CF Montreal have become one of the more entertaining teams to watch in MLS this season. With manager Wilfried Nancy’s fluid 3-4-3 shape, their desire to keep the ball, and quality players sprinkled all over the field, Montreal check a lot of the boxes that fun – and good – teams tend to check.
There’s one more box, though, that they’re checking in 2022: Trusting and developing an extremely talented young player; 19-year-old homegrown Isamaél Koné.
Koné, a central midfielder, is in the midst of an impressive first season in MLS. After an injury to Samuel Piette freed up minutes in midfield, he entered Montreal’s starting lineup in their second game of the season, a home match against Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League. Koné has since started all but three games for Nancy and has even played twice for Canada’s men’s national team. Koné also has multiple European training stints under his belt, one in Belgium and one in Italy with Bologna.
Let’s dive into what makes Koné so special.
Strengths
If you watch even just a few seconds of Koné’s game tape, the first thing that will immediately stand out is his build. Standing at a thin six-foot-2, he has an unusual frame for a soccer player, but it does provide unique advantages. His long legs and athletic ability allow Koné to have some impressive speed. He can cover ground on both sides of the ball and regularly uses his range to impact the game.
When Montreal have the ball, Koné plays as the more advanced member of Nancy’s double pivot, positioned slightly ahead of Victor Wanyama in central midfield. Koné’s long frame and his ground coverage make him a good fit for that advanced midfield role. In possession, it’s clear to the naked eye that Koné loves to stride forward and involve himself in Montreal’s attacking play more so than others in that position. And once he’s in those positions, data shows he’s generally a pretty effective contributor. According to FBref, Koné is more involved than most MLS central midfielders when it comes to the attack. His 0.15 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes and his 0.12 expected assists per 90 minutes put him in the 81st and 74th percentile among MLS midfielders over the last year.
Koné’s lone goal of the year is a great representation of how he influences Montreal’s attack. In the first half of Montreal’s 3-3 draw with Atlanta United in March, Koné switched the point of attack from right to left before making a lovely late-arriving run that started in midfield and ended near the penalty spot. Even with a 10-yard head start, Atlanta defensive midfielder Ozzie Alonso couldn’t keep up with him. Now, Alonso, uh, isn’t the quickest player when healthy at the stage of his MLS career, but it’s still an impressive run.
Ismael Kone 🇨🇦 has a goal and an assist today for @cfmontreal!
(🎥: @cfmontreal)
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 19, 2022
Covering that much ground in such a small amount of time is nothing short of incredible.
Even if he doesn’t contribute directly to the play, Koné’s ability to move into attacking spaces has also helped his team disrupt opposing defenses. On this play from last month, Koné doesn’t get on the end of the pass, but his run comes out of nowhere to draw defenders away from the ball-carrier for just enough time to allow an actual play to develop. With better timing (or more involved teammates), Koné’s run could easily have led to a Montreal possession in opposition territory with the opposing defenders on the back foot.
Koné offers value with the ball at his feet as well, having proven to be an extremely aggressive dribbler when in possession. Per FBref, he averages 1.31 successful dribbles per 90 minutes which puts him in the 81st percentile among midfielders in MLS. Koné’s close control combined with his aforementioned acceleration makes it difficult for opposing defenders to stop him with the ball at his feet. It takes Koné a little too long to turn in this clip because he doesn’t check his shoulders soon enough, but once he has the ball with any kind of space in front, he’s gone. He dribbles his way through Atlanta United’s midfield line and moves the ball out to the wing for one of his attacking teammates.
Koné’s range comes in handy when they’re defending, too. Almost like a free safety in American football, Koné can hang back in defensive transition before taking a few short steps (for him) and intercepting the ball. You can see that on this play, where he steps in front of Matheus Rossetto to stop an Atlanta counter attack.
As Koné continues to gain on-field experience and learns to deploy these abilities consistently and in the right moments, his speed and range will only become more difficult for opposing teams to deal with.
Areas to improve
While Koné is a brilliant young player, there are a couple of key areas of his game that need improvement, particularly in possession.
As shown earlier, Koné doesn’t always check his shoulders before receiving the ball, or at least he doesn’t always check them at the right time. Because he’s sometimes unaware of who and what is around him, Koné has to focus on getting his bearings on the ball instead of picking out a quality pass. Per FBref, the 19-year-old is in just the 17th percentile among MLS midfielders in passes attempted per 90 minutes. According to American Soccer Analysis’s Goals Added metric, Koné is one of the weakest passers on his team.
He’s not involved enough in Montreal’s possession and when he is involved, the outcome isn’t always great. As an example, Koné could’ve turned away from pressure and helped his team switch the point of attack over to the far side on this play. Instead, he takes a touch back towards the near sideline and forces a teammate to play a hopeful long ball.
Refining his game as he receives the ball (and directly afterwards) will turn Koné into a better and more well-rounded player.
One other area that Koné should improve is his decision-making in the final third, especially with his shot selection. Koné loves to shoot from outside the box. While long shots can be useful, they often function as a wasteful end to a potentially valuable possession. According to FBref, the midfielder averages 0.03 xG per shot. That’s a very low number that puts him in just the 13th percentile among MLS midfielders. You can see his teammates’ frustration when he takes this shot at a tough angle from 25-yards out. The shot was blocked and turned possession over to the Philadelphia Union.
If Koné can improve his passing in possession and tighten up his shot selection, 2022 might be a memorable year for the 19-year-old. Koné could feature for Canada at the World Cup and he could be in line for a move from Montreal over to a European club later this year as well.
For now, though, Koné is one of the most entertaining and unique players in MLS – and for a teenager, that’s no small feat.
(Photo: David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
