Scouting Report: Is Admir Mehmedi the Next Bundesliga Top Scorer?
June 21, 2014
Can Freiburg's Swiss international Admir Mehmedi—a 23-year-old, 6'0", 168-pound centre-forward—transition into one of the Bundesliga's top scorers?
To address that question, this article grades Mehmedi's game against France at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and provides a scouting report of his season for Freiburg.
Mehmedi vs. France Grade: C+
In two minutes, Mehmedi poached a goal against Ecuador.
However, it was not the same story against France.
After 90 minutes plus five minutes of stoppage time, Mehmedi was goalless in Switzerland's 5-2 defeat.
Starting on the left wing, Mehmedi ran aimlessly and was dispossessed three times.
Mehmedi failed to provide adequate support to Swiss centre-forward Haris Seferovic and his replacement Josip Drmic.
The reason why Mehmedi did not receive a worse grade was that he made an effort to be involved in the build-up play.
Mehmedi Freiburg Positives
Mehmedi can lead the line as a centre-forward or play behind a No. 9 as a No. 10.
Mehmedi has a sneaky first step, is self-assured at taking on players and is assertive inside the penalty box.
| League Only | Goals | Shots Per Goal | Dribbles Per Game |
| Admir Mehmedi | 12 | 6.6 | 3.5 |
| Adrian Ramos | 16 | 5.8 | 2.6 |
| Josip Drmic | 17 | 3.9 | 2.2 |
| Mario Mandzukic | 18 | 4.2 | 0.7 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 20 | 5.9 | 3.2 |
Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft is caught off-guard by Mehmedi's acceleration.
Latching on to the ball, Mehmedi glides past Augsburg centre-back Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker, evades the tackle of Augsburg centre-back Ragnar Klavan and strikes the ball past Augsburg goalkeeper Alex Manninger.
Mehmedi side-steps Hannover 96 centre-back Andre Hoffmann and slots the ball past Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler.
Showing range, Mehmedi's snap-shot zips past Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
From outside the box, Mehmedi curls a ball past Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels, only to be denied by the post.
Mehmedi Freiburg Negatives
Mehmedi contests many headers but needs to improve his proficiency.
His headers won percentage (25), per Squawka.com, is below average and not top-flight standard for a centre-forward.
Mehmedi is passionate but has snapped under the pressure like cussing out referee Tobias Stieler and getting sent off.
Bottom Line
In the past, unheralded footballers such as Papiss Cisse, Theofanis Gekas and Thomas Christiansen have scaled the heights of the Bundesliga scoring charts.
Like Cisse, Mehmedi creates his own shot and can work with less.
"I'm very happy that I can carry on playing for Freiburg," Mehmedi said, per Bundesliga.com. "It will be good for both of us that we can continue working together."
Watch out for Mehmedi as he is primed for a top season with Freiburg.
Statistics via WhoScored.com