Analysis: Why Brilliant Ben Seghir is such a weapon for AS Monaco

Despite his season being heavily interrupted by injuries, which has seen him struggle to impact as he desired, Eliesse Ben Seghir’s performance against Montpellier was a huge boost for him and AS Monaco.

Vindicating Adi Hutter’s decision to hand him a start, the little maestro was one of the stars of ASM’s victory that ensured they claimed second in the Ligue 1 standings and secured Champions League group stage qualification for the first time since the 2018/2019 season.

Deployed in a left sided central attacking midfield station, the gifted phenom played a key role in breathing life into Monaco’s forward forays with his crafty movement, awareness and technical qualities ensuring he was a constant thorn in the side of Montpellier.

Related Reading: Eliesse Ben Seghir: Everything you need to know about the AS Monaco attacker

Forever asking questions of the opposition rearguard through his persistent buzzing, it was notable how the 19-year-old smartly found space between the lines and in the half spaces to connect attacks.

So awake to vacant spaces and the location of foes, Ben Seghir’s spatial understanding and scanning saw him superbly exploit weaknesses in the Montpellier structure. Indeed, the examples and heat map below serve as a testament to his aptitude in this compartment.

The way he shrewdly dropped deeper and wider to form overloads and positional superiorities for ASM increased his threat. Causing headaches for adversaries, who were unsure to follow him, this indecision allowed him to gain the freedom he craved.

The crafty interchanges of position and dovetailing with his teammates were further upsides to be extracted, for he executed neat rotations to cause disconnects in Montpellier’s backline and elevated his unpredictability.

Dovetailing especially brilliantly with nearby wing-back Kassoum Ouattara, forward Breel Embolo and fellow attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche, these switches effectively generated defensive dilemmas and allowed him to use his skills in both wide and central areas after getting free.

Moreover, how he successfully pinned and drew markers to open passing lanes into colleagues, performed opposite movements, astutely took up zones to receive lay offs in advantageous forward facing postures and made the odd nifty run in behind duly enhanced his impact.

That wonderful dribbling of his rose to the fore in this one as well, for the man with underrated strength, a low centre of gravity, an exceptional first touch and silky ball control shone with the ball at his feet.

Embarking on some wicked trademark runs both in transition and when 1v1 in slower build-up, Ben Seghir’s fast footwork, whirring change of direction and wizardry to weave away from danger in tight and with his back to goal saw the press resistance wonderkid make a real difference all over.

Powerful, fast, skillful and so good at evading and withstanding harrying, it was great to see Ben Seghir, who draws inspiration from Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele, accompany the above with his creative passing.

Showing many glimpses of his class here, his crisp link play, incisive through balls, accurate crosses and clean recirculating of possession saw him stamp his mark in this area as well.

By the numbers, his eight accurate passes into the final third, six offensive duels won, four shots, four progressive runs, three fouls suffered and two shot assists accentuated what a dangerman he was.

Having endured plenty of time on the sidelines, that’s meant he’s only made 13 appearances for Les Monegasques this term, this confidence-boosting body of work will do wonders for him in his quest to get back to his best and keep along his upward trajectory.

“It’s true that I’ve found it slow in recent months, with my two injuries in the first part of the season. It was very hard to watch my colleagues play without being able to help them win the matches. But now I’m back, so I’m happy,” he recently explained.

“The most difficult thing now is to find continuity, because you have to perform at a high level all the time. My injury was the first difficulty I went through. But I did it thanks to the support of the club and the staff.”

Following his exciting outing against Montpellier, his immediate focus will be replicating this display in the season closer against Nantes, which presents him with another step to build up and carry momentum into next season.

Blessed with all the skills needed to be a star of the future and relishing the proposition of Champions League football next term, watch for Ben Seghir to keep making waves for Monaco, as he looks to make up for the lost time from this campaign.