Bournemouth are quietly having a good season.
The Cherries have sold a lot of key players over the past two transfer windows, with Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo al leaving the club. But, instead of complaining, Andoni Iraola’s men have got on with things and have an outside chance of European football.
One of the players helping them fill the attacking void left by players like Ouattara and Semenyo is Eli Junior Kroupi.
Remaining competitive in the Premier League while constantly selling tip players isn’t easy. Wolverhampton Wanderers have eventually paid the price for their transfer strategy and failure to replace prized assets.
But that hasn’t been the case for Buornemouth. Kroupi has settled in well after joining from Lorient in the summer, scoring 10 league goals.
Exactly how has he done so well in his maiden campaign?
Eli Junior Kroupi’s impressive style
Peeling off the centre-back
Kroupi takes up the zones of the pitch where centre-backs find it awkward to defend. For most of the season the teenager has peeled off into both half spaces, just before entering the penalty area.
He manages to drag centre-backs out of the defensive line because he starts many of Bournemouth’s attacking moves quite deep. It allows him to compete aerially and play deft touches off to the midfield. Despite not being the strongest, or biggest, Kroupi has averaged 2.38 duels won per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season.
Once a centre-back follows Kroupi out, he can touch it around the corner to a winger, and he has the pace to join the attack later on. It’s why a number of his goals his season have come from inside the box.
Gabriel and William Saliba — regarded as one of the best centre-back pairings in the Premier League — found it difficult to keep up with Kroupi’s awkward frame.
Kroupi is doesn’t tend to misplace many passes, with 73.59% accuracy, but a large number are simple or sideways. He’s mainly involved in Bournemouth’s buildup in his positioning, rather than dropping deep inside his own half.
It’s possibly something to look at in the future and tweak. But for now, Kroupi is dangerous enough dropping off in the half-space as it keeps defences guessing in terms of whether to hang back or come out.
Ball striking
It’s clear Kroupi possesses an ability to be a threat from outside the box as well as in it. You only need to look at the screamers he has scored against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal this season.
When looking at every goal Kroupi has scored this season, the Frenchman has only really scored in two ways. Either striking the ball from outisde the box, or being a goalscoring poacher. He’s very clinical for a forward still learning at the young age of 19.
Kroupi’s pace, maturity and busyness suits Bournemouth with Iraola setting his side up to play in an aggressive manner.
Verdict
Kroupi has bags of potential with an impressive first season under his belt. His dribbling, positional awareness, ostensible strength and pace are a huge shot in the arm for the Cherries. And it must also be remembered Kroupi was initially helping to replace Evanilson who has struggled with injuryies.
With the Premier League more physical and competitive than ever, games are decided by small margins, and defences are compact. For Kroupi to have the impact that he has had at his age, it’s hard to look at his season and not think that Bournemouth have a player on their hands.
Caution must be exercised but it seems as though there are already links to Liverpool doing the rounds.
If Bournemouth wish to not become like other teams in the league that have struggled to replace talent, they need to hold on to Kroupi and build on a very good, underrated debut season.