Players for Top leagues #5 — Tomas Suslov

The fifth player on the list of interesting options for strengthening in the top European championships is Tomas Suslov.
Player Profile:
Age: 19
Height: 175 cm
Role: center / attacking midfielder
Club: “Groningen”
Nationality: Slovak
The main talent of the new Slovak generation.

At the age of 16 he moved from his native “Tatran” to “Groningen”. Prior to this season, he played along the entire front of the attack, more often he shifted to the left. Now in the club he has dropped to the center of midfield, although in the national team he is still placed on the flank. He has developed football intelligence, movement without the ball at the highest level. Low center of gravity, coordinated and agile.
At the age of 16, several clubs from the top 5 leagues saw his talent at once: “Bayern” Munich (which he went to for an internship), “Inter”, “Roma”, “Southampton”, “Freiburg”. The agents took the player to the Netherlands, where there was a choice between “Twente” and “Groningen”. In a year and a half he made the leap from the U-17 team to the Second team, and in February 2020 he made his debut for the main squad at the age of 17. Then the coronavirus and 4 months without football.

In the first game of the 20/21 season, he had to play instead of injured Arjen Robben. He managed to score a goal and get the necessary impulse. Gradually, Tomas began to appear on the field more often, and in the second part of the championship he missed only one game. Over the entire last season, Suslov scored twice and assisted his partners five times, playing in a position under the striker or on the left in a 4–2–3–1 formation. In the summer they started talking about him in the context of moving to bigger clubs: “Ajax”, “Marseille” and “Wolverhampton” showed interest, but Tomas stayed and at the age of 19 he already tried on the captain’s armband.
In the new season, he plays in the center of midfield, from where he can disperse the team’s attacks. Such a rearrangement was painless for a player, he had to improve in challenges and tackles. He managed to gain a foothold in the first team and started 91% of the games at the start eleven.

Strong features:
1. Balanced football skills. He can do everything on the pitch. He plays well in a few different roles, strong weak foot playing, accurate short and long passes, uses long shots and very tough in tackles.
2. Strong week foot. His strong leg is the left one. Nevertheless, he acts confidently with the right. Likes to hit from outside the box. Uses the right foot for passes under pressure, and also comes out of pressure on dribbling, including taking the ball under the weak foot.
3. It is difficult for him to take the ball away without breaking the rules. He has an extremely high number of fouls suffered (40 this season) and it is the highest number in the league. For comparison, Loïs Openda is second on this list, fouls suffered 32 times.
4. Openings. He skans the situation on the pitch, opens up well for the passes of his partners. Plays with his head raised, easily frees himself from an opponent. He also reads the game during defense, and correctly chooses a position.
5. Speed dribbling. Tomas has a high starting speed, which allows him to dodge the opponent during the sprint. There is a big progress compared to last year in this component. The national team also shows figures at the top level. In the qualification games at the World Cup, he played 223 minutes, went into dribbling 31 times with a 71% success rate.

Weak features:
1. Air challenges. Useless in this component, does not know how to challenge the opponent at the top clearly. The Eredivisie style is generally far from a lot of crosses, however, for a midfield player, this component should be much better developed.
2. Stability. Not always completely immersed in individual episodes, can make a ridiculous loss and turn off. Young players often have this kind of problem, he needs to add in diligence and concentration.

Statistics:
Before presenting numbers and statistics, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video cutting. It shows different sides of the young Slovak midfielder.

Successful actions, % — 71%
Accurate passes, % — 77%
Key passes/Accurate key passes — 0,84/0,54
Chances created, per 90min — 0,99
Dribbles, per 90min/Successful dribbles, % —5,6/ 57%
Challenges, per 90min — 18
Challenges won, % — 48%
Air challenges, per 90min — 1,58
Air challenges won, % — 34%
Fouls suffered, per 90min — 3
Ball recoveries/ Interceptions , per 90min— 2,9/3,1

What is the next step ?
In my opinion, a logical step further is the transfer to “Ajax”, “PSV”, “Feyenoord” or “AZ”. There Tomas will be able to gain experience of playing in Eurocup and finally shape himself as a player. Strengthen all weaknesses and become even more balanced.
But it is also worth considering the transition to other leagues, there will be no problems with adaptation. For the Slovakian, the transition to Serie A looks obvious. Following in the footsteps of Marek Hamsik. Also, moving to the Spanish Primera would be a great step, for example, to “Celta”. In addition, his compatriot Stanislav Lobotka is already playing there.

What’s the result?
19 years old midfielder, effective on both flanks, in the center of the field and under the striker. The footballer of the Slovak national team. Fast, physically strong, with good dribbling. High football intelligence. Contract with Groningen until 2025. The cost on Transfermarkt is 2 million euros, but the actual cost is 3–4 times higher. Confident in himself, ready to be a leader, working on his weaknesses.