This scout report is about one talented young player from Slovakia. He plays for Slovan Bratislava and Slovakia U-21 national team. Left-footed and very clever forward with ability to keep build up and score goals. Good vision and smart solutions, four goals in eight games for Slovan this season – it’s all about him. So, let’s look at our tactical analysis of David Strelec.
Slovakia U-21 national team
Manager of the U-21 team Jaroslav Kentos plays with two central defenders. The basic formation is 4-3-3. His team has very skillful and fast midfielders. One of them is Peter Pokorny from FC St. Polten on loan from Liefering. Other is captain Christian Herc from FC Karvina. Despite the fact, that Strelec is a forward, he is the third most important midfielder in U-21 national team. But it’s necessary to notice, that sometimes he plays like a central forward. When he plays deeper, his task is to support build up and use the space between the lines of defensive structure of the opponent.
Here we can see the Slovakian team in the build up. Two defensive midfielders Herc and Pokorny are participating in this motion. David Strelec is using the space in order to progress the ball forward. Coach of the national team often try to use Strelec’s ability to make a clever solution. So, this team has three central midfielders in the offensive phase.
Also, it’s important to look how Jaroslav Kentos try to use Strelec in build up phase. But, it’s necessary to say, that using Strelec like midfielder in build up phase depends on level and game structure of the opponent.
When the U-21 team uses 3-4-3 formation in build up phase, Strelec (number 15 in the frame) can play like the one of the defensive midfielders. Here we can see how it looks like.
When Slovakia U-21 team uses 4-2-4 offensive structure, David goes down in order to support build up. It helps his team to get a numerical advantage.
Also, we are going to look at the defensive phase of Slovakia U-21 game structure. Usually, formation 4-1-4-1 is used a lot. Strelec plays like one of three central midfielders. When the game situation causes a suitable moment, he supports high pressing traps.
The next step of our analysis is to look at how David plays in his club Slovan Bratislava.
Slovan Bratislava
To start, we are looking at the moments when Strelec is using like central forward. Slovan uses basic 4-2-3-1 formation. In offensive phase this team plays 4-2-4 or 3-4-3 structure. There we can find an important role of David Strelec. When 3-4-3 scheme is used, sometimes Strelec goes deeper, that’s why offensive structure is turning to 3-5-2. Here we can look at this.
This picture shows Strelec’s movements when Slovan plays 4-2-4 tactics in the offensive phase. It helps to create a numerical advantage in build up.
The next step of our analysis is to look at offensive and defensive structures when Strelec is one of the central midfielders.
Strelec has to do a couple of important tactical movements. The first one is using the space between the lines of defensive structure of the opponent. The second is to support build up and create numerical superiority in the center of the field. Let’s look at the scheme. Here we can see David’s movements when 4-2-4 and 3-4-3 offensive formations are used
Also, it’s necessary to look at how Strelec plays in defensive structure of his team. In order to increase the power of defensive formation, Slovan usually plays 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 schemes. So, Strelec is one of two front players, either as the central forward or central midfielder.
Individual qualities
So, it’s time to speak about individual qualities of David Strelec. He is 185 cm tall, left-footed and very clever player. His ability to find a good solution is used a lot. He knows a beautiful option to pass and create something dangerous before he gets a ball. That’s why, despite the fact, that he is central forward, he often drops down in order to progress the ball forward and support build up or keep possession.
Also, Strelec has one more useful quality. He is very good in finding space behind the backs of the opponent. We can find a lot of instances when he uses a moment to hide in a blind side area – it helps him to score goals and to keep attacks very well.
Conclusion
It is save to say that Strelec can play not only like central forward – here we can find an option to use him like central midfielder. For example, he can play like one of the central midfielders in a 4-3-3 system without any issue.
Strelec is a very good person for a team which likes possession. His technical ability and mentality allow him to play in Bundesliga 2 or, maybe even Bundesliga 1. It seems to me, that German football is the most suitable for Strelec at this moment. It’ll be not surprising if clubs like Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich will get him. Now his career goes forward, so, we’ll wait for him to become one of the famous footballers of Slovakia.
