Scout Report- Facundo Medina

by | Jan 4, 2021

According to RMC Sport Correspondent Sacha Tavolieri, Facundo Medina is drawing interest from Manchester United who have been scouting for potential targets to bolster their Centre Back department. Facundo Medina has attracted the attention of English giants with his stellar performance with French side RC Lens. The report further states that while Manchester United have registered an interest in Medina, he is among a number of names on their shortlist and is not their main target as at the present moment. 

In this scout report, we will look at how he has fared in his career and if he can sustain his stellar output in a better side. 

(Photo by Anthony Dibon/Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Player Profile

Facundo Medina is a left footed centre-back and equally capable of playing as a left back. Born in Buenos Aires, he joined his boyhood club River Plate as a youngster, rising through the ranks over the years and breaking into the reserves team in 2017. He, then got called up to first team too but failed to make an appearance for the club. Soon, fellow Argentina Primera Division side Talleres came calling for him. Getting consistent first team opportunities at first team level, Medina started growing as a player and his talent slowly started attracting attention of some European sides- mainly from France with OM, OL sending their scouts to watch him on a number of occasions. But it was Ligue 1 newcomers RC Lens who snapped him up before the start of 2020-21 season, in a deal worth 3.15 million euros. Him along with young French Defender Loic Bade make up the crux of defence which is one of the best statistically in Ligue 1 this season. This has catapulted the newcomers to 7th place in the Ligue 1 table, level on points with AS Monaco with a game in hand- an unexpected fight for European Competition spots.

(Photo by Anthony Dibon/Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Playing Style 

Medina’s defending is different from most of the centre-backs in the league. He possesses natural quickness which allows him to make risky decisions at times. Along with his aggressive style of play, he tends to apply a lot of ‘pressures’ and contest for duels with wingers/strikers of the opposition. His agility and speed compensate for his aggressive style of play, but not to the full extent. When he puts pressure on the opponent, it becomes vital that he must have the right body positioning to limit the passing angles through which the opposition can dictate the game. This proactive style of defending requires great spatial awareness and quick decision-making because every mistake might be costly. The centre-back needs to read the game well, limiting the passing options and the opportunity for an attacker to turn and change direction.

Credits: Wyscout

Credits: Fbref/Statsbomb

Medina’s mobility and awareness of where the next pass might be played become the key components when it comes to interceptions. Facundo averages 1.2 interceptions and 12.5 recoveries per 90 mins in Ligue 1 this season. Getting in the way of the attackers creates a lot of trouble for the opposition and provides Lens with an opportunity to start a counter attack, in which he plays a vital part. His forward passes break opposition defensive lines and help his teammates create opportunities within a couple of passes. He can release the attackers with a pinpoint pass. He averages 6.5 progressive passes per 90 minutes and has covered a distance upwards of 180 yards per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 this season.

Credits: Fbref/Statsbomb

Credits: Fbref/Statsbomb

At the age of 21, Medina already has the kind of dominating presence you would expect from an experienced and commanding centre-ack. Despite being only 5’11’’, he has a great jump and takes off the ground really well, which helps him tremendously in aerial duels. Along with his aggressive playing style, he is adept at contesting and winning ground duels too. He boasts a rate of 61% when it comes to winning aerial duels and 70% rate when it comes to winning tackles, one of the highest in the league. He likes to gain some advantage over his opponent by getting in front of him. His agility and balance allow him to coordinate himself in this manner. His anticipation and reading of the game help him to prevent through balls, passes into penalty area or crosses, may it be from Centre Back or Left Back. He is getting a consistent amount of playing time at a fairly good level in Europe too, which has attracted attention of even better clubs.

Credits: Fbref/Statsbomb

Conclusion

Facundo Medina is still very inexperienced at the top level. His aggressive playing style can easily leave the defence wide open, thus making him a more system specific player at the moment. But these things can be worked upon since he is still young. For a centre-back with an aggressive style of play, blessed with quickness, agility and good positional awareness, Facundo Medina promises to become an asset for any team if groomed well. Such a playing style is an embodiment of the modern-day Centre Back. This playing style is what has been missing in United’s current CB roster. This is the reason the red devils have been scouting players of similar style with scouts sent on assignments to Portugal to watch Sporting Braga’s David Carmo in past months. 

With BBC Sport Correspondent Simon Stone also breaking the news that United is sporadically looking for such low-risk high reward buys, it shows that there has been a change of direction at the club when it comes to transfer dealings.

Percentile rank (Scope is Ligue 1 defenders with 8+ appearances)

Scout Report- Moises Caicedo

by | Dec 23, 2020

The winter transfer window is around the corner and various reports have linked the 19-year-old Ecuador international Moises Isaac Caicedo Corozo with a move to Manchester United. Moises plays as a midfielder for the Ecuadorian side Independiete del Valle. In this scout report, we will try to cover his playing style and how his addition can provide Manchester United with a different profile in their midfield department.

(Photo by Jose Jacome / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JOSE JACOME/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Player Profile

Caicedo joined the youth academy of Independiente del Valle at the age of 13. He was promoted to the senior side of the club in 2019. He debuted for Independiente del Valle in a 1-0 Ecuadorian Serie A win over L.D.U. Quito on 1 October 2019.  While he was travelling with the senior team, the 19-year-old would go on to be an important part of the Independiente del Valle side that won the U20 Libertadores at the start of 2020. Under their new manager, Miguel Angel Ramirez Medina, they went on and won the 2019 Copa Sudamericana, South America’s secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL (equivalent to UEFA Europa League). This was their first ever continental title. The club wants to prioritise the academy and the promotion of academy players to the first team and their manager’s profile fits the bill perfectly. And Caicedo is probably the best example of this. 

On an international level, Caicedo made his Ecuador debut in a 1-0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification loss to Argentina on 9 October 2020. He scored the first goal in a 4-2 win over Uruguay on 13th October 2020 at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, becoming the first player born in the 21st century to ever score in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying. Since the start of his professional career, the midfielder has played 2,367 minutes while providing 4 assists and scoring 7 goals in all competitions.

(Photo by Marcelo Endelli / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MARCELO ENDELLI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Playing Style

Independiente del Valle mainly play in a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-3-3 with two 8’s positioned between the lines. In this setup, Caicedo either play as the right-sided midfielder of the 3-man midfield or at the base where he drops between the two centre-backs, providing fluidic transitions from defence to attack.

Caicedo dropping between the Centre backs who take up wider areas when team attacks

As a right-sided midfielder, he tends to occupy areas in the right half-space or the centre of the pitch, depending on the position of the ball. With Ecuador, he plays on the left-side in a double pivot. The midfielder has already played a variety of roles (three to be exact) in two different teams for two different managers. This versatility is important for the development of a young talent. 

Caicedo’s Heatmap in Copa Sudamericana

Wherever he plays, Caicedo often scans his surroundings to find space and makes himself available to the ball-carrier. This ability helps him further up the pitch as these areas are more crowded. The Ecuador international has equally good instincts higher up the pitch. He combines well in tight spaces and is able to identify space to run into. He has an efficient shot taking ability as well, already scoring from outside the box on two occasions. While Caicedo can find his teammates between the lines, he doesn’t do it enough. He also makes the occasional mistake, due to his age, while attempting some passes.

Caicedo making himself available to receive the pass
Caicedo trying to find line breaking passes

His passes with his weaker foot are reliable. If he was to come to Manchester United, he would instantly become the second most ambipedal midfielder of the squad after Fred (Fred completed 28% of his successful passes with his weaker foot last season, Pogba around 12%). Caicedo rarely loses a duel, whether it is in the air or on the ground. According to SofaScore, he wins 4.4 duels per 90 minutes for a success rate of 56%.

Independiente del Valle often man-mark in midfield, which admittedly makes it harder to properly judge Caicedo on this end of the pitch. The intensity he provides when not having the ball is as inconsistent as the intensity he has when one of his teammates has the ball. Caicedo can lose track of his runner. This is the one major con in his game, but it can be fixed with good coaching and experience. 

Conclusion

Given that he recently turned 19 and has just one year of experience at senior level, that too in an inferior league in comparison to the standards of football played in English top tier and at Manchester United in general, a sudden change of environment at this stage makes it difficult to expect instant impact for any player of this age group. A good development plan is required to ease in such foreign talents in order to maximize their potential in the long run. 

Moises has the abilities which can make him a player in the mould of Nemanja Matic. But again, if everything goes right (by right, we are referring to all third-party rights issue being resolved and new work permit rules under Brexit allowing him to get a work permit without any fuss), a low transfer fee in the range of €5 million will not hurt a club of the stature of Manchester United. All things considered, if it goes through, fans can remain positive over acquiring a good potential player for the future for a modest fee.   

Tactical Analysis: Southampton FC under Ralph Hasenhuttl

by | Dec 17, 2020

iThe rise of “Alpine Jurgen Klopp” and Southampton to top of the tier is nothing short of a fairytale journey. The Austrian once played with the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Phillip Lahm, Paolo Guerrero at Bayern II, the reserves side of FC Bayern Munich. Before that, he had 2 good spells in Germany with FC Koln and Greuther Furth and picked up 8 International caps too with a return of 3 goals at international stage.

Before starting his managerial career at senior level, Ralph managed the youth teams of German side SpVgg Unterhaching from July, 2004 to March, 2007. Following the sacking of Harry Deutinger, he became the caretaker manager and then, the assistant manager. On 4th October, he became the first team manager, embarking on his managerial career. In the 2008–09 season, in the newly formed 3. Liga (The German third division), the team’s performances earned them fourth place in the table, missing out on a play-off place by one point. His job at SpVgg Unterhaching ended in a stalemate as the team could not build up on a good start under the manager’s first full season at the helm.

Hasenhuttl then switched to fellow strugglers VfR Aalen, steering them away from relegation and keeping them heads and water away from there. This attracted the attention of FC Ingolstadt. FC Ingolstadt, formed in 2004 with the backing of automobile giants Audi looked like an ambitious project in the beginning but it started losing it’s track when they ended up reaching 2. Bundesliga, with a series of poor result and the stagnation of the project saw the club falling back into the third division. His main purpose was to steady the ship and clear the mess left for him by previous managers. But little did the administration know that this mercurial manager will make the best out of this “mess”. In his short stint at Bavarian club, he catapulted them to the Top Division- Bundesliga with 2 successive promotions and playing an expansive yet defensively solid brand of football, a brand which he has carried forward to RB Leipzig and Southampton FC.

“A small town known because of the name of Audi suddenly got associated with Football because of the brand of football Ralph made the team play”. These were the words of Ramzan Ozcan- who left for German giants Bayer Leverkusen in 2016. Playing his favoured 4-2-2-2 and sometimes 4-3-3 for more balanced output, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s tactics brought the best out of up and coming players like Danny Da Costa, Pascal Groß, Caiuby who were then snapped up by teams in Bundesliga and Premier League respectively.

Ralph further made strides in Bundesliga when he became the manager of yet another club whose rise to the top of the pyramid has been nothing but shocking and surprising: RB Leipzig. It is the place where he made further strides which reached to different parts of Europe. His favoured 4-2-2-2 and intense counter pressing Tactical instructions took the entire Bundesliga by surprise with exquisite performances by attacking quartet: Timo Werner, Yusuf Poulsen, Emil Forsberg, Marcel Sabitzer which catapulted the East German side from Leipzig to 2nd place in the table. With Champions League all confirmed, this was yet another achievement in the Austrian’s budding career. A sub-par second season saw Leipzig just make the Europa League spots with Austrian ending this chapter of his career.

Next up: the city of Southampton.

With Southampton FC also defying all odds, from reaching Premier League to reaching Europa League group stages-defeating the mighty Inter Milan a few years back, they were also suffering from stagnation and a certain relegation with poor managerial appointments and transfer business. Another opportunity for the Austrian to steady the ship. But there were struggles, a lot of those. Injuries, players out of form, his tactics and training regime not being suitable according to the tempo of English Football at initial stages. All of this were amplified by Southampton’s horrendous 9-0 home loss against Leicester City in 2019-20 season. Many in The Saints Faithfuls started doubting if his ideas will actually steady the ship or not. But it was the trust of the board and the players and remaining fanbase in the manager which saw him turn this misery into a redemption arc.

Tactical Setup

Basing his game on Liverpool FC’s current manager Jurgen Klopp, Saints like to press aggressively and in upwards section of the pitch. But their counter pressing has a lot of different patterns. They tend to pounce on 2nd or 3rd balls in the central portion of the pitch. Hence creating an overload in the Midfield to win the battle there and regain possession. After their humiliating defeat to young and energetic Leicester City, Hasenhuttl changed his expansive 4-2-2-2 into a somewhat narrow 4-4-2 to provide extra defensive stability. This rather brought out the best in Danny Ings- a favourite pick among Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players . Now adapting this template, The Saints, while in attacking transition take up a shape of 4-2-2-2, playing an expansive brand of direct football with fluid transitions.

This brand of football is dependent on the player’s commitment and work rate, both in offensive and defensive phase. The likes of Danny Ings, Che Adams, Theo Walcott make that possible. In defensive transition, this aggressive style is again evident. The team’s collective Technical Ability make it possible to switch back to a narrower 4-4-2, providing some defensive stability against counter attacks where the midfield duo comes into life, winning plenty of duels and cutting off passing lanes while the front 2 or 4 constantly apply pressure on opposition’s midfield and defense to bring about a change in possession. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made this transition very successful which eventually earned him a move to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspurs.

 

Hasenhuttl has always maintained his approach by commenting,

“the best playmaker is always the player that wins the ball”.

With Southampton FC starting new season with a renewed faith in the manager and his Tactical Instructions, it has again been repaid in kind. Southampton is now sitting at 3th position on the league table with 24 points from 13 games, 4 points off the table toppers- Jurgen Klopp led Liverpool, Ralph Hasenhuttl has again made a merry out of the “mess”

Tactical Analysis: RB Leipzig under Julian Nagelsmann

by | Dec 8, 2020

“Football is 30% tactics and 70% social competence”. The young manager is a hit in both aspects, may it be at FC Augsburg where he worked with current Paris Saint Germain boss Thomas Tuchel, may it be at TSG Hoffenheim where he learned from Ralf Ragnick and Huub Stevens. Despite being 32 years old, he has earned plaudits from even the most experienced managers in the game. Nicknamed ‘Baby Mourinho’, he is a fearless guy when it comes to taking risks. From opting to choose a highly defensive structure in his debut season at Hoffenheim to choosing a complete opposite structure in his following season, Julian Nagelsmann changes his tactical setup depending on the need of the team and the opposition he faces.


(Photo by Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Tactical Analysis

At RB Leipzig, he has again opted to prefer a high intensity counter pressing, counter-attacking footballing structure loosely based on the principle of ‘Totaalvoetbal’, with players performing multiple roles in the team, right from defense to attack. Players with good technical ability and versatility like Dani Olmo, Marcel Sabitzer, Christopher Nkunku, Tyler Adams, Emil Forsberg, Nordi Mukiele, Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg make sure that this ‘unpredictable’ nature remains in their every match. Nagelsmann prefers to use the ‘space’, hence relying on width through his wingbacks and the ‘half space occupation’ through his wingers who like to cut in and take central role or the most advanced midfielder tasked with the role of playmaking.

Julian Nagelsmann opted to use a 3-4-1-2/4-2-4 formation in his debut season at RB Leipzig with a ‘floating striker’ in support role (Youssuf Poulsen) and other striker(Timo Werner) pressing the defensive line and making runs in the channels when possession gets turned over. With the sale of pacy striker Timo Werner to Premier League side Chelsea FC, Nagelsmann has switched to a 3-4-2-1 for time being with 2 wingers and a floating striker constantly changing their position in attack. He has also opted to use a 4-2-3-1 on some instances this season. Even with this change in formation, he has sticked to his fundamentals of exploiting ‘width’ and making ‘triangles’ and/or ‘diamonds’ in final third of the pitch, constantly pressing the opposition in a systematic manner and forcing turnovers to counter attack in a fluid manner.

Despite facing some injury issues and new signings still adapting to change of scenario, RB Leipzig sit at 3rd position in the Bundesliga table with 21 points won in 10 matches, courtesy of in-form Dani Olmo playing in multiple positions and performing at top level.

Even though Julian Nagelsmann has some fixed principles on which he sets up his team, his rotation policy is very unpredictable which always gives his side an ‘element of surprise’ and equally capable of a ‘giant killing‘ on their own merit. These group stage matches for last season’s UCL semi finalists have been a good test for both the team and their young, ambitious and hungry ‘managerial wonderkid’.

Team News

Just like in their previous encounter, Manchester United will again look to create overloads in the center of the pitch and deploy a systematic manner of counter-pressing to nullify the strengths of Saxony based side. Absence of Fred (suspension) will be a big blow to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans. Also the absence of Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial puts entire load of leading the attacking line on Marcus Rashford who himself has been struggling with a recurring Shoulder injury. On the other hand, RB Leipzig will be without Lazar Samardzic (tested positive for Covid-19), Konraid Laimer, Lukas Klostermann, Benjamin Henrichs (all missing due to knee injuries) and Dayot Upamecano (suspension).

With Champions League group stage reaching it’s end, many teams are still in fight to win their places in Round of 16. Both Manchester United and RB Leipzig will fight it out in a ‘winner takes all’ kind of contest when both teams will ‘lock their horns’ on Tuesday. Manchester United despite their brilliant start to current CL campaign (which included a 2-1 win at Parc Des Princes against PSG and 5-0 rout of RB Leipzig) lost their way with a shocking 2-1 loss to debutants Istanbul Basaksehir and a 1-3 loss to PSG due to lack of clinical finishing, still looking to get a minimum of 1 point to ensure their qualification to Round of 16.

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig must get 3 points to ensure their qualification for round of 16 of Champions League. With the match in Leipzig, team’s must win scenario and a previous 5-0 loss to Manchester United (whose away record in Germany has been abysmal) will provide the young German side with all the motivation in the world to step up on the pitch and see off the competition. Such instances of healthy competition are neccessary for every player, manager to test their mettle and become better version of themselves.

A lot is at stakes in this match up which will make it a treat to watch for supporters and neutrals alike. May the best team prevail!

D10S- The God of Naples

by | Dec 4, 2020

A mentality among Neapolitans has always existed- of waiting for their saviour. The people in the city always felt that they have been robbed by the people from ‘North’ and someone will come to rescue them. A historic city situated on the Amalfi Coast and looked over by Mount Vesuvius, it has been a centre of attraction in every known era of history. It has been a centre of arts, education, religion, politics in the past and it eventually became a centre of football too, when the God truly blessed city in late 1980s- not by Saint Gennaro (the City’s patron saint). But it was blessed with a certain Argentinian who just wanted to enjoy the beautiful game. This Argentinian then went on to defy the odds and became the saviour the city and it’s people always wanted. With his achievements, he became a folklore.

This Argentinian is none other than Diego Armando Maradona. After starting off his career as a 16 year old professional with his boyhood club Argentinos Junior, he then switched to Boca Juniors and eventually the European elites came calling in. FC Barcelona paid a world record fee for the dimunitive attacking midfielder. But his time in Barcelona was marred with injuries, controversies on and off the field. A talented youngster born to play football looked out of sorts with life in Europe. Then in summer of 1984, one of the most shocking transfers took place which took entire footballing world by storm. Napoli came in with another world record bid and within few days, Diego swapped an economically rich city of Barcelona with one of the most poor, if not the most poor cities in Europe- with ‘Napoli’. This was a move which took everyone by storm. Many were shocked that how a perennially underachieving club like Napoli came up with such offer while many people in the city cannot even afford basic amneties along with many criminal families creating havoc with their illegal activities within the walls of this holy city. But this was the start of a journey which will be etched forever in the hearts of people of Naples and his tales be sung for many generations to come.

Maradona’s arrival at the San Paolo in 1984 from FC Barcelona can be seen as the catalyst for Napoli’s ultimate success, but it took the club 3 years to win laurels. Diego was the the most important piece of that puzzle. The ambition showed by the perennial underperformers from the south of Italy eventually proved to be fruitful and put the holy city of Naples on the pantheon, becoming the first club ever from South of Italy to put a fight against the richer clubs from Northern Italy and deliver a ‘Scudetto’ for the ‘Partenopei’.

The Neapolitan side finished at 8th position, 10 points shy of eventual and shocking champions Hellas Verona in his first season at the club. His brilliant form in 1985-86 season took Napoli to 3rd place with him ending up with 11 goals, taking this form to the FIFA World Cup (and rest is history as we know it). Going into his 3rd season with the club, the missing pieces in the puzzle finally were filled and it clicked. Coached by a fiery but pragmatic Ottavio Bianchi who won plaudits by taking Atalanta from 3rd division to Serie A a few years back. The club was led by ‘El Diego’ and hometown hero Ciro Ferrera with new signings of Fernando De Napoli and Andrea Carnavale also clicking instantly.

De Napoli along with fellow teammate Salvatore Bagni ran the Midfield which allowed El Diego to create his magic further up the field. Along with Carnavale and Bruno Giordan, El Diego contributed to 10 goals with further contribution of 8 goals from Carnavale and 6 goals from Bruno Giordan which made up of a good chunk of overall tally of goals scored by the team. The faithful supporters of the club became the ’12th man’, supporting the club and their main men through thick and thin. San Paolo became a fortress with the club going unbeaten at home in 1986-87 season of Serie A. Napoli recorded 2-1 wins against fellow Scudetto rivals Juventus and AC Milan, both home and away which helped them catapult to 1st place on the table.

Then came the date: May 10th, 1987. A date forever etched in the history of the club and the city. “The world had changed. The noisiest, the most crowded city of Europe was deserted”. These were the words of Italian anthropologist Amalia Signorelli when describing the state of the city in early hours of May 10th, 1987. In the shadow of dormant Mt. Vesuvius, the city would eventually erupt as the club secured their first ever league title in their then 61 year old history. This was the start of a fairytale journey of El Diego. Napoli further won 4 trophies including UEFA Cup against VfB Stuttgart in 1989 and another Scudetto in 1990 followed by Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup. This period of 6 years was the most successful period in club’s history.

A city which used to be a laughing stock in the eyes of rest of Italy ended up defying odds. In 1990 WC (which took place in Italy only), Maradona led Argentina and Italy were hot favourites to win the title. San Paolo hosted to one Semi Final and with such small odds, the 2 favourites ended up playing each other, in Naples. That Azzuri team had the representation of 4 players from Napoli in their starting XI, another big achievement for the city. After winning everything there was to win with the club and his constant off the pitch struggles with substance abuse, Diego’s time in Napoli eventually came to an end in 1991. The ‘messiah’ departed and the city couldn’t recover from this. One person wrote, the day after his departure, wrote on the walls of Forcella quarter: “Diego Facci Angora Sognare” which meant “Diego, make us dream again”

Rest in Peace “El Pibe de Oro”.

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