Bayern Leverkusen has been one of the sensations in German Bundesliga and European football since Xabi Alonso took charge of it adopting the main coach role, creating a joyful squad, based on attractive attacking football and a composed and solid defensive work. One of those emerging players who is having a great impact on that defensive composure is Odilon Kossounou.
Born on 04/01/2001 the Ivorian defender Odilon Kossounou has been one of the sensations of the Bundesliga recently. He is another example of young players starting to play in Scandinavian football (Hammarby), who jumped into a more ‘competitive’ league playing for Brugge and catched up attention of top 5 league teams finally joining Bayern Leverkusen in the 2021/22 season. Since then, he has established himself as an important starting player for the German side and one of the defenders to watch closely towards the future.
Kossounou mainly starts as center back, performing in the right side of the 3 man defensive line proposed by Bayern Leverkusen. Despite that, he has also adopted, during his Brugge period, the right back role, having characteristics to roam and cover a lot of ground and project into attack. The young defender stands out for his toughness on the ball, clarity in defensive situations and physical conditioning.
The Ivorian center back is a reliable and aggressive player in defensive issues, combined with good quality and game understanding in the offensive plays. His size (1,91m) and physicality with great body mass ratio make him a player that imposes himself in death balls and duels, feeling comfortable and reliable in contact situations. He is also quite fast and agile for a center back, with good positioning and tactical awareness, which allow Bayern Leverkusen to adopt a high block pressionant style, establishing a high defensive line and defending forward. In those situations, he possesses a good game lecture, making him capable of anticipating his rivals, being fearless to exit his zone to follow and harass his man, as he is also able to recover position fastly, being a nuisance to surpass either in thigh or open spaces. He holds attackers correctly when being with the back to goal, with good use of arms/body and is strong when facing rivals in one-on-one situations, having great timing for clean tough tackling. Koussounou is dominant in the aerial game too, having some of the best records in the German Bundesliga, being able to play as the last man when his team presses high obeying rivals to play long balls. He commands the area well and correctly manages the defensive line and height. His off the ball work in terms of zone and partners coverage is of huge quality and work rate, but his profiling needs more attention by times, allowing him to obtain better field and rival awareness, despite barely losing his mark.
His value on the ball is also a key factor, being an active element on the build up phase of his team. His technical levels are averaged. Kossounou is a player who feels confident and calm on the ball, looking to progress in the game. His short-medium passing is good, but risky at times, making his effectiveness in progressive passes lower than he is up to. His long passing is a strong weapon for a vertical and dynamic squad as Leverkusen, being able to activate wingers in depth to the back of the rival defensive line. When feeling under pressure, he demonstrates his composure with one of his main virtues: his ball conduction. Helped by powerful acceleration and a big stride, he is able to easily surpass rivals breaking rival defensive lines and projecting into attack. Those progressive carries are determinant when playing as right back, what added to his self-confidence to go beat his rival make him an important element in the offensive phase when projecting into attack. His first touch should be improved as he sometimes loses advantage by not managing to control the ball correctly, losing dynamism and slowing down the play.
At just 23 years of age, Odilon Kossounou has demonstrated to be a solid and reliable center back. He is the kind of modern defender mixing ball playing ability and defensive solidity characteristics that may help him, if he is able to reach his full potential, to establish as a future world class defender.
Click here for check the full scouting report
Born on 04/01/2001 the Ivorian defender Odilon Kossounou has been one of the sensations of the Bundesliga recently. He is another example of young players starting to play in Scandinavian football (Hammarby), who jumped into a more ‘competitive’ league playing for Brugge and catched up attention of top 5 league teams finally joining Bayern Leverkusen in the 2021/22 season. Since then, he has established himself as an important starting player for the German side and one of the defenders to watch closely towards the future.
Kossounou mainly starts as center back, performing in the right side of the 3 man defensive line proposed by Bayern Leverkusen. Despite that, he has also adopted, during his Brugge period, the right back role, having characteristics to roam and cover a lot of ground and project into attack. The young defender stands out for his toughness on the ball, clarity in defensive situations and physical conditioning.
The Ivorian center back is a reliable and aggressive player in defensive issues, combined with good quality and game understanding in the offensive plays. His size (1,91m) and physicality with great body mass ratio make him a player that imposes himself in death balls and duels, feeling comfortable and reliable in contact situations. He is also quite fast and agile for a center back, with good positioning and tactical awareness, which allow Bayern Leverkusen to adopt a high block pressionant style, establishing a high defensive line and defending forward. In those situations, he possesses a good game lecture, making him capable of anticipating his rivals, being fearless to exit his zone to follow and harass his man, as he is also able to recover position fastly, being a nuisance to surpass either in thigh or open spaces. He holds attackers correctly when being with the back to goal, with good use of arms/body and is strong when facing rivals in one-on-one situations, having great timing for clean tough tackling. Koussounou is dominant in the aerial game too, having some of the best records in the German Bundesliga, being able to play as the last man when his team presses high obeying rivals to play long balls. He commands the area well and correctly manages the defensive line and height. His off the ball work in terms of zone and partners coverage is of huge quality and work rate, but his profiling needs more attention by times, allowing him to obtain better field and rival awareness, despite barely losing his mark.
His value on the ball is also a key factor, being an active element on the build up phase of his team. His technical levels are averaged. Kossounou is a player who feels confident and calm on the ball, looking to progress in the game. His short-medium passing is good, but risky at times, making his effectiveness in progressive passes lower than he is up to. His long passing is a strong weapon for a vertical and dynamic squad as Leverkusen, being able to activate wingers in depth to the back of the rival defensive line. When feeling under pressure, he demonstrates his composure with one of his main virtues: his ball conduction. Helped by powerful acceleration and a big stride, he is able to easily surpass rivals breaking rival defensive lines and projecting into attack. Those progressive carries are determinant when playing as right back, what added to his self-confidence to go beat his rival make him an important element in the offensive phase when projecting into attack. His first touch should be improved as he sometimes loses advantage by not managing to control the ball correctly, losing dynamism and slowing down the play.
At just 23 years of age, Odilon Kossounou has demonstrated to be a solid and reliable center back. He is the kind of modern defender mixing ball playing ability and defensive solidity characteristics that may help him, if he is able to reach his full potential, to establish as a future world class defender.
Click here for check the full scouting report