Players for Top leagues #6 — Alexander Prass

The sixth player on the list of interesting options for strengthening in the top European championships is Alexander Prass.
Player Profile:
Age: 20
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Strong foot: Left
Role: Left midfielder
Club: “Sturm” Graz
Contract expires: 30.06.2020
National team: Austria U21
Nationality: Austrian

Former captain of the farm club “RB Salzburg” — “Liefering”, 8 games for the Austrian national team U-21, 1 goal.

Alexander is a graduate of the “RB Salzburg” Academy. From 2012 to 2021, he went through all the steps in the structure of the club, reached the semifinals of the youth Champions League with the youth team. In February of this year he became the captain in the second team — “Liefering” (under Matthias Jaissle — now the head coach of “RB Salzburg”). His contract with the club ended in the summer of 2021. Despite an excellent performance in the second Austrian Bundesliga (28 matches, 6 goals and 10 assists), they decided not to renew the contract with him. Several clubs of the second German Bundesliga, “Rapid” and “Sturm”, were interested in the player.
In “Sturm” he gets practice in the national cup, enters the field in the championship and has already made his debut in the Europa League. He managed to gain a practice in the basis of the youth team. So the beginning of a new stage of his career is going well.

Strong features:
1. Versatility. Most often goes to the left: left midfielder or center left midfielder in the three, lateral, defender. He even played as a center forward (and scored 3 goals). Can play with both feet, but strong — left. Performs long shots well. “Sturm” does not have a stable formation, so the versatility that Bo Svensson (now the head of “Mainz 04”) instilled in Alexander in “Liefering” helps a lot to get used to a new place.
2. Stamina. Alexander is absolutely tireless. He rushes around the field until the end of the match, always manages to clean up on the flank or support the attack in the last minutes.
3. Dribbling. Confidently goes to the opponent, is not afraid to challenge. Alexander has a powerful body, it is difficult to move him away from the ball. Usually, use a pass to a partner along the flank and cross into the penalty area after successful dribbling.
4. Ball transfers from flank to flank. The technique of the long pass is impressive: it curved, flies low, but the defense players cannot reach it, all that remains is to hope for inaccuracy.

Weak features:
1. He is still a very raw player and needs to be improved in all aspects. There is a lack of decision-making speed, sometimes it slows down attacks. Loses simple balls.
2. Lack of technique. Hardworking is a great feature, but he needs to improve in this aspect. His movements look clumsy.
3. Adaptation. Judging by his interviews, it is very important for him to be in a comfortable environment. Even the choice of a new club was largely determined by familiar requirements and the opportunity to unite with former partners. This will almost certainly pass over the years, but taking him out of his familiar environment is risky now. The player will not give results here and now.

Statistics:

Successful actions, % — 71%
Accurate passes, % — 71%
Key passes/Accurate key passes — 1,67/0,81
Crosses, per 90min/Accurate crosses, % — 2,4/20%
Chances created, per 90min — 1,15
Successful dribbles, % — 58%
Attacking challenges, per 90min — 9
Attacking challenges won, % — 56%
Air challenges, per 90min — 2,4
Air challenges won, % — 41%
Fouls suffered, per 90min — 1,44
Ball recoveries/ Interceptions , per 90min — 4,6/5,1
Tackles, per 90min/Tackles won, % — 5,4/54%

Alexander is doing well with challenges and tackles. He annually improves his indicator in it, gains muscle mass.
The problem is with the pass accuracy. Of course, it can be seen that Alexander has a lot of forward passes, always tries to risk.

What is the next step ?
It is unlikely that Alexander is now ready for teams that are counting on European competitions, but every club should watch the development of his career. The next two seasons will be decisive for his future. They will show whether the player is ready to progress, whether he can get into the National team and gain a foothold in the team from the top 3 of Austria. Prass has a good school, versatility and low market value. Clubs in the middle of the top league table cannot spend large sums, but want to improve their quality. Most likely, he will cost more than 700 thousand euros, but it is a player with understandable qualities.

What’s the result?
Lefty, tough, dribbler, sharpening, leader. The player of the youth national team of Austria, a graduate of “RB Salzburg”, spends the third season at the senior level. Ready to play in any position on the left, in the center of midfield, in the attack. The cost on Transfermarkt is 700 thousand euros. He would like to try himself in the German Bundesliga. He dreams of getting into the Champions League at the end of this season, getting a call to the main national team of Austria.