3 players that have stood out for me: Euro 2024

As a quick disclaimer. Three games is obviously not enough to properly judge a player's ability. That said these players caught my eye and I've followed 2 of the 3 during the regular club season, and the 3rd has started getting links to big European leagues.

Georgiy Sudakov (21): Ukraine

Georgiy Sudakov is someone who I didn't really know about before the tournament, but seeing as Ukraine have been an interesting watch so far, I thought I'd pay more attention to him during their games. So far, Sudakov has lined up as Ukraine's most advanced 8, which has seen him push up to make a front 2 out of possession.

He's shown a tendency to drop very deep to help Ukraine build up the play which has limited his threat nearer goal so far. But he's shown that he's very press resistant, being able to jink away from opposition players with fakes and quick footwork. His long passing has been a help, by being able to switch the ball out to the flanks when Ukraine win the ball back, Sudakov allows the team to quickly move up the pitch. The young midfielder already has a good sense of where spaces will open up and has shown his intelligence to get into those pockets of space in front of the opposition defence and either turn, or play the ball to a teammate.

He's not registered a goal or assist in this Euros, but he played a big part in Shaparenko's equalising goal against Slovakia. 

Ukraine countered quickly from a Slovakian turnover, which saw Sudakov follow the ball as it went to the left side of the final 3rd. 

He waited patiently on the outside of the box to receive the ball from Dovbyk after initially taking a few steps back. When he got the ball, he paused for a second to allow Zinchenko to overlap on the left.

Then, without looking, he played a nicely weighted pass for Zinchenko to cut the ball back to Shaparenko to finish off an impressive counter.

Nicolas Seiwald (23): Austria

Nicolas Seiwald made the move that many other RB Salzburg players have in recent years by moving to sister club RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023. Seiwald hasn't cemented himself as a starter for his club yet as he's behind Xaver Schlager, Kevin Kampl and Amadou Haidara in the double pivot pecking order, but he's currently partnering Florian Grillitsch as Austria's double pivot in this Euros. 

For Ralf Rangnick's Austria, Seiwald has mostly been the sitting midfielder in the double pivot, although because he's such an intense presser, he has followed his man further up the pitch to close down his passing options. Seiwald has very good defensive sense which has seen him make 17 tackles and interceptions across the first 3 games. In transition he also covers at RB, or steps inbetween the CB's when Austria are being countered to make sure there's 4 players in the defensive line or to cover space for potential attacking runners. 

The 5'10 midfielder is quite stocky, but this doesn't hamper his ability on the ball as he can comfortably shift the ball onto the other foot when needed. As with the other two mentioned he's very comfortable using both feet, and his 1 and 2 touch passing is very impressive. His passes have mostly been very safe, with Grillitsch/Laimer being more likely to progress with a long ball or carry the ball. Although he has shown a willingness to play passes forwards between the attacking and midfield lines.

Stanislav Lobotka (29): Slovakia

Stanislav Lobotka has been a big name #6 since his Celta Vigo days before his move to Napoli in 2019. The Slovakian has a small and slight frame which makes him very nippy when carrying the ball out of deep areas, although he's also able to use his positioning sense to nip in front of opposition players to intercept the ball and stop counters. 

Starting as the deepest lying midfielder in Slovakia's 433 in possession, Lobotka is the player that most of the play goes through when they're progressing the ball up the pitch. Out of possession he plays behind the midfield 4 in a 4141 when they press teams high up the pitch, which has seen him clean up loose balls high up the pitch. This allows Slovakia to immediately attack again when opposing defences are struggling to play out from the back.

At the most basic level, Lobotka excels in build-up as he constantly picks up space to allow for the back 4 to play the ball straight to him in space or find a 3rd man pass in midfield or out wide, to give Lobotka space in front of him or space to run into out wide. He's incredibly comfortable on the ball and has no problems passing on his left foot.