By Noah Stokes-Waters.
1. Andre Green – Slovan Bratislav.
One player showing off his vast potential this year is Andre Green. The former Villa and Sheffield Wednesday man has had a rough start in the Slovakian first division with, 11-time champions, Slovan Bratislava having not scored in his first 9 appearances for ‘Belasí’.
But the tricky winger has made the Europa Conference League his stomping ground being the top goal-scorer with 4 goals and 1 assist in just 4 matches.
Being second in Group F may mean that Green could get a run into the knockout stages, but Bratislava are level on points PAOK Athens.
If we dig beneath the surface, it is easy to see why Green is performing well.
According to TransferLab’s advanced performance analytics, Green is performing above and beyond what is expected of a winger in the Slovakia Super Liga.
He is one of the best, in the league, at; key passes, forward passes received, progressive short passing, carries, expected assists and passes into the box.
It is therefore surprising how the England under 21’s international as yet only has 1 assist in 8 Super Liga appearances for the Slovakian champions. If he can maintain his form, The tricky winger looks to be a player for the fans to look out for and opposition goalkeepers too.
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2. Ola Solbakken – Bodo/Glimt
Next up is Norwegian winger Ola Solbakken. Having scored 6 goals in 22 appearances this season he, like Green, is not the most prolific striker in the league he is playing in. But he is a different animal when it comes to the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Also being top scorer in the UEFA Europa Conference League, Solbakken, aged only 23, has gotten noticed not just for the quantity of his goals but also the quality. It feels as if Solbakken’s performances against Roma were overshadowed by Mourinho’s legend in the world of football and therefore he hasn’t got the respect he deserves for putting 3 goals past one of the best defensive coaches over the past two decades.
Solbakken netted two composed finishes, for the first he chipped the ball over the experienced Portuguese keeper, Rui Patricio and for the second, he rounded the ex-Wolves stopper. Even in the next game against ‘Capitolini’ he scored a belter from the edge of the 18-yard box.
These crucial points against the group favorites have helped Bodo/Glimt place top of their group, though they are only one point above from Jose’s Roma and two above Zorya Luhansk.
TransferLab rates Solbakken highly as he is one of the best in the Eliteserien for a multitude of metrics including Expected assists, quality of finishing, forward passes received as well as passes into the box.
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3. Dario Maresic – LASK Linz
A change of position for the next pick, Dario Maresic. With 15 games in the Austria Bundesliga scoring one goal and assisting once, the 22-year-old Austrian looks to be a good ball-playing centre back which will make his parent club, Stade de Reims, very happy.
Being a part of the LASK Linz team who only conceded 1 goal in their first 3 games in the UEFA Europa Conference League, Maresic is still a raw talent who could do with improving in certain areas such as 1v1 defending, which TransferLab says is his weakest defensive quality.
He could also do with becoming better in the air or, even, changing position to a defensive midfielder to allow for his qualities, such as long passing, to shine through.
We will see more from LASK Linz in the UEFA Europa Conference League as they have already qualified from group a with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Maresic may not be the finished article, but with the right guidance and progression in defending, he could become a quality player.
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4. Lovro Majer - Rennes
Next up, while still only 23, arguably the most experienced of the bunch, is midfield playmaker Lovro Majer. Majer is good I had to compare him against all players in the top tier of TransferLab just to get a better view of how good of a player he is.
First, with 170 appearances and 80 goal involvements he is a player worthy of playing in the Europa or even Champions League which it what his new team, Rennes, is trying to achieve this season being only two points away from a champion’s league position.
Having the most key passes per 90 (5) out of anyone in the conference league is outstanding for a player only 23 years of age, not to mention that he has only just moved to Bruno Genesio’s side in August.
TransferLab backs up his recent form as he seems to be excelling at; key passes, through balls and expected assists.
Overall, Majer is probably going to be playing in the Europa League or the Champions League if he can continue being one of the best young playmakers in Europe.
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5. Lois Openda – Vitesse
Finally, we have Lois Openda, currently on loan at Vitesse in the Eredivise from Belgium’s club Brugge.
A deadly finisher when it comes to Belgium academy football, scoring 12 goals in 14 appearances for the under 21’s, it doesn’t seem long before he will get a callup to the first team.
He has good league form considering he has scored 5 of Vitesse’s 14 goals this season from just 12 appearances helping take his team to 5th place in the Eredivisie.
They aren’t just meaningless goals either as he scored both times in Vitesse’s 2-1 victory over Feyenoord in October of this year as well as another brace against Heerenveen in another 2-1 victory.
Openda may not be firing on all cylinders in the Europa Conference League having only scored one goal in 4 games for ‘Vikes’ in Europe.
TransferLab say that Openda’s strongest attributes are XG from open play, forward passes received, touches in the box, finishing quality. Standing at only 5 feet 9 inches, he isn’t a tall man, but he has most certainly filled out his frame with muscle which he fully uses.
Lois Openda could be one for the future and considering his key attributes he could be a long-term replacement for a certain Sergio Aguero…
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Big thank you to TransferLab for allowing me to use their analytics engine to help me write the article also allowing me to use the radar comparison’s screenshots.
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