Why Leeds United’s new signing Rodrigo could offer ‘a completely different dimension to their play’
Leeds United have signed a former Bolton Wanderers striker to bolster their attack prior to their return to the Premier League level.
That in itself may cause some consternation among the passionate Leeds fan base, why after all would a club with their ambitions be shopping for former Trotters players?
Well, the player in question is actually the Spanish international Rodrigo who has joined from Valencia for a reported £30million.
Rodrigo in action for Valencia before his summer move
The 29-year-old attacking player has had an interesting career to date.
At youth level he started with Flamengo in Brazil before eventually reaching Celta Vigo. After a spell there he became a part of the Real Madrid system but it was a move to the Portuguese club Benfica that saw him make a breakthrough at seniorlevel.
It was at this point that Rodrigo made his first move to English football with a loan move to Bolton. He only spent a season on loan in England and after his time with Benfica he moved back to Spain with Valencia where he has plundered 28 league goals across the last three seasons.
Rodrigo is a Spain international
The key question, however, is what are Leeds getting in Rodrigo and how will he fit in to the tactical system preferred by their coach Marcelo Bielsa.
The first thing is that Rodrigo is not a typically No.9 in that he is not a penalty box player.
Instead, he likes to position himself on the outside of the opposition central defenders where his movement and the timing of his runs can see him breakthrough the last line to access passes played in behind the defensive line.
With the the fluid movement that the attacking game model of Leeds under Bielsa produces we could see the intelligence of Rodrigo offer a completely different dimension to their play.
In order to better understand his player profile, however, we need to look at his tendencies on the pitch through a tactical lens.
‘Surprise package’ Leeds United tipped to finish above Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in Champions League race
Player Profile
What is interesting about the signing of Rodrigo is that he is not what you would consider to be a prolific striker.
His goals per 90 rate is relatively low for a player who has been signed to play as a first choice striker with 0.19 goals per 90 across the 2019/20 season.
This should though come as no surprise given that he is not a high volume shooter as he averaged 1.62 shots per 90 minutes.
What he does offer, however, is the ability to occupy space in the final third and to draw opposition defensive players out of position.
We see in the above image an example of the kinds of movement that Leeds can expect to see from Rodrigo.
In a match against the Dutch side Ajax we see Valencia in possession of the ball outside of the penalty area. Rodrigo is initially positioned on the far edge of the penalty area.
He makes an intelligent run across the face of the penalty area and curves his run perfectly to ensure that he stays onside before the ball is played through into the penalty area.
This run creates instant separation between Rodrigo and the defender closest to him and the opposition were not quick enough to react to the danger of the run.
A lot of players would have simply looked to make a diagonal run as the a ball was released through. This would not, however, have created the separation that the longer run from Rodrigo has.
The beauty of the movement of Rodrigo lies in the details. We see an example of that in the image above.
Valencia have possession of the ball just outside of the penalty area and Rodrigo is initially positioned on the far side.
Instead of moving towards the back post to look for the clipped ball across we instead see Rodrigo making an angled movement away from goal.
This movement creates separation between Rodrigo and the defenders in the area and also gives a better angle to the man in possession in order to access the penalty area.
In moments of transition the movement of Rodrigo is excellent and he often finds himself in dangerous pockets of space in between defensive players.
This is a result of his willingness to play off of the outside shoulder of the ball near centre-back.
In the image above we see this captured perfectly as Valencia are looking to transition to attack in a match against Chelsea.
You can see that as the ball is played forward towards Rodrigo he is positioned between the central defender and the full-back with space in which he can receive and dribble with the ball.
We should note at this point that at Valencia he has tended to play as one of two strikers in a 4-4-2 structure. This obviously won’t be the case at Leeds where he will be expected to lead the line but he displays a clear preference for drifting over to the right-hand side of the pitch in order to pick up possession of the ball.
When he plays from that side of the pitch his ability to time his runs well make him an extremely dangerous threat when moving from deep to access passes that are played beyond the defensive line.
He does not possess top level pace but has enough to be able to separate from most defensive players.
In the image above we see how this movement can affect the opposition.
As the player on the near side of the pitch receives the ball we see that Rodrigo is positioned on the shoulder of the full-back. He makes a feint and then moves quickly away from the marker and past the central defender.
In making this movement he is able to take possession of the ball and drive towards the opposition goal.
This time we see a situation where the movement from Rodrigo has carried him across the face of the goal in order to connect with a cross.
In terms of his goalscoring Rodrigo is strong when making intelligent movements in the penalty area and connecting with passes played across goal or when carrying the ball and finishing across the goalkeeper. These are both goals that will suit the way that Leeds like to play under Bielsa.
As well as having good movement and being able to finish, however, Rodrigo is also a creative force with the ball in the final third of the field.
We see an example of his creativity in the example above and once again Rodrigo is intelligent enough to have found himself in a pocket of space as he has received the ball.
This ability Rodrigo has, to instinctively move away from defensive players in order to receive the ball, will be hugely beneficial to Leeds as they attack defences in the Premier League.
In this regard Rodrigo offers a completely different profile to Patrick Bamford, the other option at the club for the ‘No.9’ role.
As Rodrigo receives the ball the opposition defensive line is relatively static and he has the awareness to look up and pick out the pass that splits the defensive line and releases the run of the wide player who is making a move from out to in.
This time we see Rodrigo taking possession of the ball on the edge of the penalty area against an opposition team who are playing with a relatively deep defensive line.
As he turns on the ball there are options ahead of the ball but those options are all static.
Instead, there is a runner moving from a deep position who is able to break beyond the defensive line unchecked. Rodrigo is able to receive and then pause in possession before finding the pass beyond the defensive line that accesses this run.
Rodrigo evades capture in LaLiga but how will he do in the Premier League
Conclusion
So, what exactly can Leeds United fans expect to see from their new record signing?
Rodrigo is a forward who has the experience and ability to perform well at the Premier League level.
His movement and ability to occupy pockets of space in the final third will be key in helping Leeds to progress the ball as they move through the thirds of the pitch.
As a part of the attacking game model of Marcelo Bielsa we should see Rodrigo adopt something of a hybrid role with the ability to link play in the final third or make penetrating runs through the last line of the defence.
If you consider yourself a ’thinking football fan’ and want more analytical content in your life, then sign up to Total Football Analysis for free and get access to four free pieces of analysis content a month.
No comments:
Post a Comment