Sam Klein is a 20-year-old midfielder who plays for Brisbane Roar in the A-League. Klein came through Brisbane’s academy but was initially not signed and had to drop down to the semi-professional NPL where he played for the Gold Coast Knights. A strong season there earned him another shot with Brisbane and he has recently started getting more minutes.
Klein is an attacking #8. He stands out for his strong physical profile. He’s listed as 6’1.5 (1.88M) and is very strong. He wins a lot of headers in the middle of the park. His size and aerial prowess should make him an effective box crasher. He does make a lot of runs into the box but Brisbane are not very good at finding him. Nevertheless, he does get quite a lot of shots from the edge of the box. He mostly gets these shots through carrying the ball through the midfield. Klein’s physical strength makes it hard to knock him off the ball and that makes him an effective ball carrier. Klein is quite a good passer but this is mostly from deeper areas of the pitch. He can break lines and push the ball forward with his passing. But so far he has not been able to produce the final ball to get a lot of assists or key passes in either the A-League or in NPL.
A major drawback for Klein is that his first touch is quite poor. The ball often bounces away from him. When this happens he often slides to try to reclaim the ball before an opponent gets to it and this feels like a red card waiting to happen. His defensive play is ok but it is not a centre-peice of his game. I don’t think he would work very well in a double pivot or as a #6. I think his best position is in a #8 role where he had the freedom to make runs into the box.
Klein’s first touch will probably hold him back from the top levels of football. But he is big and skilled which is a much sought-after combination. I think he could eventually do well for a mid-table team somewhere like the Austrian Bundesliga or the Scottish Premier League.
Target Scouting 