Scouting Report: Is Afriyie Acquah Arsenal Quality?

Published on: 29 June 2014
Scouting Report: Is Afriyie Acquah Arsenal Quality?
Afriyie Acquah

Could Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger target Hoffenheim central midfielder Afriyie Acquah?

To cover that scenario, here is a scouting report on the 22-year-old Ghanaian international.

Positives

Acquah is a 5'11", 154-pound footballer, who featured predominantly as a central midfielder in a 4-3-3 or as an emergency right wing-back on loan atParma last season.

Afriyie Acquah's performance
Afriyie Acquah's performance
Acquah has noticeable first-step speed, which was evident when he burst past several Torino players and drew a penalty from Torino centre-back Kamil Glik.

Against AC Milan, Acquah explosively raced down the right wing, cut to the byline and hit a low cross to Parma deep-lying forward Antonio Cassano.

Acquah's speed was on show again when he charged down Sampdoria's right flank and crossed the ball to Parma left-back Cristian Molinaro.

Against Roma, Acquah displayed strength, nimbleness and technique when he controlled the ball with his chest, swivelled and placed it past Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis.

Blessed with tremendous athleticism, Acquah would transition smoothly to the Premier League.

On the ball, Acquah is decisive, and he briskly recycles the ball with accuracy.

  • 61/66 passes (92.4 pass completion percent) vs. Livorno,Squawka.com.
  • 56/58 passes (96.6 pass completion percent) vs. Torino, Squawka.com.
  • 39/40 passes (97.5 pass completion percent) vs. Chievo Verona, perSquawka.com
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Acquah is still developing his passing game, so he is limited to passing the ball backwards and sideways. He generally only passes forward if it is clear cut, like against Napoli to a wide-open Cassano.

Acquah's efficient approach to retaining possession last season resulted in a career-best 87.1 pass completion percentage, which is 9.7 percent higher than his 2011-12 output for Palermo (77.4).

Acquah was given his first taste of European football by the Glentoran Community Trust in Northern Ireland.

"We brought [Acquah] back to Belfast to train with the Glentoran senior team in 2007," Glentoran Community Trust board member Sam Robinson said, per Graham Luney at the Belfast Telegraph. "He once told [us] how he cried himself to sleep one night [as] he was so grateful for all the help we have given him."

Negatives

Acquah is raw, his defensive positional sense is sub-par and his marking is inattentive.

His defending is unrestrained, hence why his tackles resulted in free kicks (56) more times than he won the ball (45) last season.

  • Seven missed tackles vs. Bologna, per Squawka.com.
  • Five missed tackles vs. Livorno, per Squawka.com.
  • Five missed tackles vs. Sampdoria, per Squawka.com.
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
Acquah's tackling efficiency is at an unacceptable 36 percent, per Squawka.com.

 

Afriyie Acquah
Afriyie Acquah
What's more, Acquah has accumulated more fouls per game than tackles per game in three of his four seasons in Serie A.

League Only Tackles Per Game Fouls Per Game
2013-14 1.7 2.1
2012-13 1.3 0.8
2011-12 1.5 1.8
2010-11 0.9 1.6

Acquah needs to expand his passing range, given he only averaged one long pass per game last season.

There is a vast gap when you compare and contrast his short-medium passes to his long passes.

Long Passes Short-Medium Passes
28/49 672/755
57.1% 89%

 

 

 

 

 

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