CourtesyThePreacher
Mythbusting | Kevin Danso
Having studied Will Still's Lens and been an avid watcher before he arrived, I'm pretty familiar with Danso.
If you're a Spurs fan looking for a TLDR: I think he has strengths that suit Ange, and some weaknesses that NEED improving...
But, I'd appreciate if you stuck around for the nuance
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First: context.
To understand Danso, especially from a statistical POV, you need to learn a little about Lens history.
Danso was a key player under Franck Haise, the coach who made Lens a club that you've actually heard of. He's been in charge since their promotion to Ligue 1 in 2020, and Danso joined at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
Now, Haise did switch between a back three and back four, but generally he stuck with the former. That saw Danso play down the middle as a CCB.
Lens could be a relatively aggressive side, but they generally defended quite zonally.
Last summer however, Haise left and everyone's favourite Will Still took over, and he instituted some key changes:
He switched Lens to total m2m marking
The former has seen Lens go more aggressive, with their PPDA (Passes per defensive action, how many passes it takes for Lens to make a defensive action) going from 10.33 passes last season to 8.19 this season.
....okay in English, Lens are pressing higher, m2m.
And I think this is a primary reason why some of Danso's stats look a bit weird, compared to last season:
Why?
Well, Danso has gone from a relatively passive CCB in a back three to someone having to track opponents into their half, get really tight to them, try and win/intercept the ball. And, if he can't win the ball, foul them to stop a counter attack.
He's getting asked to do verrrry different things to what he was doing last season, and he's had to adapt to it.
Now, with THAT said, I think staying at Lens under Still has been good for Danso's development, and we'll get into why right now, starting with the positives - and I promise, there's more positives than weaknesses.
Physicality
Danso is around 6ft 3 and a rock. I've found the opposition STs consistently struggle with their back to goal against him, especially as Danso is quite rough in duels.
He'll happily give players a push, an elbow in the back, and do anything to put them off. When he's fighting over a loose ball, I think he's the favourite to win it.
This also helps him bully players in the air, consistently putting up 65-70% aerial win rates. I'll add to that, Danso can aim + power his headers pretty impressively. So, if an opponent clears it towards him, he can send the ball straight back towards the penalty area.
Spurs fans rejoice. I've noted before that Danso, once he gets going, can keep up with quickkk players. There's a good clip this season where he's able to beat Hakimi to the ball in a full sprint.
That said, a small weakness is his acceleration. Once Danso gets going = rapid. But, he's a little slower to actually get going.
Let's get one thing clear; Danso isn't the next Van Dijk. Don't expect him to start pinging balls into attackers' feet deep within the block.
That said, I know he can find those smart passes. He tends to need a bit of time on the ball to find them, and to be sure it's likely to be successful, but he's reliable at firing balls into attackers' feet with the right weight and accuracy.
I don't think he does this too often because A). He can be a bit hesitant, but more importantly B). Lens tend to progress the ball in wider areas against a block. Danso's role then, is quite often just to circulate the ball side-to-side without probing too much.
In this regard, he's pretty reliable too though. As, he can make passes both off his right and left (weaker) foot. He's not going to be spraying passes with his left or anything, but it's nice that he can play passes on both to get out of pressure.
I'm still working on my ability to analyse defenders, it's a tricky task. But, I do feel confident in saying that Danso has a strong reading of the game.
That's shined this season in his ability to intercept passes before their made, tweaking his positioning so he's ready to get across the ball when kicked.
But I find it stands out more in box defending. Danso keeps his eyes locked on the ball, and again, makes subtle shifts in his movement to get into better positions.
I think this is Danso's best in-possession trait - which is funny, because the numbers don't show it!
I really like that when Danso sees space to go into, he'll take advantage of it. And that's not necessarily through tackles or through pressure, but more against a block.
To lay out an example:
- Danso is playing against Auxerre, who are sitting deep.
- He's got the ball on the halfway line, and there's no amazing passing options available.
- So, he probes, carrying forward slowly keeping close control of the ball
- Until he's gone about 20 yards and started pulling Auxerre forwards out
- It's at that point he hits it wide, and Lens can go forward.
It's a really subtle thing, but not every CB does it. This was my main complaint of Branthwaite for example. It's positive on-ball mentality.
!!! I'll also add to this quickly: Danso can surprise attackers too by taking it round them. When he has space to exploit, he's happy to try and dupe them, hit it past and beat them to the ball. Also, he's surprisingly okay in tighter spaces, with decent footwork.
That said, he tends to take quite big touches. So, while I believe the thinking behind his ball carrying is good, I wouldn't want him to be doing it too much.
He can be guilty of overcarrying and getting himself in trouble. But, that's something which can be coached out of him imo.
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To recap, my main positives are:
These are all traits which I think would be beneficial to Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham.
So, let's ruin your fun and have a look at a few things which definitely need to be ironed out quickly if Danso is to succeed in the Premier League...
1v1 duels
Yeah, so I'm scared when Danso is 1v1 with a good attacker.
This is how that situation tends to go at it's worst:
- Danso approaches, planting his feet firmly (not staying on his toes)
- The attacker feints one way
- Danso plants a foot one way
- The attacker bursts the opposition direction
- Danso decides he's going to commit to a challenge, and does so by lunging in with his leg, bent at the knee
- He either gives away a foul or gets left behind
The bent-knee tackling I think is the biggest issue, because it seems to be his go-to technique. Rather than trying to poke the ball away, it's like Danso is just 100% going for it, and it means if he can't touch the ball, he's going to have to get back up and then chase after it. It's everything or nothing with him in the tackle.
That said, it's only been shown more this season imo because Danso is less protected in a m2m system, and as a RCB in a back two.
Previously under Haise, as a CCB in a back three, Danso was less exposed to 1v1 duels. So, perhaps it's something he's already improving on.
But as a 26-year-old defender in a top-five league, idk, it's a little worrying. My guess is that he's been able to rely on just using his physicality to bully players throughout his career, so learning to tackle more cleanly could pose a new challenge to him.
Okay okay DON'T PANIC. I don't think Danso is someone to make many mistakes when he's pressed by an opponent. Not sure this is a Dragusin 2.0 situation.
That said, Danso does have a tendency to just hoof balls forward first time if he's receiving and an opponent is closing him down. That's something which Ange would likely hate.
Caveat: this could also be because Will Still wants Lens to be quite vertical. He wants them to play long balls forward into channels. However, I did skim through a couple of games from last season and felt the same about Danso.
Another caveat: the long-range pass success% has fallen for every Lens defender this season. Also, Danso has pretty good vision, and can spot runs being made in behind + find them with clipped balls over the top.
It's just frustrating that the accuracy, or rather the power, is so inconsistent. I think he tends to underpower them, and they can get blocked in midfield areas. Not ideaaaal.
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So, there's more positives than negatives, as promised...it's just one of those negatives is quite a biggy.
I hope Danso succeeds though, and I do believe if you can fix his poor approach to 1v1 duels, you could end up having a really well-rounded defender in your ranks
I enjoyed reading that ; but must have nodded off halfway;
What happens at the end ?
