Comparing Mitrovic with Aguero and Kane: How good is the Fulham man?
When Aleksandar Mitrovic joined Newcastle United in 2015, a lot was expected from the towering Serbian centre-forward. He had a remarkable scoring record for Anderlecht, having scored 36 goals in 69 appearances but he never fulfilled his promise at Tyneside. Even when Newcastle were relegated to the Championship, he couldn’t muster more than 4 goals in the 2016/17 season and soon fell out of favour at St. James’ Park.
He was a forgotten figure in English football until Fulham signed him on loan in February this year. Things finally fell in place for Mitrovic at Craven Cottage and he helped the Cottagers secure promotion to the top flight with 12 goals in the Championship.
The Serbian rediscovered his mojo as a prolific goal-scorer and as a result of his fine performances, Fulham made his stay permanent for a fee of £22million.
And he hasn’t disappointed the fans this season. Mitrovic has taken the Premier League by storm and is currently one of the top goal-scorers in the competition with 5 goals to his name. As the Serbian continues to reach new heights at Craven Cottage, let us compare him to the best in the Premier League.
Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero have both scored five goals apiece and are level with Mitrovic. While drawing comparisons, let us take a look at Mitrovic’s strengths and weaknesses and how he has fared this season.
Standing at 6ft 2in with a burly frame, Mitrovic is an out-and-out centre-forward whose main strengths are his physicality and aerial ability. He has the instincts of a poacher and a target man and is a good weapon to have inside the box.
The Serb likes to get in behind the defenders with subtle runs and uses his heading skills to good effect during set-pieces. He has the presence of mind and the awareness to get on the end of crosses and rarely seems to miss the target with his headers.
Mitrovic often holds the ball in the attacking third and waits for the correct time to release his teammates into open spaces. He shields the ball well and combines effectively with his teammates.
However, Mitrovic is neither the quickest nor the most mobile striker in the Premier League. His technique is not as good as Kane’s or Aguero’s and he tends to let himself down with a heavy first touch. The Serb’s close control is also not of the highest quality.
As seen from his stats, Mitrovic doesn’t have an assist to his name so far. He is not the fastest mover on the pitch and sometimes makes life easy for the defenders with his predictable movements.
On the other hand, Aguero and Kane are more dynamic attackers. Unlike Mitrovic, they add a different dimension to their team’s attack. Although Kane is a clinical finisher, he tends to drop deeper at times when he doesn’t get enough supply from his midfielders.
In fact, he is capable of engineering attacks with short, quick and incisive passes and can also hold the ball for his teammates to make runs. Kane has a better technique and looks more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Mitrovic and shows a better presence of mind to time his runs perfectly.
Apart from that, he is good with his headers as well. To sum it up, Kane is a complete forward and is capable of carrying the bulk of the workload on his shoulders.
Aguero is another prolific goal-scorer in the Premier League who has the ability to rip apart any defence in the world. To be honest, he is a lot more dynamic than both Kane and Mitrovic.
Mitrovic stays confined within the box but Aguero is definitely a more mobile and agile striker, who can drop back and play as a No.10 to good effect. He also tends to drift wide and uses his dribbling skills to cut inside from the flanks.
Aguero is a far better dribbler when compared to Kane and Mitrovic. The Argentine maestro has a wonderful technique and he combines it with his low centre of gravity to keep exceptional close control in tight areas. Although Mitrovic is a better header of the ball and excels with his physicality, Aguero is a better all-around striker.
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To conclude, Mitrovic is quite a one-dimensional striker and he must add a lot more to his game to truly compete with the likes of Kane and Aguero. He has scored 5 goals so far and three of them have come from headers inside the box. He should work towards sharpening his technique and mobility to not only to score more goals but to also add greater value to his team.