ONDREJ DUDA

By Aniello Luciano - 10 June 2015

Legia Warsaw

Technical Skills

Offensive. Agiility, creativity, insight into the game. Ondrej Duda is the model of modern attacking midfielder. He gives no reference point and the Slovakian player is a mix of stamina and technique. Ondrej could play as central attacking midfielder or left winger. On the side Duda can move to the centre and kick with his good right foot. The Slovakian player is fast when he passes the ball into empty spaces and he’s good in narrow ones. There Duda tries both to play alone or to play one-two pass with team-mates (as for example he does with Hamsik).

Defensive. Despite his long-limbed body, Duda puts all his best in tackles and in defensive coverage trying to help his team also in no-ball possession phase playing as inside midfielder. Onda has to be faster when he passed the ball after recovering it.

PERSONALITY

STAMINA

SKILLS

SPEED/REACTION

Career

Labels and hyperboles are so frequent in football. Ondrej Duda, possible Inter Milan new signing, could arrive in Italy as the “new Marek Hamsik”. He and Napoli captan come from the same country, but not from the same region (Marek is from Bystrica, Ondrej from Prešov region near Poland) but for the first time the comparison between Marekiaro and the blond guy who grew up in MFK Kosice youth team, the same of Jaroslav Pollák (Nižný Medzev, 1947) European campion with Czechoslovakian national team. “Spurious” attacking midfielder, who thanks his great physical skills prefer cutting the field without ball more than dictacting the ball, Duda is the imitator of the most famous Slovakian player in Italy: baby-faced, spindly, shy on the pitch wired outside the field, ready to take advantage of empty spaces, always mixing technique and running. These skills are so evident that several reporters call him Dudinho or Ondrej Di Maria, thinking on Duda’s right foot (his goal against Metalist in Europa League gets the idea across perfectly) and on this strange mix between fierce inside midfielder and smart winger. For this reason Ondrej Duda could leave Ekstraklasa to put wings. Alone, learning by deduction, with calmness and thanks to exercises. Now maybe in Milan Duda would want to play the same music as his fellow countryman Hamsik did in Naples.

Player’s Description

Tenacious and responsible guy, Duda grew up in a quite context, with the support of his loved ones who help him not be under pressure in youth, when Ondrej joined Kosice from MFK Snina.

Role

Attacking midfielder.

Pro and cons

UP: moves without ball, technique in narrow spaces, determination

DOWN: too much aggressive, distance between positions, unripe body

BORDEAUX, FRANCE - JUNE 11: Ondrej Duda of Slovakia celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group B match between Wales and Slovakia at Stade Matmut Atlantique on June 11, 2016 in Bordeaux, France. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)