Abu Hussein is an 18-year-old striker who plays for Para Hills Knights in NPL South Australia.
Hussein is around 6’1″ (1.85 m) and has a muscular build. Hussein stands out as a physically strong player, especially considering he is only 18. Hussein plays in a front 2 for the Knights and as a result, he roams around the forward areas quite a bit, getting on the ball in both central and wide areas. Hussein is often the target for long balls and wins a lot of flick-ons. Hussein is also quite good at using his body to shield the ball and hold it up for teammates. However, Hussein’s passing and dribbling are limiting factors in his effectiveness as a link-up striker. Hussein’s passing is ok, he occasionally is able to play line-breaking passes or put it into space for a runner. But his decision-making process is too slow for him to execute this consistently. His dribbling is also not particularly dynamic, so if he gets stuck in a tight spot when he drifts out wide, he usually loses the ball. Hussein is reasonably fast, but his acceleration is not the best and that limits how dangerous he is when running in behind. However, Hussein’s strength does help him be a danger in the box. His shot locations are very strong and he is able to win scrambles for the ball which are common in semi-professional football. Hussein’s off-the-ball movement could be more dynamic to evade markers but he generally gets the ball in the right areas.
Hussein does not rack up a lot of easily measurable defensive actions. However, the Knights do not press very high and Hussein does a good job of screening midfielders to prevent opponents from playing out from the back. His strength also makes him useful when defending set pieces and he shows a general willingness to track back.
Hussein is very raw, but he has a good physical base and is getting shots from the right areas. For an 18-year-old in his first season of senior football, I think this is enough to be reasonably optimistic. I don’t think he is quite ready for the A-League yet, but an intermediate step to a low but fully professional level could make sense for him. He would also be a good cheap bet for MLS Next Pro or similar development/reserve leagues around the world. In the long run, I could see him reaching a middling European first division.
Target Scouting 