Dominic Kanda – Zambia U17’s martialling defensive midfielder
Zambia are producing a lineage of highly talented midfielders like Enock Mwepu, Emmanuel Banda and Klings Kangwa. All of the aforementioned players ply their trade in Europe as Dominic Kanda could soon be following them abroad as the youngster born in 2004 has been impressive in two U17 COSAFA Cup tournaments. He was voted as a man of the match against Angola as Zambia won the 2019 edition and a crucial piece of the side that made it to the final of the 2020 edition. He would have had the opportunity to showcase his talent on a bigger stage with the U17 African Cup of Nations which was supposed to commence last week but was cancelled.
Kanda’s difference from his predecessors is that the teenager is a pure defensive midfield specialist who thrives in shielding his defence while threading penetrative passes through the lines. He already possesses the strength to challenge attackers and regain possession while he has the mobility to shuttle into the wide areas to regain possession before looking to instigate passing moves with his progressive passing. He will regularly demand possession from his goalkeeper and centre-backs to receive possession under pressure to turn and send searching through balls into the attack line. His strength and passing range are one of his strongest assets while it is important to realise that the 16-year-old is far from the finished article.
He will need to improve his body orientations when he receives possession, especially in adjusting them to receive possession to better turn away from pressure or to be in a position where he can set his feet to release the ball with one-touch. He tends to lose the ball regularly when he receives possession in the six-space as he will receive possession and not shield the ball adequately before being tackled or he will receive possession to attempt to turn out of pressure before being tackled. He will also need to play the one-touch back-pass to his centre-backs and goalkeeper more regularly as he tries to evade pressure with his change of direction or dribbling too often. The risk has proved to be worth the reward in some situations as he has manoeuvred out of opposition challenges to play raking line-breaking passes to create opportunities from deep while there have also been situations where he has lost possession.
He possesses the raw tools to turn out of challenges as he can receive possession with the outside of his boot to change direction and beat an opposition marker before picking his head up and playing a line-breaking pass through the lines. However, most of his issues in possession lie with his directional first touch as there are certain situations where he can dummy passes and allow possession to roll onto his far foot to receive possession and evade a marker to push into space. There are also instances where he can direct the ball away from markers to better position himself for a back-pass or a sideways pass to the wide areas as these are issues that can be improved with coaching, especially for a player his age. He has also had instance where he has lost the ball with his passing as against Malawi, he was facing his own goal and received a pass from his right as he attempted to switch the ball to the ball-far centre-back but it was intercepted. He will need to improve with his passing with his weaker foot, directional first touch, one-touch passing and his decision making of when to evade pressure with a dribble or back-pass to instigate wall-passing situations.
In Zambia U17’s opener against Angola, Kanda regularly lost possession by turning into opposition challenges as he would rarely use his first touch to swivel and shield possession to win a foul but rather to push the ball into a situation where he would give an opposition player the opportunity to tackle him. However, once Kanda found his groove in the second half, he began to improve at receiving and releasing the ball in tight spaces while playing deep line breaking passes to orchestrate attacking moves. He would receive possession from the right flank to find Rickson Ng’ambi in the nine space with a line-breaking pass while in another sequence, he would play a back-pass to a teammate before receiving possession in space by controlling the ball with his left foot and playing a pass to Julius Kumwenda in between the lines as this led to Zambia creating a crossing opportunity.
Kanda receiving possession with his weaker left foot is crucial in his ability to operate as a deeper-lying playmaker as this allows him to dummy passes and allow the ball to roll across his body for a better directional first touch as it is imperative for deeper-lying midfielders in the modern age to receive possession with both feet. Kanda will need to develop this facet of his game, so he can swivel out of pressure and work passes out wide and into the next line. Kanda can also receive possession in between the lines as he can operate as an eight with his defensive solidity, mobility and distribution while he has also played as a centre-back at youth level.
Against Malawi, he would receive possession from the right flank allowing the ball to roll across his body to his left foot, before prodding the ball past an onrushing marker with his right foot to poke a pass into the next line to Kumwenda with his right. The 16-year-old would receive possession from the left flank in the left half-space to attract two opposition markers towards him by driving the ball forward before flicking the ball through both players to a teammate with the outside of his right boot, his teammate would play the ball back to him as Kanda switched the ball to the weak side to create an attacking opportunity. Kanda had an exceptional moment where he received possession in the six-space, at the edge of his own box with an opposition attacker pressing him to swivel and work a pass on the half-turn to Kumwenda who traded passes with a teammate to drive the ball into the opposition half.
The 16-year-old was hemmed into tight quarters on the right flank to spin out of pressure and drive the ball forward to thread a pass to Charles Mumba who went in behind to apply the finish as Kanda had an assist with his ability to spin out of pressure and his progressive passing. The deep-lying playmaker would regain possession with an interception to push the ball to the left flank before shifting the ball to the outside of his right foot and skipping past a marker to thread a pass into Kumwenda in the next line who worked a through ball to Joseph Banda to apply the finish as Kanda was involved in two goals, instigating play from his deep-lying midfield role.
Kanda would create another opportunity from the six space with his incisive progressive passing when he dropped onto the left flank to receive possession from his left back in the six-space as he controlled the ball and assessed his options to work a one-two with a teammate in the next line who laid the ball off to him for Kanda to hammer another immaculate through ball to an attacker who went 1v1 with the keeper but failed to get a shot away. He would instigate another attacking move when he received a one-touch pass from his right-sided centre-back to drive the ball forward and play a pass in between the lines to Mumba who threaded a pass through to the flank for a crossing opportunity.
The 16-year-old midfielder’s ability as a deep-lying pivote with a fantastic range of passing, ability to weave out of tight situations and control a game give him high level potential despite his shortcomings which can be resolved with coaching. His physical traits with his positioning in winning interceptions and ability to shuttle across and win challenges for his defence while possessing the ability to establish attacking moves after regaining possession could make him a blue-chip prospect worth looking at. He possesses technical and physical tools in need of refining at a crucial position in world football.
He will be turning 17-years-old at the end of the year and possibly at the time when the U17 African Cup of Nations is being played which means that he will be of age to attend trials abroad before signing for a club ahead of his 18th birthday. Following Patson Daka and Mwepu’s path to Red Bull Salzburg via FC Liefering would be an exceptional option given that the club have a proven track-record of developing African midfield talent. The Danish Superliga would also be a great option as he would have the opportunity to play first-team football at a quicker rate while Belgium would also represent a great option for this high potential youngster. Credit must go to the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) for identifying and developing high level teenage talent at U15 level before creating an environment for them to progress to U17 level.
