Just like Boxing Day in England and Scotland or the Giornata di Santo Stefano in Italy, one Christmas classic is the winter break taken by several leagues in Central and Eastern Europe. Everyone knows that Germany has a winter break, although it is getting shorter and shorter.
In the leagues we are focusing on today — Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic — only the teams involved in European competitions return to action early. For the rest, the comeback to official competition does not take place until the first weekend of February.
For this reason, today we bring you some homework: three players you should watch on delay during Christmas, so you can then follow them live once football returns.
Oskar Pietuszewski – Jagiellonia Białystok – 2008
We start with the standout player from the Ekstraklasa, Oskar Pietuszewski. This extremely young winger (born in 2008) is the crown jewel of Polish youth football. Eastern Europe is beginning to produce very interesting players such as Maxi Oyedele, Jan Ziolkowski or Antoni Kozubal, but Pietuszewski’s potential places him one step above his compatriots.
This right winger, who mainly plays on the inverted flank, is already being tracked by some of the biggest clubs in world football. That should come as no surprise. At just 17 years old, he has already accumulated more than 2,000 professional minutes across all competitions.
There is no mystery about the winger profile the Pole represents. His team’s level helps boost his output, but verticality, dribbling and ease in front of goal are part of Pietuszewski’s footballing nature and clearly stand out in his radar.
Among the 31 wingers or attacking midfielders in the Ekstraklasa, he ranks:
- 4th in shots per game (2.7)
- 7th in xG generated per game (0.22)
It could be argued that his shot selection is not optimal. His shots have an average 8% probability of becoming goals, a figure around league average. However, Pietuszewski has registered 3.7 xGOT, meaning his execution has added danger to his attempts.
The other major differentiating factor is his dribbling ability. Beyond having the physical frame of a more mature player, he possesses a strong technical base and a wide range of creative solutions to beat opponents.
Only Camilo Mena has completed more dribbles in the Polish league so far than Pietuszewski’s 43. Both have touched the ball inside the opposition box the same number of times (72). The difference: the Colombian has played 600 more minutes.
We also measure a dribbler’s impact through the number of fouls won. Fouls mean time and rest, but also control. For such a young player, the fact that Pietuszewski is the third most-fouled player per game (2.21) speaks volumes about his personality and the frustration he causes opponents, who are often forced to stop him illegally.
Tochi Chukwuani – SK Sturm Graz – 2003
Our standout in the Austrian league is this pivot/central midfielder with Danish and Nigerian nationality, standing 187 cm tall. Chukwuani is a product of the Nordsjælland academy, where he made his debut in the Danish Superliga. His move to Austrian football came from Lyngby BK, also in Denmark, where he played for two seasons.
Depending on tactical instructions, Chukwuani can join the attack to a greater or lesser extent, but he has the physicality and range to do so. In today’s game, where duels have gained enormous importance, a profile like his is always valuable.
He showed in Denmark that he could impose himself in central areas, and he has continued to do so in Austria. Among the 42 midfielders who have played at least 450 minutes, he ranks:
- 6th in recoveries per game (4)
- Averages 3.71 successful tackles per game with an 87.9% success rate, the 5th-highest figure among his peers in the league
Looking at our Arrigo metrics, which combine eventing and tracking data, the Denmark U21 international is clearly far from being technically limited or lacking game understanding.
In his holding midfield role:
- His 2.26 support movements per game (off-ball alignments with the ball carrier to offer a passing option) are the 8th-highest among Austrian Bundesliga midfielders
- He is also the 9th who receives the most passes while unmarked (passes received with free space ahead)
We imagine him as a classic first-line midfielder: offering support, receiving in front of the defence, and circulating the ball from there. He does that very well. In his Outplay metrics radar, his 15 players bypassed per game via passing ranks among the best in the competition.
In these cases, one could argue that the number of players bypassed is less important than the frequency. A single long pass that eliminates seven opponents already inflates that metric.
However, Chukwuani averages 7.19 passes per game that bypass at least one opponent. A complete midfielder to run the first line of build-up who, in my opinion, could even be given more license to join the attack than he currently has.
Stepan Chaloupek – Slavia Praha – 2003
In the Czech Chance Liga, we highlight one of the centre-backs of Slavia Praha, runaway league leaders and a club with extensive continental pedigree. This is Chaloupek’s first full season as a permanent first-team player, after a year alternating with the reserve side. Following a summer in which he played the U21 EURO with the Czech national team, Chaloupek has featured in 58% of league minutes and 80% of Champions League minutes.
Between the Chance Liga and the Champions League, Slavia have used a back three in 19 of their 25 matches. Chaloupek has secured one of those spots through defensive consistency and security on the ball.
Among the 61 centre-backs who have played at least 450 minutes in the Czech league, Chaloupek ranks:
- 2nd in successful tackles
- 3rd in interceptions
- 8th in blocked shots per game
He is an active defender: he anticipates to intercept, tackles to recover possession, and steps out to block opposition shots.
We have talked about his defensive consistency, but we also need to expand on his solidity as a passer.
To begin with, he is a centre-back who makes very few mistakes. He completes 85 out of every 100 passes and is the defender in the Czech league who averages the fewest Failed Actions in his own half (1.57 per game).
Let’s go one step further: Chaloupek can hurt teams with his passing. First, because of his proactive mindset: 48% of his passes go forward. Second, despite attempting just 34.4 passes per game — a low figure that surpasses only 27 of his peers — Chaloupek generates 0.14 xT (expected threat) per game purely through passing. 80% of Czech league centre-backs fall below that mark.
Our Score rating establishes a ranking to measure where each player stands relative to his league peers. Based on eventing metrics (or Driblab XY, if preferred), our Score indicates that Chaloupek has been the best centre-back in the Czech league.
If we add to that the fact that our physical performance Score ranks him 7th overall, we are looking at a highly usable modern centre-back profile. From a physical standpoint, his standout trait is his top speed, measured through our Average Maximum Speed metric, which shows that with 34.7 km/h, Chaloupek is the 6th-fastest centre-back in his league in terms of peak speed.
