Endrick Scout Report At Palmeiras 2022 – The 15-Year-Old Brazilian Sensation Triggering A Barça-Real Madrid ‘Cold War’

With the rise of social media and the general availability of football footage and information, it’s becoming increasingly common for teenage players who are still children to be touted as the next big thing before they make a single senior appearance, often based solely on highlights.

At first, the case of Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa (2006, Brazil) seemed one of these.

However, Endrick has proven himself to be a special player by being one of the best in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, also known as the Copinha.

This tournament is the premier showcase of Brazilian U20 players and one of the top tournaments for identifying young talent worldwide.

Playing for Palmeiras U20 at the age of 15, Endrick has completed a phenomenal tournament, helping his team win their first Copinha ever.

Playing in packed stadiums, his performances have attracted the interest of some of the world’s biggest clubs.

It’s La Liga’s giants (Real Madrid and Barcelona) who seem to be the most interested in Endrick, inviting him to visit their stadiums in the last few weeks and starting a ‘Cold War’ to secure the signing of the highly-rated player when he turns 18 in 2024.

In this tactical analysis, we’ve had a look at Endrick’s Copinha to find out why he has attracted this interest. 

Endrick Player Profile

Despite being almost a kid, Endrick already stands out for his physical condition.

Naturally left-footed, he stands at 1.75m and possesses very strong lower limbs.

His power is evident in both his top acceleration and change of pace, as well as in the way he resists challenges by utilizing his hips and arms.

He can sustain his top speed over long distances, too, which is very useful when he runs behind or carries the ball forward.

Despite not being super tall, he still does well in the air thanks to his powerful jump.

Technically, Endrick has everything you would expect from a Brazilian forward.

His first touch to receive the ball in tight spaces is excellent; he’s skilled and creative in his dribbles, and his shots are very powerful and accurate, which makes him a deadly finisher.

Still not a mature player, he likes to showboat, knowing he’s usually the best player on the pitch, and even if it’s part of his game, it’s something he’ll transform into more useful plays with time.

Regarding his movement, Endrick doesn’t participate a lot in the attacking game as he’s more of a finisher than a creator.

He can drop deep to use his strength to receive between the lines and combine, but quickly returns to an advanced position.

He’s intelligent enough to find spaces between the centre-backs and always ready to run in behind and get to any ball that goes over the defensive line.

While his technique and dribbling skills allow him to drift wide and create opportunities from there, he primarily does so in transition, creating space.

However, he usually returns to a central position between the centre-backs very quickly.

Complete Goalscorer

Endrick is a very talented player who excels in numerous areas to a very high level.

However, what differentiates him from others at his young age is his scoring ability.

Despite being 15 and playing with players up to five years older than him — a huge difference at this age — Endrick managed to score six goals in just 294 minutes across seven games in the Copinha (1.84 goals per 90).

As we mentioned in the previous section of this tactical analysis, Endrick plays most of the time off the shoulder of the last defender, so he’s always in the right position to attack passes in behind using his speed to get away from the centre-backs.

He’s always very focused, and his instinct to chase long passes can transform any clearance into a scoring opportunity.

Being rather small and very quick, Endrick is a very difficult striker to mark and creates things very easily in the smallest spaces.

His ability to receive the ball in tight spaces in the box is excellent, combining a superb first touch — both technically and orientation-wise — with his explosiveness to create chances before rivals can react.

When his first touch doesn’t set up a chance immediately, Endrick still has his excellent dribbling to beat defenders and create his own chances.

Once he receives the ball in and around the box, the chances of him finishing the play are very high.

In this map, we can see Endrick’s shots in his last ten games (six in the 2022 Copinha).

The first thing we notice is that most of his shots come from high-xG positions, preferably on the right side to finish with his strong left foot.

His finishing is excellent from central areas, but can be improved from wide positions, particularly in terms of decision-making.

We also see how confident he is with three shots and one goal from the midfield line in the last ten games.

Endrick finishes with power and accuracy, especially with his left foot.

His right is also decent, and he’s not afraid of using it when he has to.

His performance improved significantly in his last games, as he seems more focused on scoring rather than attempting flashy showboating finishes that aren’t as effective.

He’s still a creative finisher and can score from difficult situations.

Let’s see some examples to understand Endrick’s scoring abilities.

In the first one, which was widely reported in the media, we see how confident Endrick is.

A loose ball falls at the edge of the box, and instead of bringing it down and playing, Endrick’s instinct is to attempt a bicycle kick that ends up in the top corner.

Here, he shows his plasticity, technique, and confidence.

The next one was another of the goals of the tournament.

The play starts with Endrick receiving in the left half-space in a counterattack.

He beats the first defender by getting the ball forward and using his acceleration and strength.

As the second one challenges him, a quick touch is enough to pass the defender, and when the goalkeeper comes out, Endrick calmly lobs him.

In the last one, Endrick receives the ball in the box with his back to the goal.

He turns and gets central with a quick touch, creating some space to shoot, but is challenged quickly by the centre-back.

He resists the challenge by using his arms and hips, even causing the defender to fall to the ground.

With time to finish, he hits a powerful shot to the far post with his left foot.

Another interesting point about the striker is his aerial ability.

Despite not being tall, Endrick manages to win lots of headers thanks to his jump and strength.

If he has some space to spring, he can beat taller players both to head crosses or flick the ball.

We can see his jumping power in the following example.

Against a much taller defender, Endrick sprints before jumping and catches the ball very high.

In this section of the scout report, we’ve analyzed how Endrick behaves in the box and his scoring abilities, which are the main reasons why he’s been chased by some of the top teams in the world. In the following sections, we’ll focus on other aspects of his game.

Contribution Outside The Box

Even if his main contribution comes from his finishing, Endrick can also produce things and play outside the box.

First of all, he has the physicality to receive the ball with his back to the goal, protect it until his teammates arrive, and even turn and progress himself.

He combines his good first touch with his ability to hold the ball effectively, creating time and space for his team.

Endrick’s physical dominance in youth football means he’s fouled very often, which is another good contribution as he generates opportunities to attack from set-pieces.

Given his age, he’s expected to continue developing and shouldn’t have problems translating this into senior football.

The following graph shows all the fouls Endrick received in his last ten games.

Regarding his passing quality, Endrick has shown promising signs.

His dribbling ability and scoring instinct make rivals press him as quickly as possible, and he uses that to his advantage, attracting them before releasing the ball to a better-positioned teammate.

He also likes to penetrate the rival defence with quick combinations.

His speed over short distances is phenomenal, and it allows him to leave rivals behind with one-twos.

Once he passes the ball, his teammates know he’ll get into the box, so they don’t need to think a lot to give the ball back to him, and his acceleration does the rest.

Let’s see some examples of his passing ability and combinations.

In the first one, Endrick receives with his back to the goal and gets past the defender with a backheel flick to run towards the goal.

As soon as two rivals focus on him, he passes the ball into his teammate’s run, who gets into the box unmarked.

The next one shows his tendency to play quickly and with quality at the edge of the box again.

He receives the ball from a midfielder and again uses his skill to make a backheel pass to his teammate.

Immediately after the pass, he runs in behind the rival and reacts and turns, ready to receive the ball again.

But Endrick also has the quality to be the assisting part in these combinations.

In the next play, he receives the ball from a running teammate and, with a very nice first-touch flick using the outside of his left foot, he gives the ball back, creating an excellent scoring opportunity.

Another aspect of Endrick’s game that stands out is his ball-carrying ability.

Playing in a very advanced position, he doesn’t have the chance to show it too often, but his explosiveness, strength in duels, and dribbling skills make him an almost unstoppable player once he’s on the move.

Endrick exploits his running ability on the ball mainly in counterattacks.

His good work ethic means he’s often deep in the defensive phase, so he can receive the ball there, dribble past several rivals, and progress by himself.

He also demonstrates his speed on the ball when rivals play with a high defensive line, and he receives passes in behind the far goal.

In these situations, he’s very difficult to catch, and even rivals who are off the ball struggle to reach his speed.

Next, we have a good example of how Endrick can escape pressure and establish his team in the opposition half with his running power and dribbling ability.

He receives the ball wide in his own half and gets past the first player, entering the opposition half with ease, utilizing his acceleration.

Once there, two rivals have to foul him very hard to stop him.

Here, he also shows his determination as he could have stopped after the first foul, but senses he can still progress more.

As a negative aspect, Endrick tends to showboat in unnecessary situations and provoke rivals with his skills, especially when he’s winning.

While this contributes to the spectacle and is very common in Brazil, with PSG’s Neymar being a clear example, Endrick could choose better moments to showboat, combining spectacle and effectiveness.

The following screenshot is a good example.

With Palmeiras winning 3-0 in the final of the Copinha, Endrick attempts a senseless rainbow flick that infuriates his rival.

Not that attempting it is bad, but this time the rival wasn’t even pressing him, so it’s completely useless.

Endrick is a spectacular player who primarily contributes in the box but can also play outside it, thanks to his directness, technique, and speed.

In the last section of the

Defensive Work

Despite being his team’s star, Endrick doesn’t give up defensive responsibilities and shows a great work rate.

There’s still something childish about him when he defends, but in a positive way, as he really tries to recover the ball and doesn’t just cover his shadow.

His speed allows him to challenge rivals before they can control the situation, and he’s also strong in duels, so he has everything to be a good pressing forward.

The following map shows Endrick’s defensive actions in his almost 300 minutes in this season’s Copinha.

The dots are defensive duels (blue if successful), and the triangles are interceptions.

We see Endrick has been a very effective presser, recovering up to 11 balls in the opposition half, and lots of them very close to the box.

But he’s also a hard-working striker who will track back and defend in his half if his team requires that.

The defensive duels Endrick wins in the middle and first third are primarily because of his ability to catch rival midfielders off guard and press them from behind.

He’s very intelligent in these actions and combines them very well with his qualities in counterattacks so that he can transform a rival attack into a scoring opportunity for his team quite easily.

Conclusion

At 15, it’s difficult to say where Endrick will end up in three years when he’ll be allowed to sign a professional contract anywhere in the world.

Even if he doesn’t develop any further, which is unlikely given his age, his current physical abilities would make him an exciting player at the senior level.

He also has the technical proficiency one expects from Brazilian forwards and the scoring instinct of the best strikers the country has produced.

Any team that reaches an agreement with him will surely invest in having someone close to him, overseeing his development, lifestyle, and environment to ensure he’s ready for the big step when he turns 18 on 21 July 2024.

If everything goes well, he could reach that date with a handful of senior appearances and goals in the Brazilian Serie A, ready to make it at the highest level.