Marlon Pack v Mark Kosznovszky: how duo compare as Portsmouth spend £1m to reinforce their midfield
Marlon Pack and Blues new-boy Mark Kosznovszky compared as duo prepare to battle it out for a Pompey midfield place
Pompey’s midfield options have been handed a significant boost following the arrival of Hungarian midfielder Mark Kosznovszky and South Africa international Luke Le Roux.
Twenty-three-year-old Kosznovszky has joined the Blues for a fee in the region of £1m, after the Fratton Park side reportedly had bids of £500,000 and £800,000 rejected by MTK Budapest, while Le Roux, 25, has joined from Swedish to-flight side IFK Värnamo .
The duo represent Pompey’s second and third midfield signings of the summer, after the Blues landed former West Brom and Reading ace John Swift on a free transfer last week.
Both will add to a midfield pool that already includes club captain Marlon Pack, Andre Dozzell, Swift and Terry Devlin - with Abdoulaye Kamara told he can leave the club following his return to pre-season training at the end of June.
Information gathering on Hungarian Kosznovszky has been hard to come by, though, with just the odd clip on YouTube or updates from MTK sporting director Balázs Polyák on the progress of Pompey’s interest all the Fratton faithful have had to go on to date.
As a result, The News has utilised the services of Wyscout - the world-renowned data analytical experts used by all clubs - to determine what exactly fans can expect from Kosznovszky at Fratton Park over next season and beyond.
And to make the breakdown of his stats easier to digest, we’ve compared his 2024-25 data to that recorded by Pack - who will likely be in direct competition with the Pompey new boy for that defensive-midfield role.
Of course, Pack’s deployment in a central defensive position for large parts of the Blues’ first season back in the Championship, plus the differences between England’s second tier and the Hungarian top flight, needs to be taken into consideration.
Yet the responsibilities and qualities needed to operate effectively in such a key position remain the same and should provide a good indication of what Kosznovszky can and cannot offer John Mousinho’s side going forward.
Marlon Pack v Mark Kosznovszky (2024-2025)
Games, minutes played and minutes per game
Pack: 41 games. 3,018 minutes on pitch and 66 minutes per outing.
Kosznovszky: 29 games. 2,662 minutes on pitch and 81.5 minutes per outing.
Total actions and success rate
Pack: 2,217 actions, 71.1% success rate.
Kosznovszky: 2,268 actions, 68.5% success rate.
Goals and assists
Pack: 0 goals, 2 assists.
Kosznovszky: 3 goals, 3 assists.
Shots and percentage on target
Pack: 9 shots, 22.2% on target.
Kosznovszky: 28 shots, 39.3% on target.
Passes and passes successfully completed
Pack: 1,392 passes, 84.8% success rate
Kosznovszky: 1,448 passes, 86.5& success rate.
Long passes and success rate
Pack: 173 and a 63% success rate.
Kosznovszky: 49 and a 40.8% success rate.
Number of dribbles and success rate
Pack: 11 and a 63.6% success rate.
Kosznovszky: 68 and a 64.7% success rate.
Duels and percentage won
Pack: 561 duels, 59% won.
Kosznovszky: 563 duels, 47% won.
Total interceptions
Pack: 159.
Kosznovszky: 115.
Possession lost and possession recovered
Pack: 341 possession lost, 473 possession recovered
Kosznovszky: 320 possession lost, 234 possession recovered.
Yellow and red cards
Pack: 8 yellows, 1 red.
Kosznovszky: 7 yellows, 0 reds.
Pack v Kosznovszkey: key take homes
While Pack had gretaer success when it came to duels won, long passing and actions involved in, Kosznovszky out-ranked the Blues skipper in terms of successful shots on target, passes in general and possession gains from dribbles.
That suggests that while they can be considered like-for-like as defensive midfielders, they both have strengths and weakness when compared to each other.
Kosznovszky’s greater goal contributions will no doubt prove useful when Pompey are perhaps at home and expected to make the most of Fortress Fratton. Meanwhile, with Pack enjoying more success when it comes to interceptions and ball recoveries, his presence will also prove invaluable when up against it away from home.
Final verdict
Given their different qualities, it may be the case that both Pack - who is adamant he can still compete in midfield at Championship level - and Kosznovszky can compliment each other’s game and can be played together in a deeper-lying role in Mousinho’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.
However, last night’s arrival of Le Roux on a similar deal to Kosznoszky might through a spanner in the works,