Seeing as we have been increasingly linked with Florinel Coman over the past couple of days, I figured I would give you guys a scouting report on the "Romanian Mbappe" (As his owner likes to call him). When reading my findings, please keep in mind that this is all from a couple of youtube videos. I've tried to factor that into my grading but having not seen any of his lowlights, it's certainly hard to tell. With that in mind, let's get to the grades.
Physical: A-
Let me just start with this. Florinel Coman is sheer power. While he isn't necessarily the fastest player, his power and strength certainly make up for it. At just under 6'0, he is also able to jump pretty high and at least battle for headers in and around him. With no massive injury history, Coman seems to have some solid fitness attributes to his name. MLS defenders would have a hard time battling against him, that's for sure.
Technique: A+
This is where Coman really shines. He has complete control of the ball whenever he gets ahold of it. His dribbling is impeccable. His passing is pinpoint. He can basically put the ball wherever he wants. His long legs also give him the ability to shield the ball really well. The last thing I'll say is that he knows what he wants to do when he gets the ball, a trait not many players have.
End Product: A
The numbers speak for themselves really. 14 goals and 10 assists in 35 appearances in all competitions is nothing short of spectacular. The clips back those numbers up too. When in front of goal, he rarely misses the target. In terms of assists, he's got the vision to find his teammates and the ability to get the ball where it needs to be in order for his teammate to score. He's definitely the type of player we are lacking in our offense.
Defending: B-
While I couldn't find much on him defensively in terms of highlights, the numbers from smarterscout suggest that he isn't the most active on defense. His defensive quantity rating is a 30 out of 100, so take from that what you will. What I will say is, of the clips that I did find of him defending, he is pretty aggressive. Many of the fouls that I saw were yellow card worthy, yet he seemed to escape the inevitable multiple times. That behavior won't fly here in the United States where referees give red cards out like candy on Halloween.
Mental: B+
From what I can see, Coman is a smart player. There were multiple clips of him being surrounded by 2 or 3 players and instead of him taking them on, he found the wide-open man and got the assist. While I'm sure there are instances where he is selfish with the ball, he clearly has the ability to make the right decision at the right time. He strikes me as the type of player that will thrive in an environment where he is utilized as the main man.
Overall: A-
Coman looks the real deal. If I could compare his running style, it'd be to Thierry Henry's. Henry was never the fastest but his ability to powerfully run with the ball while keeping control of it was amazing. In no way am I saying Coman is as good as Henry at doing this, but the style is not too dissimilar. He'd obviously become our go-to guy in all aspects of the attack.
Defensively, we would need to cover the areas he leaves open well as he would surely be given a pretty free role along the left-hand side. I would say that we are well set up for that though with Mendez, Urso, and Moutinho/Miller behind him. His on the ball ability in the final third is worth the defensive headache.
While I am still wary of all of the reports due to Gigi Becali's (FCSB owner) constant erratic behavior, if Coman does come our way, he is a player we all need to be excited about. He would be exactly what this team is missing in terms of build-up play AND end product, something we've never really had in the MLS. I guess that is why our front office is willing to drop a lot of money on him (if you believe the reports of course).
Here are a couple of the videos I used. I highly recommend you watch them and make some of your own conclusions.
https://youtu.be/QN_rfqj6LGg (12 minutes, shows dribbling skills, goals, assists, running power)
https://youtu.be/-6mjY23Uv4w (4 minutes, shows assists, goals, misses)
https://youtu.be/X_aSnGOCpSI (shows substitute performance vs. England in UEFA Under-21 Euros)
'Til next time, this has been Gavin Rushnell and #VamosOrlando