Kevin Dodaj is a 19-year-old left winger who plays for KF Vllaznia in the Abissnet Superiore, the highest football league in Albania. While he is mostly the left winger for his team, he is also able to put in shifts as the right winger or even secondary striker. He comes from a decent second season for Vllaznia, where he scored six times and assisted once.
The five-time Albanian U21 international has an ectomorphic body build. He is quite lean, with only a bit of muscle throughout his body. During games, it is visible that he lacks strength. He can get pushed off the ball quite easily without falling. His balance is quite good, not falling very easily in contact besides when the contact is really hard or he is getting pushed. He often wins his duels on agility and the ability to move easily and quickly. He also likes to use his feet in duels, trying to get the ball away from the opponent as he can not get in front of him easily. Dodaj can shield off the ball well from an opponent. His height is quite average, standing at around 175 centimetres. Dodaj does not go into aerial duels often, but he can jump quite high. He needs to work on his positioning and timing though, as it is often inconsistent. With a good jumping reach, he could still be a better aerial threat than he is right now. But, his heading accuracy is not the best either. With a smaller body and not being tall, Dodaj is a quick player. He can accelerate to his top speed quite quickly, and his top speed is quite good as well. He can hold his top speed for quite long, as well, around 35 metres. His turning and reaction speed is decent as well, but nothing special. The winger can slow down because of contact though, even small contact with an opponent slows him down. He can run throughout the whole game though. Dodaj regularly asks for the ball with his arms, but not often. He is also versatile in his style of play, adapting to what the coach needed, and could be subbed on in different positions. Kevin Dodaj is right footed.
The winger has some qualities in the offense but needs to work on some of them as well. He is a good dribbler with the ball, moving easily past opponents. He holds the ball close to himself, touching it quite often. His visibility could sometimes be a bit better, as he can hold on to the ball for too long sometimes. He also positions himself well, moving creating space easily to receive the ball. He is not very often near the left sideline, he likes to cut inside with the ball. Dodaj is able to give a good shot, most of them have decent power and accuracy to them. He can finish off a 1v1 situation really well. But, I can not tell that about his crosses. Inconsistent and not accurate. Dodaj is not a phenomenal playmaker either. He can give a good pass that could create a chance, but it will not happen very often. He is rather a finisher. His normal short passing is not bad, but his high long passes are the same as his crosses. Also, his crosses and shots get blocked quite often. He uses his left foot regularly for almost everything. His short passes and shots with it are alright, but just like his crosses with his weak foot (which he uses quite often to cross from the left side) are even worse than with his right foot. But for most of his abilities, he is quite alright. Dodaj can drop lower to help with the build-up, sometimes even near the height of his own box. But also, sometimes he can just stay forward and look at what is happening in front of him. Dodaj is still a raw player. He needs to develop better in his playmaking, and slightly even in some parts of finishing. He could also be sometimes a bit too invisible in games, so he has enough abilities to work on.
Dodaj is not the best defensively, but he has a quite good workload over there. He is not fantastic in defending 1v1s, getting dribbled past quite often. But, he keeps on pressing the opponents near him or the ones that get past him. Even if he knows he is not the best in defending 1v1s, he will keep on trying and be a reactive defender rather than waiting for the opponent to come up. He sometimes drops very low as well, nearing or even entering his own box. If there is a counterattack happening from his side, he can run back and help the defence. He can intercept passes or go for tackles in duels, but besides that he does not do a lot more.
Kevin Dodaj is an interesting player. He is an inside forward, focusing on his finishing abilities rather than playmaking. But he needs to work on that part, as well. His physicality and defensive abilities are also some of the work points. But, I feel that he still has some potential. He just needs to leave the Albanian league at the moment, as I feel that he lacks good development material over there. Going up north, to Croatia, Romania or Serbia for example, to stay in the Balkans or moving to Eastern Europe with Slovakia, Slovenia or Ukraine are options.
Target Scouting 