“The Premier League? Everyone knows the quality, the passion, and the spectacle that there is in this league. For all players that love football, this championship will speak to them,” Axel Disasi (25) told Get French Football News’ Luke Entwistle earlier this year.
Disasi’s touted €45m move from AS Monaco to Chelsea will come as a relief not only to the player, who has been dreaming of such a move but also to the Principality club. The France international is one of the top earners at the club, and the perpetuation of Les Monégasques’ model necessitates such lucrative departures. Monaco’s now-former Sporting Director Paul Mitchell told Get French Football News in January that the club looks to “build profiles that can be positively analysed, reflected and scouted by the biggest clubs in the Premier League.”
Dominant in both boxes
After Benoît Badiashile, who joined Chelsea back in January, Disasi is the second Monaco centre-back to be positively appraised by the London club’s hierarchy, which now includes former Monaco Technical Director Laurence Stewart. However, unlike Badiashile, who in his admittedly limited minutes in London, has looked composed and assured, Disasi arguably doesn’t represent the same certainty of success.
There is no doubting the Frenchman’s aerial domination. The former Stade de Reims player was somewhat of a late bloomer, but at 25 years old he now has the physique to dominate in the air, and he does. The 6″3 centre-back wins the majority of his aerial duels and is a menace in the opposition box. His 12 goals in 129 games for Monaco is an impressive total for a defender, but what can’t be measured is the havoc that he wreaks in the opposition area. More often than not, he will rise highest, win the header and cushion for a teammate to make an attempt at goal. This tactic, which was equally reliant on Caio Henrique’s precise set-ball delivery, was a huge source of attacking threat last season.
Disasi is also composed on the ball, looks unflustered under pressure, and like Badiashile, is always looking for diagonal, direct balls to stretch the play. His physique also allows him to fend off players who press him, although with many teams deploying medium or low blocks against Monaco in recent seasons, this is a facet of his game that will likely be more stringently tested in the Premier League.
It is in the Premier League that some of Disasi’s deficiencies may be highlighted. The main doubts about Disasi surround his tackling. The Frenchman isn’t the most accomplished one-on-one defender and can be beaten for pace. His preference is to hold up the play, slow the attack down and allow for the defence to reset. But in instances when this hasn’t been possible, with dynamic players breaking, and in numbers, Disasi has been caught out, and the France international’s air of composure can sometimes dissipate when he is dragged out wider.
A Blotted copybook?
Disasi’s positioning has also been called into question in recent months, but there are plenty of mitigating factors for this. Monaco’s defence, in the wake of Badiashile’s departure, was highly unsettled. Malang Sarr wasn’t the revelation he was expected to be. The Chelsea loanee certainly fell short of expectations and returns to his parent club with his reputation tarnished by a difficult spell back in Ligue 1. Guillermo Maripán had several spells on the sideline and Chrislain Matsima, who returned early from his loan spell at FC Lorient to cover Badiashile’s departure, lacked certainty at times. It is unclear whether he is ready to be a starter for a club that is looking to obtain Champions League football on a yearly basis.
Within this context, Disasi was an element of consistency in an ever-changing back-line. A by-product of this was that Disasi often looked out of position, too high, too low, when in fact, it was arguably his defensive partner whose positioning was sub-optimal. This rings true on several occasions during Monaco’s 3-0 loss to OGC Nice at the Stade Louis II, in particular.
Regardless, there is an acceptance that Monaco’s defence underperformed last season. The club conceded 58 goals in Ligue 1 in the 2022/23 campaign, meaning they had the seventh-worst defence in the division. FC Nantes, who narrowly avoided relegation on the final day conceded fewer.
Whilst this record certainly doesn’t fall squarely on Disasi’s broad shoulders, far from it, there is an element of having to take collective responsibility, especially considering his role as vice-captain and an experienced figure in a young side.
Last season may have blotted his copybook, to an extent, but his record at Monaco has been largely positive. That was reflected in Didier Deschamps’ decision to take him to the Qatar World Cup, albeit as a right-back. Given Chelsea’s strength in this position, it is unlikely to see Disasi cover for Reece James or Malo Gusto, especially given that in wide areas, he doesn’t provide more offensive upside than his rivals. His versatility will nonetheless be appreciated by Mauricio Pochettino.
The Blues or Les Bleus?
Given Wesley Fofana’s injury, Trevoh Chalobah’s likely departure, and Thiago Silva’s age, Disasi should feature prominently this season. At 25, Disasi is no longer a prospect, and as a France international and €45m signing, he will be expected to hit the ground running and help the club reach its lofty objectives. Whether he is ready to do so is another question. Chelsea and Pochettino have the task of accentuating his strengths and hiding his weaknesses. Constructing a system in which Disasi isn’t over-exposed could be key in dictating the success, or failure, of what is a risky transfer, not just for Chelsea, but also for the player who is in a period of consolidating his place in the France setup.
The Blues are increasingly becoming Les Bleus, and whilst the presence of so many France internationals will facilitate an easier integration, some of those around him are ultimately rivals for a place in Deschamps’ national team squad. Failure to impose himself at Chelsea could leave Disasi in the wilderness in both club and international football.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
