Benjamin Šeško : a play by play analysis of his DFB Pokal semi-final performance vs VFB Stuttgart

Despite not being a Bundesliga typa guy and considering all the noise and the massive figures being mentioned alongside his name, I decided to take a deeper look at Benjamin Šeško. There it is.

If you follow me on X, you might have figured out several things about me :

• I don’t pretend watching the five big league + european cups + the big clubs in Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium… So I don’t have informed opinion on most players playing outside of Ligue 1, Ligue 2, PL and UCL.

• I tend to not appreciate when some players get insane PR because is most cases it’s just what it is : PR.

• I like strikers because they are fun, they win games and they represent a good entry to build frameworks to evaluate players.

For context : I don’t hate on players nor do I criticize them “like that”. I don’t know them, they don’t know me. Players play as good as they can, more often than not to the best of their ability and more often than not doing what they’re told. However, I often tweet in a sarcastic way to underline the funny nature of some decisions made/actions in the football environnement.

So Šeško now.

From my non-Bundesliga watching POV when I first heard his name and seen pictures I saw what everyone can see : he is tall, he is quick, he is young.

Every once in a while I’d also see a banger of his on my timeline. Most of the time though, I’d mostly read his name alongside either sky high compliments and opinions, or sky high figures.

Just like for Gyökeres before, I thought I’d give it a look an try to figure out what he is all about.

As specified in the title, this piece is based on his performance vs VB Stuttgart in the German cup semi-final. Only one game, because that’s enough to see some mechanics (physical, technical and tactical) that give a good idea of the players current level and his potential.

We will adress Šeško’s game through 5 different points :

• What’s the angle ? To discuss Šeško’s running in behind

• Waze striker or not ? To get a closer look at his ability to move accordingly as plays develop

• Look alive, to discuss his ability to react on loseballs/clearances and create value out of nothing including when his team is under pressure

• Rondo receptions under pressure, to discuss his ability to receive the ball when dropping off the frontline (which he does a lot).

• A medley of other interesting plays including box movement, ability to get shots off quickly and separation movements

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WHAT’S THE ANGLE ?

First thing first. Šeško is quick, no need to watch 100 games of his or have a PhD in any of the dozens academic disciplines taught over the world to see it. But in order to use that speed properly and make it truly valuable on a pitch, you need some know-how.

Essentially it’s all about creating an angle between three points :

• The ball carrier and upcoming passer

• Yourself

• The goal. Because essentially that’s where you want to go (otherwise maybe you need a refresh on what football is all about).

If those 3 things are aligned (📏) you ain’t going nowhere, it they aren’t (📐) you might have a chance.

Of course that’s just the general idea. Then you have to mix it up with timing, curved runs to get from defenders’ blindside to the space in front of them so you effectively beat them and also to gather speed while not being offside, being readable so your teammates know you’re doing that run…

The screenshot below illustrates fairly well the ideas of :

• 1° not creating an angle, Šeško should start his run further away rom the ball

• 2° not getting the timing right since he runs beyond the backline while his teammate is not ready to feed him

• 3° Making a straight run instead of a curved one so he ends up offside

WAZE STRIKER OR NOT ?

I’ll say it right now so it’s clear : Im not a fan of Šeško.

This being said, it’s quite clear he has raw material. If you can’t shoot, run, head, control the football or basic stuff like that, you don’t play for RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The strikers who can’t do any of the above will most likely get released or not even get into an academy. And if their PR is somehow good enough to make them sign a pro contract or even get a good move, they still won’t last long because you can’t hide on the pitch.

Main takeaway : Sesko has to have some sort of qualities. “Duh”. But the thing is that you have to put yourself in a place to showcase those qualities. Maybe you’re quick but do you make your runs the right way, remember ?

Well, it’s the case for Šeško’s movement in general.

It's about reading the play, reacting to cues to move accordingly. Where is the ball ? Where is the space ? Where should I be to make the most of it ?

Some CFs move like they’ve got a GPS in their mind because they know where to go/when/how and figure out where the ball is going next before the passes are played. Sesko is not one of them.

The cruelty is that off-ball movement is exclusionary. “Duh” again : if you go there but the play requires you here, you’re just going to be excluded from it since you can’t be at two places at the same time.

That’s why some CFs spend a loooot of time chasing the play like shadows. Again in all fairness, Šeško isn’t at this level of “I just don’t know where I’m supposed to be” but there are entire sequences where he just doesn’t move accordingly at all.

So that’s runs in behind and general movement who need to improve. Maybe you’d like the data to back it up ?

This season in the Bundesliga, Šeško’s teammate Loïs Openda has received 8.39 progressive passes/90 (most at RB Leipzig) when Šeško has received 5.34/90 in the Bundesliga this season. Ekitike is at 7.54/90. Kolo Muani was at 8.22/90 when he played for Frankfurt.

Moving on.

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LOOK ALIVE

In my book strikers are supposed to :

• Get goal contributions (ball striking, box movements, 1v1 finishing, heading ability…)

• Get their team up the pitch (running the channels, winning aerials, turning defenders around, carrying…), including under pressure

All of your favorite’s strikers skillset stems from those two points.

Šeško does show some serious inconsistency to be an outlet for his team.

Another one of those things no one notices and frankly no one cares about. A bit like second balls for midfielders. It’s all useless or unnoticeable until your team gets pressed man-to-man by Sir Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United and at St James’ Park and you need to lump it down the flanks to avoid Bruno G or Joelinton to get it back and release their forwards.

Every coach around the world says it to every player kicking the ball in those desperate situations “NOT IN THE MIDDLE”. So, “duh”, it suggests that the ball is going to go wide. Just be ready for it, hold on to it and win something at least.

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RONDO RECEPTIONS UNDER PRESSURE

I have already made my opinion on strikers who drop off the frontline to receive between the lines like as if they were Dani Olmo instead of running in behind or receiving back-to-goal holding up the play quite clear.

My general opinion on big guys shying away from contact is pretty much just me cutting off the TV when I see a 7ft tall NBA player trying a turn around jumpshot while facing some 6ft tall “midget’.

But anyway, Šeško does that so let’s talk about that.

Let me ask you a question chat : what do we think about rondos ? Personally I think they’re alright to get a little contact on the ball while effectively creating a fun-ish atmosphere before starting the real (understand “real” as in “looks like what players face in games”) training.

I also think they do not do a good job to recreate game-like situations since you always have massive numerical advantages and you always see where the pressure is coming from (circle of 7 with 2 guys in the middle, got to be blind to not see them).

“Rondo receptions” is my best attempts at describing players who receive the ball like there’s no danger coming in their back, behaving like Madrid’s players in this clip : ballwatching, arms alongside their body, kinda trying some shit to make their teammates look silly.

Šeško kinda receives the ball that way, but in the middle of competitive games.

Sometimes it will give him some highlights, most of the times he’ll just get removed from the ball especially when he plays Konaté, Gabriel and them lot.

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Other interesting plays

Speed of execution :

Said it earlier in this article, Sesko can score bangers. Like Puskás worthy goals because he can shoot hard from distance. But that’s all when he has the time to do so. He obviously has that time more often in the Bundesliga than he would in the Premier League because the truth is we now have one super league (PL), 4 okay leagues (La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga) and then the rest. Who’s surprised ? Money buys players.

Anyway, Puskás Šeško can take quite a long time to get shots off. I said it back in october after watching highlights (which, if you what to look at, can turn into “lowlights” real quick), I reaffirm it now.

See the example below

First touch :

Amongst all the things that get said about Šeško (tall, quick true. insane box presence, could cure cancer, false), word is he is technical. Fairs, I’ve seen him control 40 yards long balls and bring them in his stride with fluidity. But I think he struggles a bit more with certain type of passes.

For instance, I’ve seen him chase his first touch a lot when he has to deal with passes which bounce off the pitch.

It’s problem solving really. Ball comes at you fast, how uickly can you figure out a way to use whatever part of your foot/body to make it stick to you and bring it where you can use it to develop the play. For a tall guy like him it’s quite understandable to have this sort of awkward first touches from time to time. Still, it should get mentioned.

Box Movement :

I’ve also seen some people label Šeško has a “box dominator” or something like that. Here we go again. Being tall and jumping high doesn’t give you domination in the box. It’s about the way you attack crosses (WHERE, HOW, IF in the words of José Mourinho in another context).

Some strikers don’t even attack the crosses, some will attack them at the backpost (so they’re essentially hoping the defense doesn’t clear it until it gets there) or wait for them at the penalty spot (Kyky de Bondy), some attack them at the first post like they need that ball more than anyone else (Osimhen, currently in discussion with Saudi over a 700K/week contract but attacking crosses “like he broke”).

As detailed earlier in the WAZE STRIKER section, Šeško often doesn’t get in a position to attack crosses because he comes short. And when he does get in the box, does he behave the right way ? Not so sure.

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Conclusion :

If I’d tell you Šeško is not worthy of ay interest I’d lie, if I’d tell you I think he is worth 90 M I’d lie to. There is value in a striker who has is raw material, just like there’s a certain ceiling to what he offers right now which is certainly not worth that much money.

Outside of Haaland (who was scoring 1 goal every 87 minutes in Germany, not every 185 minutes like Šeško), when was the last time a team won the PL with a U-23 striker anyway ?

It’s the Premier League and it’s Arsenal, realistically a Šeško 90M deal wouldn’t get them anywhere near bankruptcy and he would probably score 12-15 goals in PL. And somehow, someday, surely they have to win a relevant trophy (not the Community Shield). The window is getting tighter as Saka, Rice, Saliba might not accept another two seasons without trophies.

But it’s 90 f*cking million pounds and ressource allocation is not a myth, especially when they are reportedly interested in a 60M deal for Zubimendi.

Value for money. 90M should get you an established top 3 CF in the world. Just like 60M should get you a player who can impact games in and around both boxes (Onana, Neves…).