The Troubling Task of Replacing Elijah Just
Following his move to Swansea City, Motherwell now face the challenge of replacing the New Zealand maverick
This article was written for Scottishfootball.info by Fraser McIntosh, an aspiring sports writer and analyst, and is the man behind Hit The Byline on X.com - please give him a follow.
Fraser’s latest article is an analysis on how Motherwell could replace Elijah Just.
Following the club record sale to Swansea of player of the year nominee Elijah Just, Motherwell now have the unenviable task of replacing the New Zealand international. Despite the loan signing of attacking midfielder Alex Lowry from Wycombe Wanderers, I would still expect Motherwell to venture further into the transfer market to find a permanent replacement.
Motherwell’s trading model in the last couple of seasons has been excellent and with the possibility of a long European campaign, they will need to add much more depth to a fairly thin squad.
The Current Squad
Motherwell have recruited very well in forwards, with the majority of their first-team attackers being able to play in more than one position with no problem at all.
Tawanda Maswanhise (RW / ST)
Ibrahim Said (LW / RW / ST)
Regan Charles-Cook (LW / AM / RW)
Willy Vogt (RW / ST / LW)
Alex Lowry (AM / LW)
However, with Maswanhise likely to move this summer as well, with links of a move to Celtic and Belgian giants Anderlecht, I would highly doubt Motherwell would allow both Just and Maswanhise to leave without permanent replacements ready to take their place.
Alex Lowry definitely could be considered part of the process to replace Just, but that would leave a lot of pressure on a player that has so far struggled to truly find his feet after lots of early promise at Rangers.
My Thought Process
To replace Elijah Just, there are a lot of different things that must be considered first before identifying any potential candidates.
To match Motherwell’s recruitment strategy, it is crucial to look for players that have resale potential. It is also important to look for realistic targets that work within the budget that Motherwell would be willing to spend.
Motherwell will receive £5m for Elijah Just, but I would expect them to want to spend no more than 25% of that amount (£1.25m) to find a suitable replacement.
Now onto what I will be looking for ability-wise to identify the correct profiles to replace Just;
Progressive Carries
Shot/Chance Creation
Strong 1 v 1 Dribbler
High Work Rate & Press Speed
Positional Versatility
On top of this I will also aim to find players that featured in 1500+ minutes last season, in order to ensure that the data shown is as accurate to the players true ability as possible.
Profile #1 - Mohamed Hafid
Personal Information:
Age - 01/12/2004 ( 21 )
Nationality - Moroccan / French
Position - RW / AM / LW
Height - 1.78m / 5’8”
Preferred Foot - Left
Career Information:
Club - SM Caen (France Ligue 3)
Market Value - £500k ( According to Transfermarkt )
Data Analysis
Now in terms of the data, Hafid offers almost everything you could ask for, for someone trying to replace a player like Elijah Just.
Hafid averages 4.14 progressive carries per 90, ranking him 3rd in the entire league for this metric. A 56.06% dribble success rate is also much more impressive when you take into context the amount of carry attempts he does per game.
Creatively, it seems like he has been heavily let down by his teammates finishing. He creates 2.2 shot assists and an expected assist of 0.29 per 90, compared to his actual assists per 90, which is only 0.11.
In front of goal seems to be a slight weakness for Hamid. based on this seasons data set. However, he still outperforms his expected goals and has a higher conversion rate than Elijah Just ( 12.12% v 9.72% ). Overall the data certainly makes him an interesting candidate.
Video Footage
Hafid primarily operated as a right winger last season for Caen, while also being utilised as an attacking midfielder through the middle. Similar to Elijah Just, even when Hafid is played in the middle, he drifts wide to create an overload and to find more space to be able to take on defenders in 1 v 1 duels.
A huge part of Just’s game was his composure under pressure from opponents in tight spaces.
In this clip, Hafid receives the ball in the centre of the pitch from a loose touch from the oppositions player. He takes it down brilliantly to take it away from the first players and quickly bursts away from him, before he is then met by two more players. He then effortlessly skips past both before spraying a great pass out wide to his teammate.
Another thing that stands out about Hafid is his work rate and tenacity in winning the ball back high up the pitch. His defensive effort is something that doesn’t truly shine through in the data, but he regularly tracks back to help recover the ball, especially in instances when the opponents break Caen’s press and attack quickly on the break.
When Hafid moves out to these wide areas, I’ve noticed he doesn’t always just try to perform the same type of cross into the box repeatedly. He is undoubtedly ‘both footed’, so he is a handful for any defenders marking him.
His awareness around the box is a huge standout, he doesn’t just aimlessly fire it into the box. In this clip, he makes a great run from a wide position and perfectly controls the ball into his path before cutting it back perfectly for the box-crashing player.
Again, showing how impressive his movement and awareness is. He starts off very close behind the striker, but his reaction to noticing his teammate can spot him through a gap out wide is excellent. He physically points to exactly where he wants the ball, then once he receives it, he waits for the run of his teammate, before playing a perfectly weighted pass into his path for him to score.
Profile #2 - Kays Ruiz-Atil
Personal Information:
Age - 26/08/2003 ( 22 )
Nationality - Moroccan / French
Position - AM / LW / RW / CF
Height - 1.77m / 5’8”
Preferred Foot - Right
Career Information:
Club - RFC Liege ( Belgian Challenger League )
Market Value - £150k ( According to Transfermarkt )
Data Analysis
It is another Moroccan/French profile that has caught my eye, this time in the Belgian 2nd tier. Some might recognise the name Kays Ruiz-Atil from his youth days at both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, where things never truly worked out due to some self-confessed poor career decision by Ruiz-Atil himself.
He is now starting to make a name for himself again in Belgium, and still is an incredible technician. He averages 0.75 smart passes per 90, the most across the entire league.
“A creative and penetrative pass that attempts to break the opposition's defensive lines to gain a significant advantage in attack.” - WyScout Glossary
His inventive eye for a pass isn’t the only thing that makes him standout in the data. Ruiz-Atil also ranks fifth in the league for progressive runs, averaging 4.88 per 90, while also averaging 8.5 progressive passes per 90 as well.
Ruiz-Atil does have one downside to his game, which is his presence in front of goal himself. He doesn’t have the best goal scoring record and is rather wasteful when the chance presents itself. He has a rather low conversion rate of just 4.17%, which is one of the lowest among forwards in the league.
His defensive metrics may look rather poor as well, but similarly to Hafid, the data doesn’t truly represent his defensive efforts.
Video Footage
Unlike Hafid, Ruiz-Atil functioned primarily as an attacking midfielder or in a starting central role. His movement from central areas is much more akin to that of Elijah Just. He thrives at having creative freedom to roam when his team is in an attacking phase, rotating from left to right and even dropping deep to receive the ball himself.
He is also incredibly press resistant, something that would he would have developed during his time at La Masia - Barcelona’s world famous youth academy.
It almost seems effortless the way he moves away from opponents, like they are just obstacles in his path to glides past. Even in tight spaces near his own box, he doesn’t panic, he is in full control of the ball and gets him and his team back in total command of possession.
There is always going to be a difference between how he can do it in the Belgian second tier compared to the Scottish Premiership, where it is much more physical and players might not give you the chance to break their press. However, this was very much the case for Elijah Just last season, which proves if they are skilled enough, they can still cope with the physicality of the league.
Here are just a couple of the chances he created last season, just to get an idea of what sort of playmaker he is. In both instances he is put under pressure, yet he finds these gaps in defence like they are obvious to him. With players that make intelligent runs already at Motherwell, such as; Maswanhise, Vogt and Longelo, Ruiz-Atil would thrive in that number 10 role.
His versatility also really makes him a great candidate, with him able to play anywhere in attack. Like Just, he has also featured as a centre forward when needed, but functions more as a false-9 rather than an out-and-out striker.
The striker position in my opinion, is one that is still up for debate as to who will be first choice. I am a really big fan of Eythor Bjørgolfsson, signed by Motherwell in January, and I think his style of play is ideal for the players that Motherwell have that could play around him. However, it is always incredibly useful having players in the squad that offer something completely different, which is what Ruiz-Atil could bring in.
Profile #3 - Maksim Stjopin
Personal Information:
Age - 08/04/2003 ( 23 )
Nationality - Finnish
Position - AM / RW / LW
Height - 1.78m / 5’8”
Preferred Foot - Left
Career Information:
Club - Ilves ( Veikkausliiga )
Market Value - £200k ( According to Transfermarkt )
Data Analysis
Now onto a player that I have featured on ‘Hit The Byline’ before, Maksim Stjopin has been a player I have been a fan of for quite some time now. After coming through the Ilves academy system he moved to Nordsjaelland, where he spent 3 years, before moving back to Finland.
Much like the previous two, Stjopin excels in carrying the ball forward himself, averaging 4.52 progressive carries per 90. With a near 60% dribble success rate to support his strength at driving forward.
He isn’t as inventive as Ruiz-Atil in terms of passing and instead relies on his dribbling and movement to create more clear-cut chances. He creates 1.7 shot assists per 90, putting him in the top 10% of players in the league for this metric.
Ilves build up their attacks as a team, playing quick short passes to breakdown opponents press and defensive shape. Similar to how Motherwell operate, the attacking players constantly rotate and link-up to create spaces.
This style of play is perfect for Stjopin, as it allows him to occupy half-spaces and use his quick movement to break into the box ( 3.89 touches in the box per 90 ) or slip out wide to create a 1 v 1 with the full back.
Video Footage
Starting off with something that really separates Stjopin from Hafid and Ruiz-Atil, is his finishing. Stjopin is excellent at manipulating the ball onto his left to fire a shot at goal and has scored some very good goals by doing so.
I tried to pick 4 different types of goals here, with all of them resulting in him shifting it onto his left;
He picks the ball up in the centre of the pitch and instantly drives towards the defence, he then slows his run and takes one quick touch inside, before unleashing a curling effort into the bottom corner
Stjopin starts off out on the touchline, with plenty space ahead of him. He takes one touch away from the full back, then another to set himself for the shot and finding the side-netting
Some really nice link-up play between Stjopin and the striker. Stjopin fires it into the strikers feet, who cushions it back into Stjopin’s path, with the same end result. A quick shift onto his left and finished perfectly
Stjopin starts his run from a more central area, out onto the right hand side to receive the pass. He then shows excellent determination to get past his opponent after a slight mistouch and again finding the back of the net
As highlighted in the data, Stjopin is an excellent dribbler. He can drive at top speed while remaining in complete control of the ball and easily evades challenges.
His composure combined with his strength is something that I think would be well-suited to the Scottish game. With the energy and pace he brings as well, he would really work in Motherwell’s system.
I have been avidly watching the rise of Finnish football over the last couple of seasons and I think there are so many real gems across the leagues. Maksim Stjopin is definitely high up on that list for me.
Final Thoughts
There were a lot more names that I came across that would also be excellent signings to try and replace the impact that Elijah Just had (one of which was yet another French-Moroccan). Like stated at the beginning, Alex Lowry could be an excellent signing and I think could really progress at Motherwell.
I do see Lowry as more of a replacement for Callum Slattery, rather than Just, however. So I can definitely see Motherwell being even more active in the transfer market now that they have generated more funds through player sales.
The three profiles I identified would likely all cost under £1 million, with Mohamed Hafid potentially pushing slightly beyond that mark. I think any of them would be great additions to Motherwell’s squad. All three have the ability to be real handfuls in Scotland and in Europe, hopefully!
From a personal stand point, I would love to see Maksim Stjopin in the Premiership as I think it would lead to Scottish sides being more aware of the Finnish market. But, both Hafid and Ruiz-Atil would be top signings and would show real intent to play a specific brand of football.
This article was written for Scottishfootball.info by Fraser McIntosh, an aspiring sports writer and analyst, and is the man behind Hit The Byline on X.com - please give him a follow.
Excellent bit of writing. Very informative.