Georges Mikautadze position and style of play

Georges Mikautadze’s stock rose considerably following his performances for Georgia at Euro 2024, leading to links with West Ham United, among other clubs. After scoring three goals in qualifying, he matched that tally in the group stage of the tournament itself, helping his national team to qualify for the last 16 of a major tournament for the first time. Not bad for a player who was released on loan by Ajax at the start of 2024.

Mikautadze was born in Lyon, France, in October 2000 to parents who had emigrated from Georgia in the late 1990s. He began his path to the professional game in the Olympique Lyonnais academy, before moving to another French club, Metz, and making his debut in 2019.

Two seasons on loan with Belgian club Seraing helped develop his goalscoring, as he gained first-team experience in Belgium’s top two divisions. On his return to Metz, he helped the club get promotion from Ligue 2, scoring 23 league goals in the process. 

Those exploits caught Ajax’s eye and he signed for the Dutch club shortly after the 2023/24 campaign had kicked off. It was a season of struggle for the Amsterdam side, though. Mikautadze made only six Eredivisie appearances before he returned on loan to Metz in January 2024. There, he returned to prolific goalscoring form, despite Metz’s relegation from Ligue 1.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed Mikautadze’s style of play and the positions he has played in…

Technical analysis

Georges Mikautadze is a right-footed centre-forward who can finish well with either foot, although he scores most of his goals on his stronger right side. He adapts well inside the penalty area and does score on his left, too, possessing a powerful strike despite not having a particularly big back-swing (below).

By adjusting inside the penalty area, he is able to attack a variety of deliveries, often with subtle but well-timed movements; latching on to crosses, cut-backs, through balls and other passes to feet. When surrounded by defenders in the box, he changes the tempo of his movements well. He can lose his marker just long enough to receive the ball, and it helps that he doesn’t need a big backswing to generate a powerful shot.

His ability to create shooting opportunities extends to using body feints, disguised drops of the shoulder and other fakes to manipulate and disrupt the closest defender. In these situations, his adaptability inside the box and ability to shoot on either side are again evident. He is a confident striker of the ball, as he has shown when taking penalties for both club and country.

Mikautadze has also demonstrated composure when finishing 1v1, often after one of his frequent runs in-behind. He bends his movements between – and around –opposing centre-backs, becoming a useful outlet, helping his side work their way up the pitch – even if his run beyond isn’t focused on penetrating the box.

His central runs in-behind are a huge threat, though, while his composure on the ball is impressive after sprinting to break the last line. He tends to start slow with his movement, often repositioning, before breaking beyond (below).

Mikautadze’s dribbling is another key part of his attacking play, especially when he is unable to receive in-behind. He links up well between the lines with forward runners, especially teammates moving forward from wide. His double movements – often faking to receive beyond – help disrupt the positioning of his direct opponents, creating more space to receive in and dribble.

He will also drift wider to receive and then dribble, usually within the inside channel. Using a stop/start technique manipulates his direct opponent, speeding up, then slowing down his defender, before accelerating away with the ball. When higher up the pitch, this also helps him to work shots on goal.

Out of possession, he can read and predict passes well, intercepting square balls across the opposing back line. His agility and acceleration help him to screen and protect the central spaces, before jumping out to regain the ball. He also presses backward passes well, starting in a covering role – often as the first player within the block – then applying pressure on passes back to the opposing centre-backs. Because of his acceleration, Mikautadze can intercept and steal the ball, then launch central counter-attacks (below).

Centre-forward

Mikautadze has operated as a centre-forward for the majority of his career. When he returned on loan to Metz in January 2024, it was to a team that played in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 shape, only alternating their set-up within central midfield. Mikautadze led the line as a single centre-forward, supported by a variety of wide players across the season.

While a relegation playoff loss against Saint-Étienne condemned Metz to the drop, Mikautadze scored 11 goals in the final 12 Ligue games of the season. In that period, he showed his ability to adapt his runs, working well off supporting movements underneath. As the wingers moved inside, he would drift away from his in-possession teammate, creating space for them to progress up the pitch – often supported by an overlapping run from central midfield. This movement also allowed Mikautadze to isolate his own opponent before receiving (below).

As Metz recorded the lowest average ball possession in the league, many of their attacks came during transitions. However, they also recorded the fourth-lowest number of long balls, relying on midfield regains – with Mikautadze key in screening and protecting ahead – to then attack from their block.

The 4-2-3-1 often screened as a 4-4-2, with a number 10 working alongside Mikautadze. In the 4-3-3, Mikautadze was relied upon for his individual pressing, being given more licence to jump and press either side, forcing and locking the play one way. In both formations, he provided penetrative movements after regains, as well as intelligent link-up play and impressive finishing, especially when in-behind or 1v1 against a centre-back.

Left-winger

In the 2022/23 season in Ligue 2, Metz operated in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Mikautadze featuring in both his preferred central-forward role and as a left winger. In the latter position, he looked to come inside with and without the ball, as often as possible, as a right-footed centre-forward playing out wide.

With the 4-2-3-1, drifting movements from Metz’s number 10 often occupied the left inside-channel, meaning Mikautadze had to adapt and sometimes hold the width. Working as part of a wide trio, with the number 10 and left-back Matthieu Udol – who would also move inside occasionally in the final third – Mikautadze had to readjust. Where possible, he would still look to penetrate in-behind, curving his run beyond the opposition’s full-back (below). From here, he provided low-driven crosses or cut-backs, as well as shots across goal.

Out of possession, as a winger Mikautadze pressed the full-back more, often showing his direct opponent down the line into a wide pressing trap. However, when the ball was on the opposite side of the pitch, he narrowed significantly. So whenever Metz regained possession from their right side, he was perfectly positioned to counter centrally, as a centre-forward would do.

In July 2024, the French club took up their option to convert Mikautadze’s loan into a ‘permanent’ transfer, paying Ajax €13m shortly after Georgia’s Euro 2024 exit to Spain. Given his performances in Germany – and Metz’s relegation – it has been reported he could be on the move again very soon.

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Author: The Coaches' Voice