The Emerging Talents of Morocco

For the past 10 days I have had the pleasure of being in Holland on a ‘cultural experience’ with a professional football academy. Perhaps the most significant aspect which has emerged is the emerging talents in Dutch football. The phenomenon is that of the emergence of talented players with Moroccan descent. As The Whitehouse Address discusses, we are about to witness a golden generation of Moroccan’s in European football, yet the problem for Morocco is that Holland and Belgium will reap the rewards.

 While watching the U19's at NEC Nijmegen I could not help but be impressed with the attacking talents they possessed. And the significant aspect was that these were dominantly players of North African heritage. They were a joy to watch; fast, skilful and expressive these players appeared on another level to those they were playing with. 

When I asked where they were from the scout who I was talking to said he said they were Moroccan, yet these were nothing he said. In fact the one who I needed to watch was playing that night in a Champions League qualifier for PSV. That player was Zakaria Bakkali.

A joy to behold

In all honesty I had not seen a better talent at 16 years than this young Belgian. As a young teen he was spotted playing for Standard Liege and taken to PSV, confirming once again that Belgium football and their youth development academy structure is proving to be world class. Liege have already seen players like Steven Defour, Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini come through their academy and move on to bigger clubs. In fact Fellaini’s parents are both Moroccan also, like Bakkari.           

Although I had heard of Bakkali before when there was a storm made of him after impressing in a youth tournament I thought nothing of it until I watched him play this past week. A true joy to behold and to think he was only 16 years old. It was little surprise that Bakkali was sought so highly by so many clubs yet he has made a very good and strong decision to sign with PSV under the tutelage of Phillip Cocu. 

Under Cocu Bakkali will undoubtedly be given the licence to play and develop which he simply would not do for any of England’s top clubs. Therefore the coming years will be give him the development required to become a world class player.

The growing pool of Moroccan talent

And after further research and investigation, I began to discover that there is a growing pool of great talent emerging with ties to Morocco. In the past decade the brightest Dutch talent with Moroccan ties has been Ibrahim Afellay and Khalid Boulahrouz who have both represented the Dutch national team. Yet in recent years a growing number of talented players with Moroccan heritage are emerging through the youth academies of Holland and Belgium.

For those who did not follow Dutch football last season you may not have seen or heard of Adam Maher. Playing for AZ Alkmaar Maher has played over 70 games for the club these past two seasons and impressed all those who have watched him. He is an attacking midfield player who like Bakkari possesses skill, flair and speed and like Bakkari he was born in Morocco. 

Incredibly both players are now playing for Cocu’s PSV side, a side which has an average age of 21! After watching the side play last week in the Champions League qualifier I am confident to think that PSV will attract the same kind of attention which Dortmund have these past few years. In the game versus Zulte-Waregem Cocu fielded the youngest ever PSV starting XI and they won 2-0, yet it should have been more.

The side was quick, confident and technically excellent, if not a little naïve and open defensively. Yet Cocu, like Klopp is clearly an adventurous coach who trusts youth players and after selling Strootman and Martens for almost £30m this summer his new look PSV will certainly be attracting more money in the coming years.

With talents like Bakkari and Maher, along with Memphis Depay (of Ghanian descent) it is evident that PSV and Dutch football (Belgium too) is on the cusp of a new generation of attacking talent. And the fact that these players are of African heritage is important. These nations are embracing the ethnic immigrant communities which have come to the countries these past decades and they are finding talented young players emerging from these areas.

The list continues when you see Nacer Chadli the FC Twente winger who has just signed for Spurs for £7m. Another player whose career has blossomed playing in the ‘smaller’ league of Dutch football, which is proving to be a key development tool for young up and coming players. The key for these young talents is that they are given the playing time to develop and improve. English clubs deny players these key development years where they often stagnate.

Chadli is a dual citizen of Belgium and Morocco and said he had received invitations from both nations and had opted for Belgium, the country of his birth. This is where Morocco will continue to struggle yet where nations like Holland and Belgium will prosper. Looking at the Dutch Under 17 squad and you see Moroccan’s in Oussama Idrissi who is at Feyenoord and Yesin Ben Mohamadi who is at Sparta.

Moroccan talent is emerging elsewhere also; Younes Belhanda has just joined Dynamo Kyiv from Montpellier for £10m. Like Maher and Bakkari he is a creative attacking midfield player, a characteristic which appears to define the Moroccan player.

And there is much talk of another Moroccan who has benefited from the Belgium development school at Anderlecht. Nabil Jaadi is only 17 years old and is already attracting interest from AC Milan. Yet there is another Moroccan youngster who has already been snapped up by the Rossoneri; Hachim Mastour is a 14-year-old forward and recently completed a world-record teenager transfer of €500,000 to move to the San Siro from Reggiana in the summer. He is nicknamed the “Moroccan Messi” and one wonders if he will rise to future stardom in the coming years. 

What is evident is that some of Europe's top academies are seeking through their scouting systems players from countries like Morocco. Developing players comes down first and foremost to the scouting and recruitment and it is evident that clubs like Liege, Anderlecht and PSV are seeing the value in players with North African heritage.

Concerns over mindset

There are however issues which many in Holland have seen. Europe's financial crisis has seen a rise in anti-immigration and this has affected certain ethnic communities. It would appear that the Moroccan community has become an issue for the Dutch.

The influx of Moroccan immigrants appears to have occurred in the sixties when the economy in Holland was thriving. With a lot of work available the country opened its doors for immigrants to come and take the jobs the country needed to thrive. At the same time in Morocco the situation was the total opposite. Of course as with many immigrants they arrived seeking a better life and never went back meaning their children would grow up in Dutch society. Evidently these young children developed a love for football as many Europeans do, perhaps they played football more than others on the streets more than others also. What is clear is that young children clearly had the gifts required to develop their footballing talent.

However it is clear that although there is becoming a growing number of Moroccan players in Dutch football there also appears a problem with Moroccan youths. According to a study into immigration in Holland over 60% of Moroccan youths between 17 and 23 drop out of school without even a basic qualification. The study also found that Moroccan youth unemployment in the Netherlands is around 40%. There have also been issues with crime and youth offenders.

This is important to take account of because when I was speaking with a youth scout from PSV he informed me that the one problem with Moroccan players is their temperament and attitude. He said that too many lack discipline and are ‘uncoachable’ and that although they possess the talent and skill they lack the mindset to excel and become a professional.

We all know about Adel Tarrabt and his abilities and also his volatile personality. Perhaps this raise two points; the culture of Morrocan youth players appears to be of poor economic and social welfare which perhaps promotes an increase in playing ‘street football’ as opposed to school and other activities. This could be why these players possess high levels of technical skills and attacking flair. Yet perhaps a key factor which is holding back more of these young talents is their mindset and personality and their ability to be coached and developed.

That being said, as players like Maher and Bakkali start to become household names across Europe, the expectation is that more Moroccan youths across Holland and Belgium will be inspired to emulate these young players who have proven capable of excelling in the world of football.

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