Name: Farès Bousdira



Country: Algeria | France
Club: RC Lens
Position: ★AMF, CMF
Side: RF/BS
Age: 22-24 years (20/09/1953)

Height: 174 cm
Weight: 70 kg

Attack: 80
Defence: 45
Balance: 76
Stamina: 82
Top Speed: 81
Acceleration: 79
Response: 76
Agility: 78
Dribble Accuracy: 89
Dribble Speed: 84
Short Pass Accuracy: 85
Short Pass Speed: 78
Long Pass Accuracy: 81
Long Pass Speed: 78
Shot Accuracy: 80
Shot Power: 82
Shot Technique: 81
Free Kick Accuracy: 70
Curling: 76
Header: 72
Jump: 72
Technique: 87
Aggression: 77
Mentality: 72
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 76

Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 6
Weak Foot Frequency: 7
Consistency: 7
Growth Type: Standard/Lasting

CARDS:
P15 - Free Roaming
S02 - Passer
S16 - Roulette Skills
S20 - Scooping
S21 - Step On Skills

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Dribbling - Tactical Dribble - Playmaking - Passing

Attack/Defence Awareness: Attack-Minded


INFO:
Fares Bousdira became the first Algerian to play for the France team after the independence of Algeria in 1962. Player of RC Lens, he played his first, and only selection vs Poland, on 24 April 1976 at the Bollaert stadium replacing Jean-Marc Guillou in the second half.

A playmaker beautiful to see play, sometimes whimsical, he quickly established himself with his remarkable technique, elegance and his vision of the game. Excellent dribble and technique, through passing skills, good use of both legs. Very fast dribble but not too fast overall. He would change the pace of the game.

Farès Bousdira made his professional debut at RC Lens, in the second division. Quickly, he helped his club to return to the elite, to find the summits, and became one of the major players. He reached the Coupe de France final in 1975, losing to St.Etienne and in 1976/77 Lens achieved a 2nd spot in the league. In 1978 he was transferred to OGC Nice, then one of the best clubs in France, but his time was mixed. He then joined Angers, but SCO was relegated and filed for bankruptcy in January 1982. His club forced to sell its best players, Bousdira made a jump to land at Stade Rennais, entangled for many years in D2. Quickly the Franco-Algerian made a place in the Breton attack line and became one of the major elements of the rise acquired in 1984. He remained a mainstay for a year in the unfortunate elite (where he still scored eight goals) concluded by relegation, then again played the leading roles to help the club rise the following season. In 1985, he left Rennes to finish his career in Division 2 clubs, then at amateur level in Bourges.

Based only on the game vs Den Haag which I’ve watched three or four times, I’d say he was better technically than this, IMO he was DA>TEC and I would have given him orange DA, he was a real genius with the ball. On the other hand he should have green TMW at most, he was the classic North African technician, always wanting to dribble or try some fancy tricks instead of passing at the right time. In pure skills though he wasn’t far from Belloumi or Dahleb.

I think the game vs Den Haag was his best appearance out of all of the games available, he humiliated a couple of times their defence. I was a bit reluctant at first to give him a much higher TEC and DA value (Papi is at 88/88, Micoud at 88/85, Djorkaeff at 90/86 etc.. It's true, he can be compared in a way to Dahleb ( I saw Belloumi's set too), but i'm not sure if he was at the orange level. Dahleb had that unstoppable penetrating dribble (IMO he should be at 91 at least), while Bousdira was great, but not so much in that way, he was great in a small area. His DA can probably go to 88-89, while I would leave TEC the same.

You are completely right about TMW, he actually didn't have that decisive through pass, but he stood out in the field by a mile when compared to others and seemed like he tried some unnecessary dribbles. What do you think about removing Classic n.10 and putting Free Roaming instead, does it make sense? Thanks Stuart