Enzo Cabrera 2023/24: Newell’s Old Boys’ attacking dynamo lighting up Ethnikos Achnas’ scoreboard – scout report

Ethnikos Achnas have been one of the ever-present teams in the Cypriot top flight. They were in the league from the 2008/09 season, consistently finishing in mid-table spots but occasionally flirting with relegation. In the 2022/23 campaign, they tested the waters a little too much and ended up dropping to the second tier after finishing last in the league phase and second from bottom in the relegation playoffs.

Their time in the Second Division was limited to just one season as they rose back up after finishing third, but with fear that they could drop again. However, Ethnikos have surprised many by comfortably finishing clear of the relegation spots, ending the regular season in 10th with 26 points, 14 clear of bottom side Doxa. They have been even more impressive in the relegation playoffs, winning seven and drawing three of their 13 matches so far, increasing optimism for next season.

The driving force for their improved form in the playoffs has been Enzo Cabrera, on loan from Newells Old Boys. Cabrera has scored eight times in these 12 matches after netting as many times in 23 games during the regular season, bringing his tally up to 17 goals in 36 league matches. He has also established an excellent striking partnership with 27-year-old Marios Ilia, who has struck 19 times in 37 matches. The duo have thus contributed to 55.22% of Ethnikos league goals this season.

This scout report will take a look at Cabreras attacking talent by performing some tactical analysis on his positioning and goalscoring, while also taking a look at his fit within tactics deployed by Ethnikos, who are currently under their third manager of the season in Borce Gjurev.

(Note: Stats from before Ethnikos 2-0 win over AEL on May 7.)

Player Profile

At 24, Cabrera is still in the very early stages of his career. The Argentine began his journey with his parent club, Newells, featuring for their U20s and IIs from 2017 to 2020. He broke into the first team in between, playing 13 times in 2018, but only featured in 18 more games between then and 2021, when he was loaned out to Intercity in Spain.

Cabrera played 31 league matches for the Spanish outfit, scoring four goals before returning to Newells at the end of the 2021/22 season. He was loaned out again, this time to Birkirkara in Malta, where football got its first glimpse at his immense talent. The forward scored 17 goals and assisted five more in 30 matches across competitions, including four goals in five Maltese FA Trophy matches to help the team win the tournament for the first time since 2015.

Upon returning to Newells, he was loaned out to Ethnikos Achnas for the ongoing campaign and has continued his hot streak there as well.

A centre-forward by trade, Cabrera undoubtedly spends a lot of his time in and around the box. However, this season, he has also showcased the ability to drop deeper to collect the ball in the half-spaces and help the team progress the ball from the left flank, as his heatmap below suggests.

Dribbling Ability

Before we get to Cabreras incredible goalscoring streak, its important to note that theres a lot more to his game that makes him an incredibly exciting prospect.

For starters, he is a quality dribbler of the ball. Prior to his most recent game, he averaged 2.21 dribbles per 90 with a solid success rate of 45.9%. While his fouls won tally could be higher than the current 1.79 figure, analysis of his in-game dribbling shows that this should increase with time.

The chart below suggests that Cabreras ball-carrying is