Mouctar Diakhaby Scout Report
Mouctar Diakhaby, the stalwart center-back hailing from Guinea, had an impressive season with Valencia during 2023-2024. The scout report reveals a commanding presence in defensive lines, evidenced by an envy-inducing 82.54% duel win rate, which places him in the high echelons of La Liga defenders. But this hard-hitting, no-nonsense style comes at a cost, as his lofty 96.83 percentile ranking in yellow cards attests.
Diakhaby's lifeblood remains in his defensive third, where he interacts with the ball more than half of the time, but transitions it to attack progressively seem to be a distinct weakness - his Progressive Carrying and Progressive Passing figures leave room for significant development. While not primarily his prerogative, notable is his relatively high, for a defender, Goal Efficiency and Goal Threat percentiles, suggesting an inherent capability for match-altering contributions in the final third when the occasion arises.
The player stats display a rather low Ball Recovery ranking for a defender, but with splendid recoveries figures and above-average ball retention, it's clear that once Diakhaby takes control, he's unlikely to lose it frivolously. Despite the better part of the game played in his own half, Diakhaby's lack of assists and relatively modest xA per 90 stats indicates a proclivity for direct, no-frills play over intricate build-ups.
In summary, the takeaway from this in-depth analysis of Diakhaby's style of play is that of a tenacious, hard-tackling central defender with decent goal threat ability who, however, could benefit from fine-tuning his distribution game.