From progressing through the Celta Vigo youth set-up and breaking into the first-team, to making 153 La Liga appearances for the Galician club, Brais Méndez has ended his ten-year stay at Balaídos. The local lad was a stalwart at Celta, with his performances earning him four caps for the Spanish national team. His next destination is a step up, joining Real Sociedad under Imanol Alguacil for a reported €15m fee on a six-year deal.
The attacking midfielder arrives in San Sebastián as part of an attacking rebuild. Alongside Takefusa Kubo and Mohamed-Ali Cho, they will replace the departing Adnan Januzaj and Portu, with Méndez expected to be an immediate starter. With last season’s Scandinavian striker duo of Alexander Isak and Alexander Sørloth both underperforming xG and superstar attacker Mikel Oyarzabal still side-lined with his ACL injury, La Real have freshened up their attack after their low-scoring La Liga campaign of just 40 goals.
Alguacil will aim to break into the Champions League places this season, alongside progressing in the Europa League, potentially capitalizing on Sevilla’s lack of defensive reinforcements while overcoming competition from Real Betis and Villarreal.
Under Alguacil, Real Sociedad have a focus on control, with patience in possession but aggression out of possession. In this tactical analysis, presented as a scout report, we will examine how Brais Méndez embodies these principles while discussing his potential role as he seeks to integrate seamlessly into Real Sociedad’s tactics.
Brais Méndez Player profile
Brais Méndez (184cm/6’0”, 76kg/167lbs) is a versatile attacking midfielder capable of playing on the wings and centrally behind the front line. In Celta Vigo’s 4-1-3-2 formation under manager Eduardo Coudet, the Spanish international would be deployed in the midfield line of three. He was often given a role with the freedom to roam at Celta, identifying dangerous spaces to occupy and overload. The 25-year-old is predominantly left-footed with a preference to operate around the right half-space.
During pre-season at Real Sociedad, the new signing has already shown his versatility and adaptability. Last season, La Real mainly deployed variations of a 4-3-3 or a diamond midfield 4-1-2-1-2. His pre-season appearances seem to direct Méndez into the right-sided central midfielder slot, although he can play on the right wing of the 4-3-3.
In the figure below against Athletic Club, Méndez lined up in the central midfielder role with Takefusa Kubo, the new signing from Real Madrid, deployed as the right winger. Last season, Real Sociedad would widen the positioning of their central midfielders to help build-up and horizontally stretch the opposition midfield. With his comfort in the right half-space and in the wide areas, as displayed throughout his Celta career, Méndez is a suitable fit for this build-up strategy. As shown below, Méndez has drifted from the centre towards the right-wing, triggering Kubo to make a run in behind with right-back Andoni Gorosabel in possession.
His experience in the wide areas has improved his effectiveness to retain possession on the wing, although his constant attempts to shift the ball onto his left-foot can make his dribbling quite one-dimensional. From a selection of 147 attacking midfielders, wingers, and attacking full-backs to play over 500 minutes in La Liga in the 2021/22 season, Méndez ranks 86th for dribbles per 90 with 2.99. His dribble success rate of 42.06% is very poor, ranking 137th out of the 147 players.
He has displayed good receiving skills in tight areas, effectiveness between the lines and with pressure from behind, whilst also showing a flair for ball retention, with the roulette turn a go-to move for the Spaniard.
