Luiz Henrique Scouting Report At Real Betis 2022/2023 – Their New Brazilian Star

After a historic Copa del Rey victory and their best league finish in 17 years, Real Betis have significantly strengthened their squad for the 2022/23 season.

Now, looking to qualify for Champions League football, Manuel Pellegrini has signed three players, three Brazilians, coincidentally.

The most promising, though, is the 21-year-old winger from Fluminense, Luiz Henrique.

The Xerém product attracted the Seville side’s attention with an impressive start to the 2022 season, scoring six and assisting another six goals.

In addition to his goal contributions, Luiz Henrique played a significant role in Fernando Diniz’s entertaining tactics.

For a relatively cheap transfer fee of £7.20m, Real Betis have secured one of the hottest Brazilian prospects.

In this scout report, we will examine every aspect of Luiz Henrique’s playing style, and why the Brazilian is likely to succeed in Europe.

This analysis will assess his characteristics and strengths and consider how the 21-year-old suits Real Betis’ tactics.

Luiz Henrique Positioning

Luiz Henrique is a talented left-footed winger, consistently featuring on the right.

The inverted winger is far from just a skilful winger, though.

While dribbling and flair are key aspects of his game, the Brazilian can play a significant role in and out of possession.

His initial positioning tends to be wide on the right, hugging the touchline.

This positioning maintains width in the attacking structure and maximises his time and space on the ball.

For a player with tremendous skill and speed, this is very important.

However, both in the middle and final third, Luiz Henrique is constantly able to drift inside and get involved in possession.

As we will examine in this analysis, he can do this in various ways, making him extremely dynamic.

This versatility, both in positioning and in resources, makes him a very valuable asset.

Finally, Pellegrini likes to use a 4-2-3-1 at Real Betis.

Similar to Luiz Henrique’s role at Fluminense, the wingers are meant to be extremely fluid.

Essentially, Pellegrini’s front four is consistently rotating and naturally flowing amongst themselves.

Due to his characteristics and the tactics used at Fluminense, Luiz Henrique will have no problem adapting to Pellegrini’s side.

Luiz Henrique Progression

Before examining his contribution in the final third, it is important to understand how he gets involved in possession.

With a significant level of tactical intelligence and dynamic movement, Luiz Henrique can also be an important asset in earlier phases of possession.

Fluminense play with an extremely narrow structure.

While Luiz Henrique naturally prefers to stay on the wide channel, he was still required to support possession in other sections of the pitch.

As seen in his ball progression map below, there is a healthy balance between passes and runs.

Additionally, while the majority of his actions occur on the wing, a significant amount occur in other channels of the pitch.

These actions tend to be a consequence of Flu’s tactics.

As seen in the image below, over half of the team is in that section of the pitch alone, including the opposite—side winger, Luiz Henrique.

The 21-year-old drifts across to receive the ball before playing Jhon Arias wide.

As Pellegrini requires his players to be constantly involved with each other, both in their actions and in their movements, Luiz Henrique will have no trouble adapting to the Chilean’s tactics.

The Carioca also gets involved in the build-up, often performing as an outlet from further up the pitch.

In the instance below, he drifts into the midfield to create an option for his teammate.

This support on the opposite side tends to create numerical superiority as the fullback will rarely follow him inside.

Another example can be used to illustrate this advantage, now with the right-back getting involved.

Against Athletico Paranaense, Luiz Henrique drifts into the midfield to receive the ball without any opposition player near him.

This movement frees up the channel he previously occupied, allowing the right-back to make a run into it.

After he receives the ball, he can turn and play Samuel Xavier into space.

The Carioca’s tactical awareness allows him to be an effective piece in possession, especially on the right side.

Understanding the disadvantages of overcrowding a vertical channel, he moves into the half-space to create a diagonal passing lane.

Diagonal passes are extremely useful in breaking lines and progressing through the zones, and the Brazilian is able to exploit this.

After receiving it in the midfield, Luiz Henrique dribbles further inside before playing Caio Paulista into space on the opposite side.

Through his intelligent movement and technical abilities, he is able to progress the ball from the build-up into the final third.

Luiz Henrique Final third

In the final third, Luiz Henrique has a dynamic contribution.

He is not the best in one specific category.

On the contrary, he can deliver impressive numbers all around.

As seen in the graphic below, when compared to other Série A players, he ranks impressively high in multiple metrics.

His shots per 90 and touches in the penalty area per 90 demonstrate the volume through which he can contribute in the final third.

Additionally, achieving 0.25 goals per 90 for a winger is quite good.

Playmaking-wise, Luiz Henrique is also able to play an incredibly significant role.

His versatility in resources is excellent, as seen in the map below.

In the final third, he can deliver the ball into the penalty area in a few different ways.

While dribbling is perhaps his biggest asset, he is also able to deliver quality balls into the box.

In summary, Luiz Henrique is able to create chances in a variety of ways.

His versatility makes him extremely difficult to defend and an incredible asset to have in possession.

The 21-year-old offers end product both through scoring and assisting while also creating plenty of chances.

Luiz Henrique Dribbling

After examining Luiz Henrique’s characteristics and strengths throughout multiple stages of possession, it is important to understand one of the most important aspects of his game — his dribbling. 

While we have seen his ability to get involved through his movement, passing, and finishing his dribbling is perhaps the strongest aspect of his playing style.

While he certainly has the flair to entertain, he is also incredibly effective and objective with his dribbling.

Below, his dribbling map illustrates not only its effectiveness but also its locations.

Luiz Henrique’s dribbling revolves around the idea of engaging the opposition.

His movements with the ball often aim to manipulate the opposition to get past them.

While his creativity makes him completely unpredictable, it often revolves around this idea.

In the instance below, for example, Luiz Henrique does a body feint to his left side before accelerating to his right.

The speed and fluidity through which he does this make him nearly impossible to defend.

The Carioca is also able to use his other resources, or at least the threat of them, as part of his dribbling.

He is strongly left-footed, and rather than allowing this to become a disadvantage, he exploits it.

Defenders constantly expect him to cut inside to shoot or cross, and Luiz Henrique takes advantage of this.

With a healthy balance between faking and performing these actions, he becomes unpredictable.

When the defender bites, as seen below, he fakes and accelerates down the line.

Now with a shot, he performs the same move.

By threatening to shoot with his left, he gets the defender to throw himself one way.

After the defender is sold, he cuts back to his right foot and accelerates into space.

Finally, his moves also tend to be a reaction to the defender’s actions.

In the example below, he waits for the opposition to attempt a tackle.

After the defender extends his leg, he elegantly megs him and drives into space.

Luiz Henrique Defending

An intelligent defensive system is a key aspect of Pellegrini’s Real Betis.

Luckily, Luiz Henrique has consistently demonstrated an impressive defensive ability and involvement.

In 2022, for example, he averages 4.03 interceptions per 90 and 5.37 recoveries per 90.

For an attacking player, these are relatively high numbers.

His intelligent positioning in both a high and a medium block allows him to eliminate passing lanes as well as close opponents down.

In the map below, his defensive involvement is further illustrated.

Luiz Henrique demonstrates a rare tactical intelligence in the defensive phase, especially in higher blocks.

He can easily compose an organised structure, knowing exactly when to perform specific actions.

In addition to his intelligent positioning, his physical abilities allow him to defend effectively, whether challenging for the ball or closing players down.

In the example below, he is aware of the player checking in from further up the pitch.

Consequently, he holds off on pressing the fullback until he is absolutely sure the ball is being played there.

In doing so, he eliminates a passing option while still closing down the nearest opponent.

Conclusion

In addition to the flair and skill performed on the wing, Luiz Henrique is also an extremely intelligent player.

He is constantly able to get involved in possession and assist in progressing the ball.

Furthermore, in the final third, he can contribute in many different ways.

In addition to important tactical roles, his beautiful yet conscious dribbling makes him a joy to watch.

Finally, his defensive contribution will prove essential in an organised Real Betis team.

Luiz Henrique has a tremendous chance of succeeding in Europe, and for just £7.20m, he will certainly prove to be a bargain.