The Kid's alright - Getting the last L'OL: Tanner Tessmann at Olympic Lyonnaise

In Ireland we call a player like this "a big man with soft feet" and this shows everything those kinds of player have: touch, composure, passing, great physicality and excellent positioning. Add shooting and he's complete

Only a highlight reel and only the first game of the season but impressive all the same.

 

Way better passer than Adams.

 

Adams creates a ton of turnovers and covers far more ground. He tends to play the safer passes though, so I don’t think he will ever have a lot of assists. Just the fact that there is any debate is what matters. The cupboard was relatively bare just a little while ago.

 

AKA Twinkletoes

 

I don't think he has elite pace but I actually think he's pretty fast. I think it's more he's not quick which is pretty obvious. As he gains experience reading the game and positioning paired with strength should make up for a lot of the lack of quickness. As for the speed his godfather at Clemson said that he might play him at tight end. I'm just guessing but seems he would have more of a up field pass catcher than pure blocker. He might have just been the place kicker though. Oh and he has that win over the Women's National team in his tool belt. At age 15.

 

He's not fast/quick in terms of footspeed but he thinks quickly, makes good decisions and acts immediately. He's going to be hard to get past and blowing past him is unlikely to be an option

 

You gotta love a big man running your midfield. let's all name one. I'm going with Patrick Viera.

 

Parks-esque. What tall guys lack in agility they make up in stride-length. They still have to develop crazy IQ to make sure they're always in a position to make up lost ground, and I think we're starting to see that in Tessmann.

 

I'll take Morris over him all day everyday. Just because ability to play soccer is essential for soccer players.

 

there was this guy named Zinedine Zidane.

 

I haven't seen a ton of the guy, but I'm still fairly unconvinced by his passing/general distribution/read of the game. I think Ligue 1 and Lyon will be good for that as the front players appear to like to try to break out and seem to move laterally a bit as well. TT should have the opportunity to get more sophisticated in his distribution if he wants to.

 

Soccer's most gifted hard-man
Till he lost his head
And France crapped the bed
And Zizou's WC dream got dumped in the can

 

Vince doing some good analysis of Tanners defensive work from this weekend:

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yeah for Venezia he was commanding the game and scoring goals....getting assists etc with pinpoint long passing.

havent really seen that player w Lyon or w USMNT (yet)

but he looked very proactive and high workrate in his first game this year.....so thats a positive sign

 

He starts doing that for Lyon and the USMNT, then Tyler better be worried.

 

It took him a while to settle into Venezia so maybe he's ready to do that with Lyon. The problem is if he's that type of play (and I think Johnny, Tillman and others are too) is there's almost never time to settle with a national team because of lack of games. If he was on a poor national team he'd get every chance but with the US he probably won't. Have to step right up and show.

 

I'd say the difference between how a guy like TT impacts vs. Tillman is Tessmann is clearly defensively sound - and can show that quickly (although ironically Whoscored lists tackles a weakness. Shruggie). Question with him in certain situations becomes how much he adds on the attacking side, whereas Tillman needs to prove his attacking chops first, then you ask how much he brings a team as a 2-way player. Tessmann's Lens game was very solid and while a few of his passes did not come off, he did try a bit of more "sophisticated" ball movement than I've seen from him (and, tbf, I haven't watched a ton of his games, tho I have seen him play here and there over the past 3 years or so.) Lyon's attacking players were very active, esp once they got the 1 goal lead, and the counter moved quickly. If Tessmann can get adept at finding players in those situations he's going to be a very useful player for any number of teams.

 

Looking at the whoscored heat map, and watching the game on and off, Tessmann played a bit more horizontally than Morton, who popped up further back a bit more but also covered a lot of vertical ground in the center. TT got the 3rd highest whoscored rating for lyon field players fwiw. Interested to watch Lyon this season. Niakhate did not impress when he played in front of Turner, but was also very decent v. Lens. It was a bit ragged all around as an early season game, but with Weah back in the league, there's a good little collection of YAs to keep an eye on at the Golden Arches this season.

 

Tessmann starts! Lyon hosting Metz.

 

Hopefully Poch pays for BEIN.

 

Tessman still on in IT with Lyon up 3-0.

 

Lyon atop the table!

 

i was thinking about this and i think the internal pecking order in a lockerroom may have a lot to do with this....guys like johnny tillman musah tessman etc probably feel like its not really "their team"...the other more established players have marked their territory and claimed their roles...so they play timidly and with a support mindset.....but that doesnt happen as much for club becuase they see each other every day and grow comfortable, unless you are new to a team like tessman to lyon...or balogun was to monaco etc

theres a lot of internal pressure from the established players on a team to keep their dominant roles no matter if it is good for the team or not

im really hoping thats what poch was trying to dissolve with this gold cup w domestic players....sending a message that no ones spot is safe and the floor is open for anyone to seize

its really odd how different many us players seem for club and country lately...didnt used to be so common, imo

 

From grinding it out in Serie B to becoming a Matic replacement for a top team in Ligue 1. He and Johnny will have something will be asking questions of Adams and Mckennie.

 

IMHO, Tessmann is definitely better than Cardozo and probably better than the current version of McKennie. His ability and willingness to look for and attempt line breaking passes puts him on a trajectory that will exceed Adams very soon, if it hasn't already. IMHO