Will Ryan Sessegnon tear apart the Premier League next season

Will Ryan Sessegnon tear apart the Premier League next season

Here is a tactical profile of the Fulham Wonderkid

Ryan Sessegnon,the 18 year old Fulham progidy had scored 15 goals in the Championship last season and was the 7 highest topscorer along with Britt Assombalonga of Middlesbrough despite the young Englishman playing 19 of his games this season at left-back.Sessegnon was only 16 when he made his Fulham debut in 2016/2017 season scoring 5 goals and assisting 3 in 17 appearances as a left back.However it was the 17/18 season in which Sessegnon fully blossomed.Sessegnon played every match for Fulham last season scoring 15 goals and registering 7 assists.He also helped Fulham to get promoted to the Premier league through promotion playoffs.Ryan scored the first goal Vs Derby County in the second leg of the tie in which Fulham were behind by one goal on aggregate.He aslo assisted the only goal in the Championship final this season by a wonderful through ball between highly experienced John Terry and formidable James Chester which was eventually finished by Tom Cairney.

Ryan Sessegnon is the first ever non-Premier League nominee of the PFA Young Player of the Year award, the Championship Player of the Season and the winner of Best Player and Best Young Player at the London Football Awards.He was also touted for a potential England World Cup wildcard call-up.He was only 17 when he completed the previous season.

So what makes him so good?

PACE

Fulham have generally played a 4-3-3 this season, while also using a 4-2-3-1. They favour a possession-based, short passing style of play and show a slight preference for attacking down the left-hand side, probably due to the strength of Sessegnon on that side, who plays as an overlapping left-back or wide forward in the 4-3-3 and often as a wide midfielder or winger in the 4-2-3-1.

Sessegnon plays high on the left, irrespective of his starting position. However, his pace and fitness mean that even if he is playing as a left-winger, he will drop regularly to assist replacement left-back Denis Odoi, either by covering a passing option or doubling up with Odoi to mark an opposition player on the ball.Sessegnon is absolutely rapid at full speed but it his ability to go from zero to a flat sprint in something like a half-second which makes him such a nightmare to defend against. Even if you know where's he going, it's very difficult to stop him going there.

When playing as a left-back he would occasionally be caught out of position high up the pitch but could make up for it by speeding back to make a recovery tackle. This isn't ideal and overrun by opposition attacking wingers, Slavisa Jokanovic realised Sessegnon suited a position further forward, making a season-changing decision to put him there.

Sessegnon is equally as quick with the ball at his feet as he is without it, another of the reasons he has been compared in style to Gareth Bale. He is quick of mind too, figuring a way out of tight situations before the defender can get too close - and if he does, Sessegnon beats him for pace. 

For a 18-year-old he is remarkably strong, comfortably winning battles against older, sturdier Championship players while contesting 50/50s in wide areas. His balance and nimble, fleeting feet means he can twist and turn to win yards of space and keep passing moves going. In a chase, he usually comes out on top. Defenders Hate Him.

Tricky

"There was a cage right next to our house where we used to play from morning until night with big 11 vs 11 games," Sessegnon said in an interview in March.

“There’s a lot of cages and five-a-side places in London. You see young people showing off their talents. First touch is important. That’s where you learn it, on the street.”Have a look at his first touch and tricky skills

The tricks, balance, control and quickness of mind may have been honed in a small, enclosed area but Sessegnon takes that same style of play onto the full-sized pitch. Combined with his sense of movement and sheer quickness, he is rapidly developing into one of the best wide players in England

It's little bits like this that are particularly impressive. The defender can see exactly where the ball is and is ready to take Sessegnon out and teach him a thing or two about the Championship.See ya! A little dink and Sessegnon rides the tackle, runs into space and whips a ball into the area. Any highlights video you can find of him on YouTube is filled with little touches that win him a half-yard of space before either making the pass or running past his man - nothing he does is unnecessarily flashy, it all serves a purpose; the kind of thing you learn in the highly competitive world of a South London cage!

Read of the game

Scoring 14 Championship goals from any position as a 17-year-old is impressive but it's remarkable that Sessegnon has managed it from the left wing. Some of his strikes are a result of dribbling inside the pitch:

And finishing from long range, like this one which nestles in the bottom corner:

But the majority of his goals are real poacher's efforts. Sessegnon prefers a more advanced role and in his (even) younger days, was a striker, something which helps explain how he always seems to end up in the right place at the right time.This is just one example of many where Sessegnon starts from a wide left position. Here the striker tries a shot at goal from inside the box. Sessegnon has already started running to anticipate the second ball.

The defender is caught watching, the ball lands perfectly for Sessegnon's run and he buries the finish. This has happened time and time again, often with Sessegnon drifting into a central striker's position while Fulham have possession in the final third, allowing the left-back to take his role of wide creator in his place.Physical attributes are part of what makes Sessegnon a good left winger, but it is because he plays the game in his head that he is so highly rated. A striker in his youth, then winger, then left-back, then winger, learning these different positions has helped him know when and where to he should be moving.

He  anticipates things when defending too, always on his toes until there's an opportunity to steal the ball, at which point he snaps into action and makes the tackle. 

The way he works this little move is really simple and obvious but an example of accurate decision making and execution.

Sessegnon fires a pass into the player to his left and then bursts past his marker to receive the return

That's what he does. Sessegnon's excellent close control means when he dribbles at speed, defenders can't step out to tackle him as he can easily change direction and leave them looking foolish. Chasing players can't get close. He keeps his composure and keeps on going forward.

This ability to read the game is something difficult if not impossible to coach but one inherent to Sessegnon's play. The previous he was getting lucky by product of the hardwork he puts in - meant as compliment, not criticism - but as opposition teams targeted him, inevitably he had a bit of a cool-down on form in the end of  the season  , with two assists and one goals in his last ten games in Championship. 

His attacking end-product does need some work, with significantly more unsuccessful crosses than successful ones, but he does manage more successful dribbles than unsuccessful ones; his goals per 90 is the best of any player who is nominally a defender and has played more than 10 games in the Championship this season; only Aden Flint of Bristol City is even close.

His defensive metrics stand up pretty well, too – the thing to remember is that Sessegnon is playing in a variety of roles, so an overall measure of his abilities is hard to gauge.

Conclusion

It's worth putting things in context. This is a young player who has been named the best individual in the Championship as well as receiving a nomination for PFA Young Player of the Year against international superstars and were he was beaten by Mancity star Leory Sane. If not, on the evidence we've seen, it will not be the last time he is held in such high regard at the end of a season.

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