Bilal El Khannouss, the Moroccan attacker mauling midfields
The Genk attacker has three assists in 31 games. Yes, it looks bad on paper, but his impact is off the scoresheet. Here's what to know.
GENK, Belgium — Bilal El Khannouss is in demand. At just 18 years old, the Genk creator has played 33 games and assisted three goals. But his sheer quality is demonstrated outside of the scoresheet. He easily weasels out of tight presses and heavy tackles, using every bit of dribbles, passing, and vision to either find a teammate or to work past his marker. He pings long balls like Jon Rahm drove his shots to the hole at the Masters. He links defense to attack easily and efficiently, a vital link. Like Moses in the Red Sea, he parts defenders with his searching ball. He’s a great midfielder, one Genk have used well.
El Khannouss has had a chance to show off his quality for the national team. Against Romania U21s, he had two assists as Morocco U20s drew 2-2. He was a key piece in Morocco’s 2-1 win against Brazil as he collected an assist, and he also had some promising minutes in the World Cup against Croatia and a friendly against Peru. He was close to playing for the Belgium national team; the squad’s core is aging, he comes from one of the nation’s most respected academies, and played several times for the national youth teams. But he now joins an exciting Morocco team poised to claim the Africa Cup of Nations and more. He’s an exciting, hot prospect, and a name you should know as he looks to land a big move next summer. Here are three games to back him up.
What to Know
El Khannouss’ primary position is the #10 position, where he can create goals for Genk’s wealth in attack options. He’s a very intelligent and aware midfielder that knows when to dribble or pass, when to ask for the ball or when to play off it, or when to drop deep or when to stay high.
And speaking of knowing whether to dribble or pass, El Khannouss can do both. He’s technically skilled to say the least; watching one of his mixtapes feels like watching a young De Bruyne past innocent Belgian defenders during his time at Genk. His creativity often leads to shots invisible to the scoreboard but always-evident when you watch him.
He’s also fairly athletic; he’s fairly fast, knows how to use his body to either topple defenders or draw fouls. He may not be the most physical, as he does not win duels in the air or topple midfielders with crushing tackles, but as De Bruyne, Modric, and more have proven, you don’t need to be an Olympiad to be great.
Genk 5, Anderlecht 2
Genk’s 5-2 win over mid-table side Anderlecht would not be possible without El Khannouss. Playing as an attacking midfielder, he scored his first goal of the season while creating a big chance, forcing a good save out of keeper Bart Verbruggen, accumulating 50 touches, and winning 6 of his ten duels.
https://mobile.twitter.com/fotomac/status/164760467308646400 (I can’t upload Tweets to Substack because of some beef between Substack’s founder and Elon Musk).
El Khannouss played as an attacking midfielder in Genk’s win, but he often dropped deep to collect the ball from defenders and break the high press. He is not a second striker like Musiala at Bayern, nor a midfielder littering the assist columns like De Bruyne. He does a little bit of everything; shooting, passing, tackling, pressing, and, most importantly, dribbling.
With his slippery dribble, El Khannouss seemed omnipotent, squeaking past defender after defender like he did to create a big chance that Paintsil somehow did not score from. He has great technical control, is composed on the ball, and has the vision to spot defenders and draw fouls (he drew two against Anderlecht), pick out streaking teammates and make the pass, or simply just create space and buy time.
He did not get in scoring positions, excluding the cut-backs he gets at the top of the box; that job is reserved for clinical wingers Joseph Paintsil (29 league games with 14 goals and 10 assists) and Mike Trésor (33 league games with 8 goals and 20 assists). Instead he played in an creating role. El Khannouss made two passes that led to shots, completed three of his four long balls, and created a big chance.
He showed a level of intelligence and creativity that revealed his versatility and reliablity in possession (he completed 24 of his 32 passes this game and has a pass accuracy of 78% in the season), plays several line-breaking passes while making exciting off-the-ball runs himself, and recognizing times when to keep the ball and when to lay it off to himself.
Although El Khannouss often does not track back to join the defense and defend thanks to his advanced position and the tactics he follows, but he has an impressive work rate; he pressed several times, leading Tresor, Painstil, and Samatta into action several times. His 5’11, 154 pound build and previously-mentioned intelligence helps him physically dominate the ball, as he won lots of duels while also drawing two fouls.
The Schedule
El Khannouss will suit up on Sunday at 12:30 PM EST to face 8th-placed Charleroi. The last time Genk faced Charleroi, they won 4-1 with El Khannous in the reserve team. After that, they will head into the playoffs with a Champions League group stage bid at stake.