Having just been relegated with Angers and only having 1 year remaining on his contract, Batista Mendy is seemingly going completely under the radar as the transfer window draws to a close in spite of the low transfer fee he would garner, something that is mind-blowing to those who have followed his career thus far. Originally coming through the Nantes academy, the French youth international made the trip East along the A11 to Angers in the summer of 2021, where he cemented himself in the heart of Les Scoïstes' midfield.
Batista Mendy's heatmap for the 2022/23 season
Though usually deployed in a double pivot or as a traditional 6 in a midfield 3, Mendy has played as a box-to-box and in central defence, giving him vital experience all along the spine of the team. For me, he is most comfortable playing in a double pivot where the responsibility of guarding the defence isn't placed solely on his shoulders - Mendy is not the type of player who will be able to get up and down the pitch constantly, and thus having a partner to shift the workload with allows him more time and energy to perform in the other aspects of football he is more suited to.
Mendy has an ideal build for a deep midfielder, standing at 6'3" with extremely long legs even given his height. Unfortunately this is where the natural gifts end for him, as his athletic profile is not particularly impressive, perhaps why he hasn't garnered mainstream attention - teams nowadays love to bet on athleticism. His wiry frame does not allow him to carry much muscle mass and this is evident when watching him move, there is a distinct lack of burst and power when he runs; also, despite his long strides, his long speed is lacking and he never seems to be able to get out of 1st gear. You'd expect and hope for someone of this build to eat up ground, allowing them to get sideline-to-sideline and box-to-box sweeping into challenges, but Mendy can't do this, resulting in a player who trots about the pitch in a languid manner.
It's not all doom and gloom however, because, in spite of this lack of explosive ability, Mendy is noticeably strong in a way that almost defies physics. Despite giving up the advantage of leverage, he has become an expert in shielding the ball as he just wont be moved by opposition no matter how powerful they are. Even shoulder to shoulder, where you'd expect shorter men to really exploit their leverage, he holds his own. This physical domination also shows up in aerial duels, once again despite the lack of explosion you usually see in aerially dominant players like a Kurt Zouma or Virgil Van Dijk for example.
Mendy's aerial metrics - fbref.com
This is not an unheard amount of volume but the efficiency is exceptional, he is a beacon in the centre of the park that stifles nearly any attempt of direct football - you can't consistently play in the air against Angers when Mendy is on the pitch. If there was one thing he needs to improve regarding his aerial ability it would be directing his headers. He often just heads the ball into the void, leading to a 50/50 when he should've easily retained possession and he is practically a non-factor when it comes to attacking set pieces and threatening the goal. Admittedly this is nitpicking, he is an aerially dominant midfielder in a time where more and more teams need their midfielders to be strong in this area as opposition begins to go long to beat the press.
This efficiency is also seen in his ground duels, as you would expect from someone with his frame - long legs are such an effective tool in winning the ball. Although, there are a few flaws in this aspect of his game which need to be explored further.
Mendy's defensive metrics - fbref.com
Upon first glance at these numbers, 2 things immediately stick out: First, as previously mentioned, Mendy is ridiculously efficient in the challenge; secondly, he is very inactive defensively, especially considering he is often the deepest midfielder in a poor Angers side that you'd expect to be forced to defend for the majority of games. This alludes to the core issue with Mendy's playstyle - his workrate is poor, too often can he be found jogging around the pitch in a lackadaisical manner, even in transition when he must get back and defend.
Despite the data showing that he should be a great tackler, turn on the tape and you'll find this indifferent mentality he seems to have shows up in his challenges and he seldom fully commits to the tackle, resulting in his side not winning possession even if he technically got a foot to the ball - there's a lack of aggression teams want and need from their midfield enforcers.
Here is a great example of a lack of commitment in his challenges; as the ball is about to played into the halfspace, Mendy is in a great position to make a play on the ball and it should be a relatively easy challenge for someone with his traits - in fact, the Toulouse player shouldn't even be considering this pass given the situation and should instead be looking to the man calling for the ball in the centre of the pitch.
The problem with how Mendy approaches this engagement once the ball is played is that, for whatever reason, he just dangles his foot in the Toulouse attackers path as opposed to fully committing. He had more than enough time to cover the ground necessary to put himself in a better position for the tackle but instead stops moving to lunge into a weak challenge, as a result of this the ball bobbles around and is dealt with by another Angers defender.
In this scenario Mendy once again correctly reads that he can make a play on the ball, he sees the Marseille player taking heavy touches and wants to jump on the loose ball as it leaves his feet. Unfortunately, once more does Mendy engage with a weak, dangling foot.
The timing of the engagement is ideal, but his foot is so far out in front of his body when it doesn't have to be much like the previous example, meaning all he can hope to do is poke the ball away as there is no weight behind this engagement and thus he has no real chance of coming out with the ball himself. Time and time again he'll make contact with the ball like this but just lacks any physical dominance in the duels.
As you can see, the Marseille attacker easily comes out of this duel with the ball and finds his wingback in space, with Mendy looking slightly lost and helpless in the middle of the pitch. It is important to note that, at least in my opinion, these weak duels have nothing to do with Mendy himself being a weak person - the poor technique trying to poke the ball away, most likely something was used to getting away with due to his long legs, and the lack of commitment due to a languorous mentality towards defending are what's causing issues in this department. Fortunately, these are easily fixable issues and they only really crop up when it comes to duels.
As a ball carrier, Mendy shows great physicality and, as previously mentioned, is near immovable when shielding the ball despite being disadvantaged leverage wise. For a tall man he has excellent feet in tight areas and stays very composed when faced with pressure.
Mendy's ball carrying metrics - fbref.com
The numbers show Mendy as a well above average dribbler and this is certainly reinforced by the eye-test; often does it seem that the ball is glued to his feet when under pressure, at times it seems like opposition defenders are caught off-guard by his ability in tight spaces and this leads to them being spun. Obviously he is not going to power through the lines with the ball like a Khéphren Thuram and arrive in the final 3rd but what Mendy does offer is a reliable way to break the first line of pressure and play it to those better suited to creating chances.
This short sequence encapsulates everything about him as a carrier: nothing flashy or overly ambitious, just uses his body well and creates the necessary angles to progress play on the ground. There was definitely opportunity to burst up field as he came inside the pitch but he knew that would be more risky and instead chose to turn on a dime, using the Toulouse player's momentum against him, and found the man in space on the touchline.
Don't be mistaken however, Mendy is not entirely risk averse on the ball. In fact, if there's one thing he loves doing when given a bit of time it's an ambitious long ball in over the top; although most of the time these balls seem forced, what it does show is the mentality of a player who wants to stretch play and trusts his passing ability.
Mendy's passing metrics - fbref.com
These numbers are a mixed bag, but they show how he prefers to operate in the longer ranges as opposed to recycling possession and dictating the tempo of the game. Passing metrics for a player in a relegation-level side are always going to be lacking in some regard as these teams are not likely to be able to efficiently control the game on the ball, yet Mendy is still able to stand out statistically with regards to his distance passing (particularly the over-90 medium pass completion percentage, similar numbers to someone like Alexis Mac Allister, who we all appreciate as a cultured passer). Often it seems the first thing on his mind when he receives the ball is to look to stretch the play.
Here, despite taking a heavy touch and having a defender about to crash down onto the ball, his eyes are fixed on his winger charging down the wing. Had he controlled the ball better the pass would've been played exactly at this moment, directly in between the Ajaccio centre half who is flying up to cover Angers's striker and the left back.
Mendy remains completely unbothered by the challenge, uses his quality in tight spaces to skip past the defender and instantaneously the ball is lofted into his winger's path. By keeping his head up watching where he wanted to play the ball the entire time he was able to deduce that a grounded ball would've been jumped and intercepted by the left back who had smartly kept his eyes on Mendy, as opposed to turning around into a full sprint in attempt to not get beat in behind. Thus, Mendy puts air under the ball and allows his teammate to run under it.
The technique of the pass itself is a bit janky and leads to too much air being put under the ball but the pass is completed all the same. What's important here is the progressive mentality and the ability to change the pass type on the fly.
Something that should also stick out from looking at his passing metrics is the lack of involvement in build up; Mendy's pass volume is below average, which is to be expected considering the side he plays for, but his volume of short passes is incredibly low even for the standards of a relegation side. There is little involvement in build up from Mendy and while this should be slightly concerning, I don't think this is due to a lack of press resistance or tactical understanding, the issue likely stems from his mentality regarding what he wants to do on the ball.
To elaborate on this, Mendy always wants to progress play, wants to beat his man, wants to hold the ball off and turn up field, etc. This is not a player who is comfortable simply keeping things ticking, he may navigate the pitch in the lackadaisical manner but when he is on the ball this is couldn't be further from his style, he is all action the second he receives possession and can end up forcing passes or runs. Often this can be a positive, this sequence against Toulouse shows how easily he can turn simple possession into an attacking opportunity:
This is ideal progression by Mendy, he receives the ball and opens his body up to the pitch, rides two challenges, and plays a well weighted pass on his weak foot - there is nothing wrong with this instance in particular but it does show something that I think is a weakness. Mendy likes opposition players to engage him from the front like this, either lunging in or getting shoulder-to-shoulder, he knows these are fights he can win and thus leans on these to kick-start progression. When he receives the ball with his back to play, a scenario defensive midfielders have to be comfortable with, this is where the problems arise - he is too calm for his own good, taking far too long to find the correct pass, and will get caught out from behind if he's not able to hold the opposition off. Tempo setters appear calm on the ball but they are always on edge and highly aware, this is why they are able to be so press resistant. Tempo setters also know when to carry up field, when to look for a ball in behind, or when to simply just recycle possession - timing and picking your spots is vital. This is where Mendy must improve in possession.
Batista Mendy is most certainly a flawed player in many respects, but he has a very rare and sought after profile - clubs love a tall, long midfielder who is fluid and controlled on the ball, who has a wide passing range on both feet. If he can sort out some of these mental issues leading to inconsistencies and lack of tenacity in duels then he will arrive on every club's radar - if he doesn't and stays as the player he is today then he still should be on a lot of club's radars. With all due respect to Angers, this is a player who should be playing in the top flight, and with his tools it is baffling that a Ligue 1 club hasn't come in for him.