Player Focus: Boussoufa Shining in New Central Role at Lokomotiv

An awful lot has been written about the demise of Anzhi Makhachkala following Suleiman Kerimov’s desire to oversee a period of frugality following the lavish spending enjoyed over the past couple of years. The transformation of Anzhi’s financial situation has led to a mass exodus of players from the first team squad, with only Lacina Traore remaining as a valuable asset from the previous regime.

One of the players to have been permitted to leave the North Caucasus side this summer was Moroccan international Mbark Boussoufa – who was one of the first players to arrive in Makhachkala, via Moscow, after Kerimov’s initial burst of investment. Since his arrival in Russian football, Boussoufa has established himself as one of the finest midfielders in the country. Despite possessing a particularly slight frame, supreme technical ability and a strong mentality have allowed the former Anderlecht man to become one of the most coveted attacking players in the Premier League.

Boussoufa’s form at the beginning of the season, one which he began in the yellow of Anzhi, was particularly troublesome within an admittedly disjointed and unhappy group of players. Previously, Boussoufa had managed to consistently create an outlet through which opportunities could be formed. However, at the start of the season, it appeared as though this ability had somewhat abandoned a player whose creativity had proved so important to Anzhi’s recent development. An average rating of just 6.34 in his opening 4 appearances of the season showed a player unable to exert the same level of influence that had appeared to come so naturally in previous seasons.

Since agreeing a move to Lokomotiv Moscow, for a reported fee of around £13.2m, Boussoufa has managed to dramatically improve his level of performance and has had a significant impact upon the manner in which the capital club play their football. Despite possessing a reputation for showcasing a relatively dour brand of football, Lokomotiv have come to the fore as a more attacking outfit since purchasing the Moroccan, scoring 6 goals in the 2 games in which he has featured, with his average rating skyrocketing to 8.13, mimicking the vast improvements in regards to his offensive contributions overall.

Boussoufa’s position as a central attacking midfielder during his brief time with Lokomotiv has seen him more willing and able to be heavily involved in the final third of the pitch. During the early part of the season with Anzhi, Boussoufa was averaging 0.8 key passes per match which has risen to 2.0 since arriving in the capital. This is also accompanied by the fact that he is able to show for the ball in a far more effective manner, as his average of 63 passes per game at Lokomotiv, in comparison to 34.5 at Anzhi, attests to. Such has been the improvement over the past couple of games that his average number of passes at Lokomotiv sees him placed alongside Alan Dzagoev (66.3) and Denis Glushakov (63.9) as the most active midfielders in the league.

It is through his ability to find pockets of space that Boussoufa is able to have a lasting impact upon a match, and it appears as though Leonid Kuchuk recognises his potential to create by deploying him in central areas – as opposed to on the left flank with a license to drift inside. A knock on effect of being played in behind a lone forward is that Lokomotiv have seen Boussoufa come to greater prominence as a goal threat, despite the perception of him being primarily a provider. In his opening couple of games at his new club, Boussoufa has managed an average of 3.5 shots a game, a significant jump from the 0.5 he managed earlier in the season with Anzhi. This should, in theory, see an increase in the number of goals scored – perhaps even to the extent where it mirrors the prolific form that saw him named Belgian player of the year on 3 occasions while at Gent and Anderlecht.

There can be few doubts that the instability experienced by Anzhi during the early part of the season had significant consequences upon the performances of their playing squad, however it appears as though Lokomotiv’s understanding of Mbark Boussoufa’s underlying qualities will lead to a far more fruitful relationship than experienced in Southern Russia. The manner in which Anzhi’s squad became awkwardly top heavy last season meant that Boussoufa was forced to adapt to a wide position that simply didn’t suit his style of play. At Lokomotiv, he has already gone about quickly cementing himself as one of the most important cogs in the team’s attacking machine. Slaven Bilic’s Lokomotiv side last season lacked a sufficient level of creativity in advanced positions which culminated in a painfully lengthy goalless spell. The new regime have managed to formulate an attacking unit that should be capable of ensuring that goals are no longer a significant concern, with Boussoufa a key component in this transformation.