Dembélé 2.0
Your favourite player’s favourite player. Or at least their toughest opponent.
After starting his career as a centre-forward, Mousa Dembélé transformed into the standard bearer for press-resistant midfielders.
Begrudgingly, he was one of my favourites to watch. During my time at Squawka, he became one of my favourites to research, too. You may remember Dembélé as the man that once completed 31 consecutive take-ons without being dispossessed. This was posted before I joined the team.
I later discovered that during a seven-year period from September 2012 to January 2019, he had the highest dribble success rate of any player to attempt at least 200 take-ons in that time. Yaya Touré was the only other player to attempt at least 300 and maintain a success rate above 70%.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, there are rumblings of the second coming.
I lauded Arne Slot’s reinvention of Ryan Gravenberch after his starring role in Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Manchester United at the start of the season. He has been performing at that same level ever since.
In the past week, he has gone toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and Manchester City and come out on top.
His ability to roll away from pressure, drive forward and swat away enemy reinforcements with a stiff-arm is straight out of the Dembélé playbook. Combine that with his go-go-gadget leg tackles and interceptions and he appears to be one of the strongest contenders for ‘Dembélé regen’ we have seen.
So, the questions I hope to answer in this newsletter are:
What made Mousa Dembélé so special?
Can we build a quick statistical profile to quantify it?
How far away is Ryan Gravenberch from reaching that level?
Can we find any other Dembélé tribute acts?
As I have already alluded to, Dembélé’s hallmark attribute was his dribbling.
His obscene take-on success rate contributed to his elite ability to keep the ball, bordering on an inability to lose it. He rarely misplaced a pass either. For him this was important.
Pass accuracy must be considered in the context of a player’s role to be useful. As Dembélé’s primary responsibility was ball retention, it rightfully contributed to his reputation as an undispossesable demon. I am also going to include some passing metrics in my to mythbust the ‘sideway pass’ slander.
There is no ball retention without the ball, so including tackles and interceptions - also a part of Gravenberch’s game I have highlighted - will be key for the comparison.
During 2015/16, Dembélé was making 4.1 tackles and 2.2 interceptions per 90 - his best season for both metrics in a Spurs shirt.
Unfortunately, Stathead only provides full Premier League data for the 2017/18 season and beyond. Fortunately, Dembélé’s 3.8 take-ons attempted, 84% take-on success rate, 92.2% pass accuracy and 1.6 interceptions from that season are all in line with his per 90 output across other campaigns. In fact, the only number that drops off are his tackles - 2017/18 was the only season he made fewer than 2 per 90.
Finally, using Stathead allows us to include Progressive Passes, Progressive Carries and Progressive Distance for both metrics. Given the small difference in other metrics, I hope that his numbers from 2017/18 are a decent representation of his output. But I also understand it’s not perfect.
So, considering all of that, here was my first Dembélé-inspired Stathead search:
90%+ pass completion
75%+ take-on success rate
3+ attempted take-ons per 90
3+ tackles + interceptions per 90
This was a season-specific query. I.e. a player had to meet these thresholds within a specific campaign. I placed the minimum minutes threshold at 900 minutes (10 90s).
From 2017/18 to 2024/25, this returned two Premier League results: 17/18 Mousa Dembélé and 20/21 Mateo Kovačić.
Can I shock you? I love Kova as well.
Opening up the search to Europe’s Big Five Leagues, Thiago Alcántara and Marco Verratti joined the party. We’re onto something.
But, even though it demonstrates just how bloody good Dembélé was - remember, 2017/18 was not even his best season in a Spurs shirt - we’ve definitely set the bar too high.
Let’s rein it in slightly:
85%+ pass completion
60%+ take-on success rate
2+ attempted take-ons per 90
2+ tackles + interceptions per 90
This returned 30 results when searching for Premier League midfielders and 115 across Europe’s Big Five Leagues. So, I added some Progressive Passing and Carrying Distance benchmarks.
85%+ pass completion
60%+ take-on success rate
2+ attempted take-ons per 90
2+ tackles + interceptions per 90
125+ Progressive Carry Distance
200+ Progressive Passing Distance
From this, we got more Kovaćić - he did this in four consecutive seasons at Chelsea - as well as that crazy João Cancelo 19/20 campaign when searching across all positions. As for midfielders, 2023/24 Rodri, 21/22 N’Golo Kanté, 21/22 Declan Rice popped up. Even a teenage Curtis Jones appeared.
But, I felt like I had lost the essence of Dembélé, so I wanted to tinker.
This time, I split tackles and interceptions - after all, they are slightly different skills and Dembélé and Gravenberch excel at both. I also added a Progressive Carry threshold, dialled up the take-on success and lowered the required Progressive Passing Distance.
Here is the final search:
85%+ pass accuracy
65%+ take-on success rate
2+ attempted take-ons per 90
2+ Progressive Carries per 90
1+ tackle per 90
1+ interception per 90
175+ yards Progressive Passing Distance
125+ yards Progressive Carrying Distance
And here are the final results from the Premier League.
Your first question: where is Ryan Gravenberch?
Well, here are his 2024/25 Premier League stats for each metric. I used my favourite punctuation emoji to show which benchmarks he hits:
◉ 89% pass accuracy
◎ 56.5% take-on success rate
◎ 1.8 take-ons attempted per 90
◉ 2.2 Progressive Carries per 90
◉ 1.9 tackles per 90
◉ 1.8 interceptions per 90
◎ 113.1 Progressive Carrying Distance
◉ 214.7 Progressive Passing Distance
5/8 is not bad at all. Especially when you consider the high bar set for the quantity and quantity of dribbling. Also, there are factors that could explain the reduced Progressive Carrying Distance. For example, the further up the pitch the carries start, the shorter the distance that can be covered before you meet a wall of defenders.
It would be interesting to see a plot of Gravenberch’s Progressive Carries compared to Dembélé’s to investigate further.
That being said, Mateo Kovačić (163.8) and Yves Bissouma (117.9) are the only full-on centre-midfielders with 450+ Premier League minutes this season that are averaging more Progressive Carrying Distance than Gravenberch’s 116.4 yards per 90.
He is also retaining the ball at a decent level.
Based on his FBref scout report for the 2024/25 season, the Dutchman’s pass accuracy (82nd) and take-on success rate (72) are both in the top 30% for midfielders.
Side note: although not included in our Dembélé search, a quick look at aerial duel success rate reveals that Gravenberch has the best aerial win percentage of any midfielder in the Premier League to win more than five this season. The Dutchman has won 11 out of 13 - a win rate of 84.6%. I’ve plonked that here as the bridge between retaining and regaining possession.
He is also regaining the ball at a decent level.
Liverpool rank third for average possession in the Premier League this season and yet Gravenberch is making 1.9 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per 90. In total, he has made more interceptions than any other Premier League player born in 2001 or later (23). Across all ages, only Mario Lemina is ahead of him (25) - this is the second time Lemina has appeared in this article.
I previously highlighted how interceptions, especially in the opponent’s half, are quickly becoming Gravenberch’s calling card - it’s worth showing you this chalkboard again.
So, is Gravenberch the heir to Dembélé’s throne?
After watching his latest performance against Manchester City, the eye test is a big yes. However, the numbers suggest he needs to amp up his dribbling, which he has the tools to do. He demonstrated his mastery of the Dembélé roll and the Dembélé hand-off on Sunday.
To finish, if we adjust the benchmarks Gravenberch did not meet to match his output, it produces an interesting conclusion.
85%+ pass accuracy
55%+ take-on success rate
1.5+ take-ons attempted per 90
2+ Progressive Carries per 90
1+ tackles per 90
1+ interceptions per 90
100+ Progressive Carrying Distance
175+ Progressive Passing Distance
Ryan Gravenberch is the first midfielder since Rice and Kovačić in 2022/23 to hit those benchmarks in a Premier League season and he’s the only one doing it in 2024/25.
He may not yet be Mousa Dembélé 2.0, but he is the closest thing we’ve got right now. Or is it time we recognise Mateo Kovačic as the heir apparent?
Mousa Dembélé 3.0
Jake, you said you were going to show us more Dembélé regens!
I did indeed. I also did not expect to dive that deep into the Gravenberch comparison.
I am going to give you three names to consider: one based on the data search, one based on my internal database and one rogue shout that I just can’t shake.
Using Data
When applying the Gravenberch thresholds, only three midfielders with at least 270+ minutes across Europe’s Big Five Leagues appeared in the search. Conveniently, they were all under the age of 23.
Ryan Gravenbech, as we know, some kid called Jude Bellingham and Amadou Koné.
Koné is eligible to play for Mali and Côte d'Ivoire at international level. The 2005-born midfielder joined Stade de Reims from Malian side Afrique Football Élite in July 2023.
I have never watched him play. I could not find any notes in our scouting database about him either. He has only played 284 minutes in Ligue 1 this season. Koné appearing in this search does not mean I would start recommending him to clubs immediately. But it does mean that I will start tracking him. After all, 80% take-on success rate and 90% pass accuracy is peak Mousa Dembélé output.
Using Eyes
A player that I expected to appear was Dário Essugo.
Another 2005-born midfielder, Essugo is on loan at Las Palmas from Sporting CP. I highly recommend reading ’s profile on the Portuguese midfielder. Queue it up.
But why did he not appear? Let’s run through the criteria:
◉ 87.3% pass accuracy
◉ 72.7% take-on success rate
◎ 1.3 take-ons attempted per 90
◎ 0.83 Progressive Carries per 90
◉ 2.4 tackles per 90
◉ 2.3 interceptions per 90
◎ 82.2 Progressive Carrying Distance
◉ 228.50 Progressive Carrying Distance
Essugo ticks all of the retain and regain boxes. The efficiency of his dribbling is approaching Dembélé levels and a stat in ’s article suggest the Ball-Carrying gene is present.
Of the 49 central and defensive midfielders to play 500+ minutes in LaLiga this season, only four players have a higher average carry progress than Essugo (6.1 metres), while his is the highest of any player specifically in the defensive midfield category.
A transfer or tactical tweak could result in the expression of this dormant gene. If that happens, Essugo could become Gravenberch’s closest rival.
Let Me Cook
As for a player that did not appear in this exact search but could undergo a similar transformation to Dembélé, I want to keep a close eye on Malik Tillman.
I reluctantly added Tilman to my SCOUTED Squad for the Next Three Leagues at the start of November. The reluctance was born out of the fact we all know about him, not because I don’t rate him. Here are the numbers I presented to back up his inclusion:
No midfielder in our database is completing more take-ons (2.9) and he is maintaining a 76.7% success rate. Despite PSV’s dominance, he is still averaging 5.3 tackles + interceptions per 90, ranking him in the top 10 across all three leagues in our search.
Remind you of anyone? Let me give you another hint.
For PSV, Tilmann has been deployed in a double-pivot, operated from the left wing and done everything in between on the way to winning a league title.
For AZ Alkmaar, Dembélé was deployed in a double-pivot, operated from the right wing and even formed one-half of a strike duo on the way to winning a league title.
Watch this space.
If you want to tweak and customise this Dembélé search, click this link. You will need a Stathead account to do so. Use the code ‘SCOUTED’ to get 20% off an annual subscription.
SCOUTED Stats
⚽️🅰️ I’ll jump straight in with Kevin Schade. Brentford’s 2001-born forward was four days away from equalling the U23 record for G/A in a single game this season. He scored three and provided an assist against Leicester City at the age of 23 years and three days old. Although he is eligible to feature on the season stat leader tables, my criterion for single matches is under the age of 23. We have to stop somewhere. Sorry, Kevin.
🎩 Arnaud Kalimuendo did meet the age criteria, becoming the third U23 player to score a hat-trick this season alongside Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer. Palmer’s four-goal haul against Brighton remains a record.
⚠️ Tom Bischof. You should know that name by now. This weekend, he made 11 tackles against Mainz 05. Not only does that equal the U-23 record set by Real Sociedad full-back Jon Aramburu, it also equals this season’s Big Five European League record across any age. Funnily enough, Daniel Muñoz also made 11 tackles this weekend, making it a three-way tie for top spot. No other player has broken double figures yet.
Bischof only added one interception to his tackles total, meaning he fell one short of Tim Iroegbunam’s U23 record for tackles + interceptions. This record has stood since MD1.
However, Bischof did also make 10 Ball Recoveries, becoming the first player of any age to record a Tackles x Ball Recoveries Double-Double in Europe’s Big Five Leagues this season. The 19-year-old is first player to achieve this feat since teammate Anton Stach in January. The date of those two entries is very satisfying: 12-01-2024 and 01-12-2024.
The last U23 player to record this Double-Double was João Gomes in Wolves’ 4-1 win against Brentford in December 2023.
Despite all of this, Hoffenheim lost 2-0. Of course they did.
🩰 Beyond his two assists, Amad Diallo completed 4/4 take-ons and made four tackles against Everton. In doing so, he became the seventh different U23 player to record 4+ of each in a single Big Five European League game this season. Las Palmas’ Alberto Moleiro is the only one that has done it in multiple games.
If we include 4+ Shot-Creating Actions, only Amad, Moleiro, Nico Williams, Jamie Gittens and Facundo Buonanotte remain.
💯 In 18 minutes against Liverpool, Jérémy Doku equalled the U23 record for most take-ons completed in a single game while maintaining a 100% success rate. He completed 6/6 attempts, averaging one every three minutes.
I have no idea why Pep Guardiola is not using him more often, especially given how old and slow the starting midfield was at Anfield. Perhaps it’s because he does not trust Matheus Nunes to mimic Kovačić’s role. Without the Croatian, there was no one that could resist the Liverpool press. I digress.
🧹 Last week, Alessandro Bianco joined the 13 Ball Recoveries club. This week, Pape Matar Sarr submits his second entry. The Senegalese recorded the unlucky number in the 1-1 draw against Fulham, becoming the first player of any age to record 13 Ball Recoveries in multiple Big Five European League games this season. I told you, he’s a superstar.
On Friday night, Tyler Dibling set the Premier League record for most fouls drawn by an U23 player in a single game this season, one short of Bruno Guimarães’ 2024/25 record.
However, it remains three short of Chrisantus Uche’s U23 record across Europe’s Big Five Leagues.
🎯 Finally, a stat that did not make it into last week’s article as it was recorded that same Monday night. Isaak Touré broke Konstantinos Koulierakis’ U23 record for most long passes completed in a single game. He completed 21 out of 22 attempts for Udinese against Empoli, completing 97 out of 101 passes in total. Of course, Llew has posted about him before.
Touré is the first U23 player to complete 20+ long passes in a single game since Warmed Omari in April 2022. He was also just one short of Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s outfield any-age record of 22, set against Udinese.
At 206 cm / 6’ 9’, Touré is putting the long into long passes completed.
Done. Thank you to every reader that has made it this far. I also want to thank you for all of the support and kind words about last week’s newsletter. It means a tremendous amount to me. I hope this one met the same standard.
Enjoy the wall-to-wall midweek football and I will catch you next week.
Jake.
Last week at SCOUTED:
Here is what you might have missed in between MNS posts:
Operation Jhon Durán was my first SkillCorner analytical epic, focussing on how MLS clubs can discover South American gems and polish them into Premier League-ready prospects
Tom and I spoke to Diego Luna, MLS Young Player of the Year, about his award-winning season and future plans. Tom has crafted a long-form narrative masterpiece from that interview (I’ll allow it - ed)
Llew and I put together a round-up for the penultimate round of the UYL League Phase fixtures. Llew’s analysis on the gravity of Rio Ngumoha and freakish maturity of Max Dowman are the highlights
Coming soon at SCOUTED:
Our little team of three is extremely busy as we barrel towards the holidays, as you can imagine. A lot of work is happening behind-the-scenes to prepare for the next phase of SCOUTED’s existence, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have great reading on the horizon too.
This week, Tom’s whipping up the final Technical Area blog for 2024. We’ll recap the year that was, including drawing back the curtain on some our analytics, and discuss what comes next. Plus: far too many words on a reader question, again
We promised power rankings for our SCOUTED50 hopefuls, and that’s what we’ll deliver - moving players up and down depending on how their seasons are unfolding so far. Stay tuned
Arsenal, Luton and England fans (and enjoyers of good reading) stay tuned: Phil spent an afternoon with Reuell Walters, and a big old narrative (and technical) interview is in the works
For the first time, we’ll be putting together a SCOUTED Team of the Year. This won’t be objective, of course, but assembled with the typical SCOUTED vibes you know and love - plus a smattering of highlights from Jake’s SCOUTED Stats (or perhaps an entire squad, we haven’t decided yet, how fun)
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Loved this. Interesting to see the names who came through the filter.
Anguissa and Lemina played together for Fulham in the 20/21 season. Despite that, Scott Parker played ultra conservatively with defensive tactics when they probably should have played possession.
Kovacic and Ceballos being on the list in the Prem when neither could unseat the ultimate press resistant pair of Kroos and Modric.
Love this!!!