Coach’s voice | The quiet executor is linked with West Ham

Georges Mikautadze’s reputation rose considerably following his performances for Georgia at Euro 2024, leading to links with West Ham United and other clubs. After scoring three goals in qualifying, he repeated that tally in the tournament’s group stages, helping his national team qualify for the round of 16 of a major tournament for the first time. Not bad for a player who was loaned from Ajax at the start of 2024.

Born in Lyon, France in October 2000 to parents who emigrated from Georgia in the late 1990s, Mikautadze began his journey to professional football in the academy of Olympique Lyonnais before moving to another French club, Metz, making his debut in 2019.

Two seasons on loan at Belgian club Seraing helped him improve his goalscoring skills as he gained first-team experience in Belgium’s top two leagues. Upon his return to Metz, he helped the club gain promotion from Ligue 2, scoring 23 league goals in the process.

These performances caught the attention of Ajax and he signed with the Dutch club shortly after the start of the 2023/24 season. However, it was a difficult season for the Amsterdam club. Mikautadze only made six appearances in the Eredivisie before returning to Metz on loan in January 2024. There he returned to his goalscoring quality despite Metz’s relegation from Ligue 1.

Below, our UEFA licensed coaches have analyzed Mikautadze’s playing style and the positions he played…

Technical Analysis

Georges Mikautadze is a right-footed centre-forward who can finish well with either foot, but scores most of his goals from his stronger right side. He adapts well in the box and can also score goals with his left foot. Although he doesn’t have much of a backswing, he has a powerful shot (below).

By adjusting in the box, he can attack a variety of passes, often with subtle but well-timed movements; he catches crosses, back passes, through balls and other passes on the foot. When surrounded by defenders in the box, he changes the pace of his movements well. He can shake off his marker just long enough to receive the ball, and it helps that he doesn’t need much backswing to produce a powerful shot.

His ability to create shooting opportunities extends to body feints, disguised shoulder drops and other feints to manipulate and disrupt the nearest defender. In these situations, his adaptability in the box and ability to shoot from both sides is once again evident. He is a confident striker, as he has shown in penalty shootouts for club and country.

Mikautadze has also shown composure when finishing 1v1s, often after one of his frequent runs into the depth. He moves between and around the opposition centre-backs, becoming a useful passing point to help his team work their way forward up the pitch – even if his run behind them is not aimed at penetrating the box.

However, his runs into the middle are a major threat, while his composure on the ball is impressive after sprinting through the last line. He tends to start his moves slowly and often repositions himself before breaking through (below).

Mikautadze’s dribbling is another important part of his attacking game, especially when he is unable to receive the ball behind him. He works well between the lines with strikers, especially teammates who advance from the outside. His double moves – often feigning to receive the ball behind him – help to disrupt the positioning of his direct opponents and create more space to receive and dribble.

He also drifts further out to receive the ball and then dribble, usually inside the inside channel. Using a stop/start technique, he manipulates his direct opponent, accelerates, slows down his defender and then accelerates away with the ball. Being higher up the pitch also helps him create shots on goal.

Out of possession, he is good at reading and predicting passes and intercepting cross-passes across the opposition’s back line. His agility and acceleration help him to shield and protect central spaces before darting out to win the ball back. He also plays back passes well, starting in a marking role – often as the first player in the block – and then applying pressure on passes back to the opposition’s centre-backs. Due to his acceleration, Mikautadze is able to intercept and steal the ball and then launch central counter-attacks (below).

Centre forward

Mikautadze played as a centre-forward for most of his career. When he returned to Metz on loan in January 2024, he played in a team that played in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, only switching formations in central midfield. Mikautadze led the line as a lone centre-forward, supported by a number of wingers throughout the season.

While Metz were relegated by losing a relegation play-off match against Saint-Étienne, Mikautadze scored 11 goals in the final 12 league games of the season. During this period, he showed his ability to adapt his runs and worked well with supporting moves underneath. As the wingers moved inside, he moved away from his ball-carrying teammate, creating space for them to advance up the pitch – often supported by an overlapping run from central midfield. This movement also allowed Mikautadze to isolate his own opponent before receiving the ball (below).

With Metz recording the lowest average possession in the league, many of their attacks came in transition. However, they also recorded the fourth lowest number of long balls and relied on winning back in midfield – with Mikautadze playing a key role in shielding and protecting forwards – to then attack from their block.

The 4-2-3-1 was often shielded as a 4-4-2, with a number 10 playing alongside Mikautadze. In the 4-3-3, Mikautadze was responsible for his individual pressing, as he had more freedom to drop forward and press on either flank, forcing and blocking play in one direction. In both formations, he provided penetrative movement after regaining possession, as well as intelligent combination play and impressive finishing, particularly when at the back or 1v1 against a centre-back.

Left wing

In the 2022/23 Ligue 2 season, Metz operated in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mikautadze playing in both his preferred role as a centre-forward and as a left-winger. In the latter position, he tried to get inside as often as possible, both with and without the ball, as a right-footed centre-forward who played on the flanks.

In the 4-2-3-1, the drifting movements of Metz’s No. 10 often occupied the left inside channel, meaning Mikautadze had to adjust and sometimes hold the width. As part of a trio on the flanks, with the No. 10 and left-back Matthieu Udol – who also occasionally moved inside in the final third – Mikautadze had to readjust. Where possible, he still looked to get back and channel his run beyond the opposition’s full-back (below). From here, he delivered low crosses or back passes, as well as shots across the goal.

Out of possession, Mikautadze, as a winger, put more pressure on the full-back and often put his direct opponent in a pressing trap. However, when the ball was on the other side of the pitch, he narrowed down significantly. So whenever Metz won the ball back from the right, he was perfectly positioned to counter centrally, as a centre-forward would.

In July 2024, the French club exercised their option to convert Mikautadze’s loan into a “permanent” transfer, paying Ajax €13 million shortly after Georgia’s Euro 2024 elimination against Spain. Given his performances in Germany – and Metz’s relegation – it has been reported that he could move again very soon.

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Author: The Coaches’ Voice