Why Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is So Good
Georgia have been the surprise package so far at Euro 2024. A well regimented side that efficiently turnover possession and know when to slow things down. It's an impressive feat for a team expected to be underdogs; but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has made it all possible...
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00:00Right, now first of all, let me just say and get this off my chest and out the way, that
00:07the reason this video is being made now, truth be told, is because Georgia have got Spain.
00:12So the likelihood is, given that Spain, in my opinion anyway, and I think a lot of people's
00:15opinions have been the most impressive, cohesive, coherent team in the tournament so far, a
00:19lot of people's favourites, the likelihood is that in a few days time, Georgia will have
00:24been tonked and will be out of the competition. So I think it'd just be, it's doing them
00:27a service really for how good they've been in the Groot stage that this video is being
00:31made.
00:32And the second thing as well that I just need to make you guys aware of as well, yeah, these
00:36fellas here, we're going to be talking about them. Difficult bunch of names to pronounce,
00:40to say the least. I'm from Stockport, I don't have a degree in linguistics and I think I
00:46bloody need one to be able to pronounce some of these names. So I know that a lot of them
00:50end in Villy, but if at any point in this video I just start giving up and calling one
00:54of them Keith or something for ease, then forgive me. But yeah, let's just get that
00:59out of the way.
01:00Right, so before we get into the Starman in question, here's just a brief overview of
01:03Georgia's stats throughout the tournament so far. There's a few stats here that glaringly
01:07just give a nice little overview of how Georgia like to play, and it's very understandable
01:12as well. 41% average possession means that they're a team that heavily rely on having
01:16a good out of possession shape so that they can win the ball and turn it over quickly,
01:21and they have got a man who's very good at doing that for them.
01:2320 saves with an average of 6.67 per match also highlights another key player in this
01:28team who I think is probably going to get a big move in the summer. But I think the
01:31most impressive and important one here is the ball recovery. He's 134 with an average
01:35of 44.67 per match, which if you kind of figure it out, that's like one every two minutes
01:41throughout each game. So, you know, you think about how often possession gets turned over,
01:45that's quite impressive for a team who are considered underdogs in every game that they
01:49play.
01:50The last one, though, of course, a man who makes it all tick is Kvita Kvarac Kelia, and
01:54I pronounce that name semi-okayly because I've been following him at Napoli. As for
02:00the other 10, forget it. But the role he's been playing in this Georgia system is quite
02:03different to the one he plays at Napoli. Of course, at Napoli, he plays in a kind of 4-2-3-1
02:08shape on the left-hand side with Viktor Osserman being the focal point, but in a squad like
02:12Georgia's where he is a star man, and I think this is the beauty of international tournament.
02:16If you look at someone like Alphonso Davies at Canada, he plays more advanced at the pitch.
02:20Gareth Bale at Wales has free license to do whatever he wanted or had because he's retired
02:25now. But given how head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates, Kvarac Kelia is
02:29in this Georgia side, he's played in a two up top alongside Mikhail Tadze, who is the
02:35top scorer of this tournament, by the way, so far. We'll come on to that in a minute.
02:38But despite him playing in a two up top on paper, this is Kvarac Kelia's heat map against
02:42Portugal. And you can see the most predominant areas where he's having the most action on the
02:47pitch are actually in his own half, meaning he's being deployed in this system, and rightly so,
02:52as a ball winner, one of the many ball winners in the side. But most importantly, then,
02:55the man who's going to be able to progress the ball up the pitch and carry up the pitch for
02:59Georgia when they do have one of their ball recoveries that they do have every two minutes.
03:04And you can see as well, before I do show the screenshots against Portugal, just on stats alone,
03:08the successful dribbles attempted against Portugal was three out of three, nine out of nine
03:12accurate passes as well, and then 12 ground duels against Portugal, nine of which he came out on top
03:18of. So despite him on paper being a striker, he's actually an all action midfielder almost in this
03:23system. And he is the main reason that Georgia are currently now in the knockouts. As good as
03:27they've been as a collective, what he can do on the ball is just what's carrying them forward.
03:31First of all, we'll start with the early goal that he did score against Portugal. It was a
03:35misplaced pass by Portugal that started the move, but look who's pressing to force that error,
03:40Kvarac Kelia. Now don't get me wrong, this is a very fortunate turnover of possession for Georgia,
03:44and Mikhail Tadze is able to drive with the ball towards goal. He finds Kvarac Kelia with an inch
03:49perfect pass, but Kvarac Kelia is a right footed man. But look at how comfortable he is at using
03:54his weaker side. It's an absolutely perfect finish. And I think this goes under the radar
03:58a lot for footballers in general, the ability to be comfortable on both feet. You know,
04:03considering how good these professional footballers are, you'd be surprised how
04:06many players just can't execute what Kvarac Kelia has actually done there.
04:09And this two-footedness also feeds into his dribbling. It means he's ambidextrous,
04:13he can go both ways, and he's just an absolute handful. No matter what part of the pitch he's
04:17on, when he's going at someone or just keeping the ball, he can go either way. He's just so
04:22comfortable and fluid. He's like water. And again, this one's so impressive. Georgia clear
04:26the lines. This is when they're 2-0 up. And three Portuguese players try and end up pressing him,
04:30and look how he just evades it so well. He then goes for a fourth man, and then he takes on a
04:35fifth man and draws the foul, and helps Georgia then consequently get the ball up the pitch.
04:40And I just think this asset is so underrated in a striker, and I can think of one in England who
04:45could take a leaf out of his book really at the moment. And that's what works so well for Georgia,
04:48I think. When you've got a player with Kvarac Kelia's assets, where he can sort of draw that
04:52foul or progress the ball up the pitch and drive himself. It allows Georgia, when they're out of
04:57possession and they win it, to either choose to reset, draw a foul and calm down, or break and
05:02counterattack. So they've got the best of both worlds, and it's really, really good for a side
05:07that know they're going to be an underdog in every single game that they play. And then on Georgia as
05:10a collective, when they do win that ball deep, what areas do they like to exploit? Well, I think
05:15it's pretty much the wide areas, where most teams who are the favourite to win the game
05:19want to attack Georgia's back five. They're inclined to push their fullbacks up. So consequently,
05:23the spaces in those wide areas and Georgia have created an awful lot of chances from wide
05:27positions. Namely, their first goal of the tournament against Turkey. This screenshot
05:31here, it's out on the right-hand side. Now, I couldn't actually find footage of like three
05:35seconds before this screenshot, but just know that it was switched from the left-hand side.
05:39That's where they broke, and it was nice, progressive build-up. They got it into this
05:41right-side area, and then Kokkorashvili was able to force it to the byline and get a crossing,
05:47and Georgia consequently equalised. Here is another chance in the second half. The ball
05:51switched on to the left-hand side this time, to Kvadac Kelia, and this one was taken again to the
05:55byline and forced to cross goal. This one really should have been converted. But Georgia have very,
05:59very technical players, so when they get it into these areas, they actually have the capability
06:03to beat their fullbacks, if there is a one-on-one situation. And they get a crossing so many times,
06:08I'll take you to the Portugal game. Again, this time a ball in behind Portugal's left back to
06:12Georgia's right-hand side, and again, it's forced to cross goal, and Kvadac Kelia should have
06:16converted this one, but he kind of fluffed his lines. He is washed. Again, right-hand side. Now,
06:20Portugal were terrible in this game. They were giving the ball away left, right, and centre,
06:24but the ball was won very high up the pitch, and where do they put it? Immediately out wide,
06:28and the ball is fizzed across again to their main man, Kvadac Kelia, who just couldn't connect with
06:32the ball this time. But again, another cross and another chance. And again, in similar fashion,
06:37Georgia winning the ball so high up the pitch in these wide areas for Portugal, and this one
06:41won them the penalty that then put them 2-0 up. So yeah, they like to attack and press the wide
06:46areas, but if I could show you one final clip that just typifies what Georgia are trying to do this
06:51tournament and why Kvadac Kelia is the main man for them, then it's this one against Czech Republic.
06:56So this is from a Czech corner at the start of the second half, and Georgia have all of their
07:0010 outfield players in the penalty area. This is for two reasons. Number one, if Czechia decides
07:05to go to the edge of the penalty area to any of the four unmarked players, then Georgia can get
07:10out quickly and close that player down. But then reason number two, because of the numerical
07:14advantage they've got in the penalty area, they're more likely to win the ball, which they
07:18do here. And then when the ball is loose, they can then all press out and try and counter-attack
07:23using Kvadac Kelia. And that is exactly what happens. And just watch Kvadac Kelia drive now
07:29from his own penalty area into the opposition final third. You'll notice he's the one who's
07:42capable and allowed to drive with the ball. And then there's just three bodies instantly from
07:47their own penalty area running alongside him in parallel. And it gives him two potential passing
07:52options. He chooses the left-hand side. And yeah, this one definitely should have been a goal. And
07:56had it been, it would have been one of my favorite goals of the tournament. I think it would have
07:59been one of the best goals of the tournament because it just typifies what Georgia are trying
08:03to do and why Kvadac Kelia is so important to their system. They try and win the ball from set
08:07pieces or with high press in their own defensive third or press the opposition's defensive third
08:12and win the ball high up that way using Kvadac Kelia. And the other striker, what's his name?
08:17Mikhail Tadze. That's it. And yeah, that's it. It's worked really so far. I know they've only got
08:22four points and you could say certain teams like Turkey have beat them and therefore had an answer
08:26to what Georgia were trying to do. But you've got to realize this is Georgia we're talking about.
08:30It's their first ever international tournament. They're into the last 16. They're playing with
08:34fearlessness, but also a lot of tactical nous. And yes, the likelihood is that Spain are going
08:39to sweep them aside and progress, but never say never. And truth be told, they'd probably
08:44beat England at the moment. Anyway, guys, yes, that was my little video on Kvadac Kelia and
08:49Georgia and why they deserve a lot of praise in the tournament so far. And in terms of club
08:54football, having watched Kvadac Kelia this tournament and also at Napoli, I would love him
08:58at my team, Manchester City, and I'm sure you'd probably love him at your team too. Nonetheless,
09:02so guys, don't forget to subscribe. I've been Adam Monk on socials, ex or Instagram. It's
09:08underscore Adam Monk if you want to take a little look at that. And I'll see you very,
09:13very soon. We're into the knockout stages now. So this is where it really, really does get
09:17interesting. Anyway, have a good weekend, guys. Enjoy the games and I'll see you very soon.
09:22Goodbye.