<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction</h1>
Red Bull Salzburg's youth system has produced a large number of talents over the years, and they have also paid off handsomely by channeling them to the top European clubs. At the same time, they continue to use very little money and an excellent scouting system to bring in young talent, and among these people is likely to be the next Haaland, Mane or Takumi Minamino.
Solle joined Red Bull Salzburg from Lyon in Ligue 1 this summer
In the summer transfer window of the 2020/21 season, they only lost Hwang Hee-chan in the front line, the South Korean striker who was brought to the Bundesliga by Red Bull Leipzig. At the same time they also brought in two talented players - Tijani and Solay, of which the 20-year-old French centre-back Solai spent 4.5 million euros on Red Bull Salzburg.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Soleil's role in Lyon</h1>
Let's first analyze Solai's role in Lyon to better understand whether his style of play is in line with the current Red Bull Salzburg. The young French centre-back made nine appearances for Lyon B in 2019/20, while his roles include defensive midfielder and centre-back. Below is a heatmap of his on-field activity last season, and we can see that his main area of activity as a centre-back is on the right side of the pitch, while he is more active on the left side when he is a defensive midfielder.
A heat map of Saulay's on-field activity last season
Soleil is very confident in his footmanship, both as a defender and as a defensive midfielder. He is always very active in his games seeking to cooperate with his teammates and tries to give them more passing options. When he plays the role of defensive midfielder, we can often see him retreating to the backline to create more space for his own defenders. In the match footage below, we can see that Soleil has retreated to the front of the two defenders in the middle, which allows Lyon's defense to be wider and more conducive to the wide transfer of the ball.
In red bull salzburg's first two warm-up games, Solai was given the opportunity to play as a substitute, while he played as left centre-back and right-back respectively. Since Red Bull Salzburg has plenty of options in midfield, it means that Solle is likely to have a higher chance of playing centre-back in the new season.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the ability to pass and read the game</h1>
We will next analyze Saulay's technical ability, because this is a must-have quality for a modern defender. As we mentioned before, the 20-year-old Young French centre-back is very confident in possession. The match pictured below is his first appearance for Red Bull Salzburg in a friendly against Ajax. Logically, it would be difficult for him to be the team's left centre-back because he always had to turn his body to the centre, as we can see in the game picture below, and he was more accustomed to passing with his right foot, which limited his passing movements to some extent.
However he remained very confident under pressure and was always looking for opportunities to push forward with short passes or with the ball. Even when an opponent rushes towards him in the match picture shown below, he stays calm and uses running position or passing to push the attack forward by observing the situation around him.
Soleil enjoys using his excellent speed to move forward with the ball, while his physical strength prevents opponents from trying to regain possession from him. Sole averaged 5.66 passes per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 54.17%. The data tells us that he has the confidence and ability to create more offensive opportunities for the team on the offensive end by breaking forward with the ball in every game.
In the game picture above, the opponent line-up 4-4-2 in defense, while Sorai advanced to the gap between the striker and the four midfielders with the ball. Soleiler was able to detect gaps in his opponent's formation, as shown in the game screen above, but he occasionally missed the best time to pass the ball and the team's attack stalled as a result.
Sometimes he also puts himself in trouble. In the game picture above, he could have passed the ball to the defender and even chose to pass the ball forward, but he eventually gave up passing and chose to try to get rid of his opponent, but the opponent directly cut off his ball. This example shows that although Saulay has the confidence to face opponents, sometimes his holding the ball for too long can lead to unnecessary mistakes.
The game footage above shows Soleil's excellent passing ability, sending his pass directly into the left neutral area, while the teammate who inserted it used this space to get the opportunity to insert forward. The 20-year-old is not just a technically gifted defender, he can also do a lot of progressive running. For such a young player, his passing ability is very skilled. He averaged 63.58 passes per 90 minutes in last season's Lyon B, which has proven that he is one of the core players of the Lyon B team. Saulay averaged just 2.83 long passes per game last season, suggesting that he prefers short passes. Soleiler is not a risk-taking player and has shown good decision-making skills in most cases.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the role of the defensive end</h1>
Although the skills of defensive players have gradually become important in the team's attack in recent years, solid defensive ability is still a must for them. As we mentioned before, Solle's defensive prowess is outstanding, especially his speed and physical strength. The 20-year-old French centre-back's most prominent feature on the defensive end is that he is very calm in almost any situation, always able to try to force opponents away from the goal in different ways.
Pictured above is a pre-season warm-up match between Salzburg and Liverpool, and we can see Solle forcing opponents to push forward from the flanks and not cut inwards. Saulay won 59.68% of defensive confrontations in all competitions last season, a statistic that is not too prominent, but at least it sends us a signal - he has been trying to improve his ability in defensive confrontation. In addition, he contributes 0.92 slides every 30 minutes of confrontation, which shows that he likes to intercept opponents with tackles.
As mentioned earlier, as a centre-back he has a decent start-up acceleration and speed, which is very helpful for him in the defensive phase, as it makes it difficult for his opponents to hold the ball and easily overtake him through speed, as we saw in the game above, he kept up with the speed of the opposing attacking players and eventually made a nice tackle to intercept the ball.
Soleil's body is very strong, which not only helps him resist his opponents while holding the ball, but also uses his body to compete with the opponent for possession. In the game picture above, the opposing player that Solai is staring at receives a pass, and he tries to pass Saulay by the first touch. But the 20-year-old French centre-back is so capable of reading the game that he has anticipated his opponent's next move, so he doesn't get too close to his opponent. When the opponent was ready to take off after the first touch of the ball, Solai quickly used his body to snap the position, instantly isolating the opponent from the ball.
In addition to his excellent counter-playing ability, Solai also needs to become more focused on the defensive end at some point. Sometimes his overconfidence in possession leads to him holding the ball for too long, which can pose a potential danger to the team in the defensive phase. Soleil knows that his speed and physical strength will allow him to catch up with his opponents after conceding a goal, so he won't always focus on the space he defends. In the match footage above, we see that the opponent has spotted the gap between the Salzburg defences, but Solle did not make up for this gap by retreating, which indirectly opened up a new area for the opponent's attack.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > will Solai adapt to Salzburg's tactical system? </h1>
As mentioned in the previous tactical analysis, Solle played the role of centre-back in salzburg's first two warm-up matches. Against Ajax he came on as a left centre-back substitute, while against Liverpool he moved to right-centre-back. The two most common formations in Salzburg in recent seasons have been 4-4-2 and 3-5-2, while they have tried the new 4-2-3-1 formation in recent friendlies. With enough good centre-backs, Solle is unlikely to play the role of defensive midfielder next season.
Today's hot Upamecano is from Red Bull Salzburg
In terms of centre-backs, Maximilian Walber is clearly the number one in the Red Bull Salzburg backline, and as he is the only left-footed centre-back, he plays as a left-centre-back almost every game. Saulay has proven that he can also kick the left foot, but by him he is better at playing the role of right centre-back. In this position, Jerome Ongune, André Ramalho and Albert Varchi are all potential competitors, but Salter is faster and he may set him apart from the competition.
Can Sole stand out from the competition at the salzburg centre-back?
Overall, the young French centre-back fits perfectly with Salzburg's tactical system because of his speed and game IQ. His excellent speed and ability to read games, as well as his strong self-confidence, have enabled him to cope with pressure from his opponents.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
Will Soleil be the next Mane or Haaland?
Special Notice: