Girona FC have been the talk of the town in La Liga this season, for a number of reasons; Coach Michel’s tactics, the resurgence of players like Daley Blind combined with the underdog narrative that has seen them become the neutral’s favourite.
By Ninad Barbadikar
Their on-field achievements are fueled by the smart methodologies and structure deployed by the City Football Group that backs them, which has allowed them to recruit shrewdly. One of those shrewd recruits is the striker Artem Dovbyk, who currently sits atop the LaLiga scoring charts alongside Jude Bellingham and Getafe’s Borja Mayoral.
A tally of fourteen goals from 17 starts in the league is a hugely impressive return from the Ukraine international. At the age of 26, he is entering his prime years and is enjoying a successful first season in the Top Five leagues.
It has been a long wait for Dovbyk to make it to the top leagues, starting his career with FC Dnipro in the Ukrainian top flight. A transfer to Midtjylland would follow but a three-year-spell at the Danish outfit was mired by injuries for Dovbyk, paving the way for a return to Ukraine at SK Dnipro-1.
There, his 44 goals in 68 starts was enough to convince Girona to part with a club record fee of €7.5m for his services last summer. Safe to say, it has worked out extremely well for them and Dovbyk.
Watching Dovbyk go about his business for Girona on the pitch, it is difficult to not think of the similarities to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland. Much like the Norwegian, Dovbyk is a powerful runner, standing at 189cm in height, he is not the easiest to mark for centre-backs in LaLiga.
The Ukrainian is extremely athletic for his size and is excellent at timing his runs in behind the opposition centre-backs. Staying high and central to capitalise on passes from deep from the likes of Blind and Aleix García, Dovbyk’s involvement in possession is limited but that’s not because of his inability to contribute.
To the contrary, he is quite efficient with his touches and holds up the ball expertly to link-up with the likes of Savio and his compatriot Viktor Tsygankov in wide areas. In Michel’s 4-2-3-1, Dovbyk has forged a telepathic chemistry with both of those wide men, making himself a magnet for their crosses into the box, thanks to his seemingly unstoppable ability in the air.
As his player traits radar suggests, Dovbyk’s strongest asset is undoubtedly his ability to score goals, but the far more interesting bit is how well he executes in the penalty area.
50 shots attempted in the league so far and 52% of them on target, Dovbyk knows how to keep defences on their toes.
45 of those shots have come from inside the penalty area, like any good striker, Dovbyk has an eye for the spaces to occupy in the box and from there, it is a question of finishing, which, as his goal return suggests, he has no problem with.
Nearly half of his headers this season have been on target as well, generating a return of five goals from 21 headed attempts, Dovbyk uses his frame superbly to get the jump on keepers at point blank range and dispatch the crosses that come his way.
The natural assumption with strikers of Dovbyk’s ilk is that they are not useful contributors outside of the box, but that doesn’t hold true for the Girona man. Dovbyk is an intelligent presser off the ball, and can also be seen dropping off from the frontlines to aid his team when they are under a high press. His touches whilst receiving passes can sometimes be erratic, but he does the right thing more often than not.
The underlying numbers speak for themselves in Dovbyk’s case. He is outstanding at generating quality chances on a regular basis, as evidenced by his Non-Penalty Expected Goals (npxG) figure of 0.58 per 90, placing him in the 89th percentile of his positional peers across the top European leagues.
Averaging some eight touches in the penalty area per 90, Dovbyk’s first-rate underlying numbers are no coincidence, he is the final piece of Girona’s attacking puzzle under Michel. He ticks a lot of boxes in what you look for from a number nine for the top sides. It would be no surprise to see bigger teams come knocking at Girona’s doors for his services in the summer.
Sidelined with a knee injury until March, Dovbyk will have to watch on from the sidelines as Michel tries to sustain the title charge without his star striker. He has dealt with injuries in the past and bounced back stronger. If all goes well, he could put the cherry on top of the cake of a historic LaLiga success.
(Images from IMAGO)
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