Mussa Kaba: Dortmund's Missing Piece
The potential fix to a major problem for Borussia Dortmund may be developing internally.
Dortmund have been having a poor season, reflective of years of horrible decision making. In recent years, squad planning has been an outstanding issue for BVB. The sort of issues that must be fixed over several years, rather than one window. In comes Kaba...
However, importantly, I am not stating that his step-up should happen immediately, more so, that his potential is influential enough to the point where squad planning must begin to involve him.
Who is Mussa Kaba?
Mussa Kaba is a Borussia Dortmund youth player who has been a regular figure in the U17s and now the U19s, dating back to around July 2023 where he joined the BVB U17s at just 14. He has since featured in the Youth League, starting games against some of the competitions most talented sides, such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, teams who are also often filled with 18/19 year olds, while he has just been 15/16 in them matchups. A Germany U17 regular, he has been capped at this level 9 times, finding 1 goal, and recently found a vital game-winning assist playing as a CB, in a huge qualifier win over Spain. His athletic dominance has made him a stand-out talent over the past couple years, and was no doubt the leading factor in choosing to allow him to play up. Still just 16, he will likely continue in the U19s moving into next year and will undoubtedly be a key player for the side.
Why highlight Kaba?
Dortmund’s squad, and midfield to be specific, is extremely unexciting. Many aging players, who lack the necessary athleticism to be a game changer in a modern trend of midfield powerhouses. Felix Nmecha is the only midfielder in the current group that is viable to still be key in 3 years time.
🟢What will Kaba provide? (STRENGTHS)
🟢Firstly, athleticism. A 6’4 beast with heaps of power, who will only grow to learn how to use his frame better. The base trait of the missing profile in the squad is already there. Can over commit his size at times, but maturity will iron this out.
🟢Defensively, I like him. He can find success in upper-body and lower-body dominant challenges. His long legs make for a great tackling style, extra important for blindside/tight angle/recovery challenges and defending large spaces. While his alternate robust style in duels is showcased in congested areas. Often left as a lone 6, he can be isolated in transitions but still showcases some real defensive quality. Covers well for aggressive CBs, thriving in his ability to eat up ground, close angles with legs, and use his arms to disrupt momentum of runners beyond. He is even comfortable dropping between CBs, but more on that later. Occasionally, a little light in challenges and doesn’t set himself well, but not a major issue for me. He is outstanding in winning loose balls and interceptions. He just applies his length so well and always finds the ball first, often excelling in stretched interceptions/blocks.
🟢Potentially my favourite part of his game, his retaining. Kaba is 6’4 and knows exactly what to do with his stature to ensure players can’t get near the ball. A fantastic shielder of the ball, he does a great job of retaining possession, fantastic for the lone 6 role. He fights off pressure with ease. His close control for his size and age is also quality, which only adds to this. Kaba does an outstanding job of being patient in holding off pressure, often baiting in presses before he explodes out of any gap they leave. A trait he constantly utilises. Effective as he gives enough time for space to open all over the pitch, before bursting out of the tight space. Great use of frame, and decent close control, his retaining and navigation of tight spaces is already quality and will only get better. Another vital quality to a 6 who is required to cover large spaces but operate in tight areas too.
🟢Positionally, there is a lot of good, but there are some slight issues I have. His positioning suits him well, therefore I want to accredit him for setting himself up well to spring into action, while also staying in line tactically. He sort of knows how well he can eat up space quickly, therefore he doesn't shift too far to the ball-side of play. As briefly mentioned, he recognises when to drop and cover for CBs, showing nice awareness, concentration and understanding. However, I will come back to some of my issues later.
🟢/🟠Passing and carrying (along with other bits). His carrying, or lack of, upsets me. He is such a powerful runner that just has players bouncing off him when he gets going, yet he doesn't showcase his carrying a lot. He has decent close control but can sometimes get it caught under his feet when carrying. But this is easily coached, and to me it all just comes down to controlling momentum over longer distances. Passing wise, he is cautious and doesn't even really test his range, however he shows some nice ideas with clipped passes occasionally. Again, he doesn't struggle, he just is reserved in this area. This fills me with confidence, as I believe it can be coached into him. Particularly his drilled/zipped passing, I want to see more of that integrated into his game, especially as he always operates deeper. Other things such as positioning in and around the box show promise, rarely showed but finds himself in shooting positions occasionally and has a decent finish. Surprisingly, doesn't engage in the air much, but due to his size, he usually does well as long as his timing isn't off.
🟠What is stopping Kaba in the short-term?(AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT)
Truthfully, there isn't much in his game that directly makes him a liability, it is just all about the physical and mental demands and the fact that 16-year-olds (who are not freak players that are ready instantly) usually need serious development. He is closer than most however. Still, here are some of the things I have picked up on.
🟠He is too cautious. Understandable as he is likely worried about being mistake prone as a young player. But he will find success if he takes more risks. By this, I am particularly referencing his lack of carrying, passiveness in passing, and his common surrender into the backline. I have already commented on the passing and carrying, so I will talk on the latter issue. His frame is literally perfect for defending in island zones, where he is isolated. His length closes angles/lanes superbly and he is a firm figure who is hard to breeze past, especially if he engages himself. Therefore, he doesn't need to surrender to a position in between the CBs against the ball. He will thrive and be much more effective if he holds his position (which he does do a decent bit to be fair) at all times, and then prevents central progression by just being there, and nipping in occasionally. Rather, he is affording more space for players to receive line-breakers and get turned. Could be a systemic issue, but I would coach some more ambition in his off-ball positioning. Basically, he is best off as a screening midfielder, rather than more of an anchor who is likely to retreat.
🟠As of right now, he isn't a great asset to build-up play. He usually just drops in and plays passes off to CBs/FBs, rather than an occasional spin and carry into space. Even besides this, he can be a little irrational in his passing under demanding pressure, his mistake against SpVgg Unterhaching U19 on March 1st showing this as he was completely suffocated. However, the pass probably shouldn't have been played to him to be fair.
🟠He doesn't really seek out progressive space to receive in build-up either. Something that will come with confidence and development in his passing/carrying, so not worried. Operates similar to Nmecha this season, except Nmecha has more expression at times. Even some of his passes off to the defenders can be a little hindering. Thrives more outside of build-up with the ball though.
🟠Needs some work in timings, triggers and proper application in closing down. Really not a big problem as he does well in this usually, just that I have seen it a couple too many times. Explosive in getting to the back of his man, but if he doesn't properly execute his challenge, he can get spun, either forcing a foul or having the open space exploited, leaving the defenders exposed. Just a maturity/intelligence thing again.
Again, truly believe there is nothing in his profile, when in regards to the role his future likely lies in (NO.6), that actually hinders him. Therefore, all of the orange highlighted sections are not weaknesses, rather areas for development to ensure that his professional integration is not as hard as it can be.
Does he have what it takes and when will he be ready?
In conclusion, yes, and it is hard to judge. While I maintain that he needs to ease in over the next years, he does have what Dortmund desperately needs. The potential of his carrying specifically, tells me he can tick 3 out of 4 of the desirables very soon. He has 2 currently. Duelling and athleticism. While I do not think it is realistic to say he can become a fantastic passer with outstanding range, vision and precision, he can be a very solid deep passer. While his powers would lie in the other 3 categories. In terms of how his pathway should be planned, I would recommend assessing how he operates amongst the first-team in training camps. This gives a good basis of how he may translate to first-team football. However, if there are doubts over his influence if he was to assume a role in the first-team, seek out a valuable loan, with the Jupiler Pro League being a very viable option if there are any suitors. Generally, I would like to see Kaba move into the first team around 18/19, maybe even 20, especially in an environment where there is good rotation and his burden is not too heavy immediately. Mussa Kaba has the capacity to be one of Europe’s best holding midfielders in coming years, Dortmund need to maximise this potential effectively.
