HalfSpaces usmnt Christian Cappis and Emmanuel Sabbi: Single Game Review

Christian Cappis and Emmanuel Sabbi: Single Game Review

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 BenBen 0 Comments

Christian Cappis and Emmanuel Sabbi both reside in the mythical creature zone for most USMNT fans alongside players like Nicholas Gioacchini, Nick Taitague, Eric Palmer-Brown, etc. They are players that people talk about, say they like, but almost no one has ever seen play.

Unless you somehow have access to video from a scouting service (Wyscout, InStat) one only ever sees highlights of these players. As much as I love and appreciate the all touch videos from Sanjiv, Watke, Kranks, and those guys…for me, there’s no substitute for the chance to watch a full game. You can see what they do off the ball, how they interact with teammates, do they look tired/angry/irritating? All sorts of stuff you can’t get from clips.

So when I stumbled across a full Hobro game on YouTube I was pretty excited. I might have seen Sabbi play at some point, but I don’t think so and I know I’ve never seen Cappis play professionally.

Solid Goose vibes (from Top Gun children) from the Hobro keeper.

Before I give any opinions on what I saw though, I want to point out that this is one game. Usually, I watch two and sometimes three games before I try to draw any conclusions. I’m also only studying one player. This piece is covering two players in one game so I’m not going to say these are strengths/weaknesses. I’ll simply describe my impressions and present some plays that caught my eye either positively or negatively.

Before I get specific about each guy, I will say that the two Americans were among the best, if not the best, players for Hobro in this match. 👍 (It could, of course, be my red, white, and blue lenses, but I don’t think so) Randers looked the better team to me and many of Hobro’s players were more comfortable hoofing the ball back into Randers’ half than trying to possess it.

Christian Cappis

My first impression of Cappis is that he’s too good for Hobro. He looks like he wants to stay calm, keep the ball, and work it around quickly while his teammates generally don’t seem capable of that. He was playing in a #8 role during this game and looked pretty good. He wasn’t perfect and the style of the game didn’t fit him well, but he was a touchstone of composure for his team.

I can see why Berhalter was training him at the #6 position during January camp a few months ago. I don’t know if his passing range will suit what Gregg is looking for (didn’t see any long passes in this game so 🤷‍♂️), but he looks similar to Bradley/Yueill/Trapp to me.

Positive Events Noticed

Wins the ball and then shows nice movement while moving the ball quickly. Cappis kept the ball moving quickly, but his teammates often did not, as you can see here.
Cappis was a calm, controlling influence in the midfield. He wanted the ball and wasn’t shy about calling for it. Love to see that from a 20 year old.
More good movement from Cappis leads to a shot on goal. He didn’t look real threatening going forward, but this was pretty good. Hobro scored off a penalty, but the PK was dumb from Randers, not a dangerous situation. This was Hobro’s best shot on goal…which tells you how effective their attack was.
Cappis with a nice, quick pass into space for Sabbi making a good run. No help and Sabbi doesn’t manage to get a shot off.

Plays Noticed that were Not as Positive

Taking a yellow to break up a counter is frequently a smart play, but this one is six minutes into the game and the break doesn’t look overly threatening to me. Chalk this one up to inexperience.
Might need to work on his right foot a little. Trying this pass with the outside of his left is a bit odd.

Emmanuel Sabbi

Hobro’s attack was anemic, but if they were going to score Sabbi would have been my bet to create the goal. He played on the wing in the first half, and got moved to forward, then back to wing, due to subs in the second. He was fairly tricky on the ball, had quick feet, and was a surprisingly good/willing defender.

He’s fast, deceptive on the ball, and intelligent/reads the game well, but the end product was lacking in this game. The clip above where Cappis plays him into space is a good exemplar of this. I’ve only seen this one game, but based on the 6g/1a in 1,900 minutes this year and 5g/2a last season I think it’s fair to conclude more production would be a good addition to his game.

Positive Events Noticed

Really nice dribble and then cross. Slightly more accurate delivery and that’s a goal for Hobro.
Comes back and chests the ball to a teammate to keep possession.
This is fun. Sabbi demonstrated some pretty quick feet in tight spaces during this game. US could always use a little more of that.
The two Americans work together again to keep the ball. Sabbi does especially well to wiggle into space and draw the foul. Hobro was under siege at this point in the match and this helped run out the clock.
Willing defender. He almost looked like a wing back at times from the locations he was covering on defense.
Some good American teamwork here. Cappis harasses his man and Sabbi reads/intercepts the pass.
Comes back during the aftermath of a set piece and prevents a goal high xG chance 😂 with this defensive header.
Nice layoff to get a counter going for Hobro. At this point, Hobro’s manager had moved him to forward, since everyone had forgotten their other forward was on the field during the first half.

Plays Noticed that were Not as Positive

Sabbi a little on tilt. Shortly before this he and an opponent had gotten in each others’ face. Here he fouls a guy in a dangerous spot and Randers almost score from the resulting free kick.

Moving On?

Hobro is in a relegation playoff of sorts in the Danish league right now. They are in a four team group where the top two teams are safe, the 4th place team is relegated, and the third place team faces another 3rd place team for a two-legged relegation playoff. Hobro are pretty much locked into the third spot.

If they stay up, I think it’d be okay if these two stayed with Hobro. I think they could both benefit from a higher quality of teammate and league, but assured playing time is nothing to sneer at. (Correction: Sabbi has already agreed to move to Odense after the season. I wish he’d moved to a little better league, but it is a minor upgrade in team at least) In any case, I enjoyed the chance to watch them and hope they appear on ESPN+ or even YouTube occasionally. Good luck to these guys and Hobro in the closing weeks.

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