Enzo Fernández is probably a name few of you are familiar with unless you are a South American reader.
That looks like it could change this summer with Real Madrid, AC Milan, Manchester City and Manchester United all reportedly interested in the River Plate midfielder.
At 21, Fernandez has played little first-team football, but despite this, he is drawing the attention of Europe’s elite.
He could join his teammate Julian Alvarez, who is departing Argentina this summer.
South America has always provided a wealth of talent for the richer European clubs to acquire, and some of the hottest talents in world football started their careers there.
Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Darwin Nunez have trodden the path of starting out in South American leagues, achieving first-team minutes, and then embarking on a move to European football.
So far this season in the Copa De Liga Professional and Copa Libertadores, Enzo Fernandez has been performing well, with nine goals and five assists after returning from his loan spell with Defensa y Justicia.
He has also impressed with his overall contribution to River Plate.
This scout report and tactical analysis will examine the skills and attributes Fernandez brings to his team and what attracts so many elite-level clubs.
It will also address any areas that Fernandez needs to improve on if he is going to take the next step at the likes of Real Madrid.
Enzo Fernández Position
Fernandez is a versatile midfielder, best described as a number eight.
He currently plays on the right side of River Plate’s 4-3-3 tactic.
River Plate under Marcelo Gallardo are a tactically versatile team, so Fernandez is comfortable being asked to perform different roles and tasks.
Fernandez is equally effective in and out of possession.
His in-possession contribution is multifaceted. He can get in the box and score goals, but he can also drop deeper and help break down low blocks.
Defensively he excels in interceptions and counter-pressing, which we will look at further in this analysis.
Below is Fernandez’s heat map highlighting the areas and positions on the pitch he regularly takes up.
Enzo Fernández Attacking contribution
With Fernandez adopting a number eight role for River Plate, it requires him to provide the team with various skills in possession.
As mentioned in the introduction, Fernandez has been in great scoring form this season. He can also get himself into the box and put himself in goal-scoring positions.
However, many of Fernandez’s goals have come from penalties and long shots.
Both of these inflate Fernandez’s goal-scoring ability, as scoring long shots from low XG areas is often hard to maintain over a long period.
This means that despite having a good goal-scoring record this season, it may not be the case for the rest of Fernandez’s career.
The below graph shows Fernandez’s xG per 90 at 0.21 and non-penalty goals at 0.16.
Now, Fernandez does like to get forward and take shots, and this does lead to him sometimes scoring some wonderful goals; however, it can also be wasteful.
The shot map below shows Fernandez’s last 75 shots.
As you can see, the majority are outside the box and off-target.
Fernandez needs to iron this out of his game at the next level, as frequently wasting the ball in the final third is inefficient and harmful to the team.
Another aspect of a midfielder’s attacking contribution is their chance creation, something at which Fernandez excels.
In and around the box, Fernandez has great poise and quality to find teammates, creating quality chances.
The data below confirms this, showing how Fernandez performs in assists per 90 and XA per 90.
The data shows us that Fernandez manages 0.16 assists per 90 from an expected assist of 0.11, amongst the sample’s top performers.
Another set of data metrics which can help measure a player’s creative quality is key passes per 90 and smart passes per 90 (a key pass is a pass that leads to a goal-scoring opportunity, and a smart pass is a pass that looks to penetrate the defensive line).
As the data shows above, this is one of Fernandez’s strengths: managing 0.56 key passes per 90 and 1.68 smart passes per 90, which is well above average.
Below shows a couple of examples of Fernandez making these passes.
Here, you can see Fernandez is on the ball.
With the opposition sitting in a deep defensive block, Fernandez picks his head up and plays a pass behind the defensive line for the on-running River Plate attacker.
The pass shows great vision of the game, not only seeing the runner but also identifying the space in the box to play the pass.
Fernandez also manages to execute the pass brilliantly.
The on-running River Plate attacker is brought down in the box for a River Plate penalty.
The next example again demonstrates the quality and composure Fernandez can offer in and around the box.
Julian Alvarez plays the ball infield to Fernandez, who has drifted into a central pocket of space.
After receiving the ball, Fernandez carries it forward towards the edge of the box before slowing down and playing a lofted pass over the opposition’s defensive line for Alvarez, who has made a run off the right side into the box.
Again, Fernandez’s vision to see the pass when the majority of players would play a much simpler pass forward to other River Plate attackers or maybe shoot is impressive.
The pass is also executed with great quality, placing the ball perfectly in front of Alvarez for him to run onto and score.
Another key aspect of Fernandez’s attacking contribution is his ball progression.
Fernandez uses a combination of progressive runs and progressive passes to advance the ball up the field, as you can see from the data below, which shows progressive passes per 90 and progressive runs per 90.
Fernadez makes 10.49 progressive passes per 90 and 1.62 progressive runs per 90, which makes him one of the best ball progressors in the sample.
The following example demonstrates the types of passes Fernandez makes to help progress the ball up the field.
After turning the ball over in their half, Fernandez receives it, instantly picks his head up, and looks to move the ball forward.
He identifies that Alvarez is on the shoulder of the defensive line and plays pass down the line into the space behind the defensive line.
Alvarez manages to gather the ball in the opposition’s final third and now River Plate are in a dangerous area to create an attack thanks to the progressive pass from Fernandez.
Fernandez’s attacking contribution is vast.
He can score goals (maybe not at the same rate in the future) and create chances for his team.
Fernandez also has a great ability to find space and then utilise this space to help create chances or progress the ball up the field, this is reflected in the examples shown.
These attributes are confirmed in both the data and the traditional scouting, as reaffirmed by this section of the scout report.
Enzo Fernández Defensive contribution
Midfielders are required to impact the game not only on the ball but also off it with their defensive skills.
River Plate is known for its counter-pressing, which is a key tactical principle of Marcelo Gallardo’s team.
When losing the ball, the team instantly looks to win it back.
This is an impressive aspect of Fernandez’s game.
The table below shows defensive duels per 90 and defensive duel win percentage, which tells us that Fernandez is above average in both of these metrics.
The ability to engage in a large number of duels and win these duels is an area of Fernandez’s game that will attract the attention of suitors.
A consequence of River Plate’s counter-pressing is that Fernandez regularly recovers the ball in the opposition half.
This will be music to the ears of managers like Pep Guardiola, who likes his teams to press high up the field and look to turn the ball over in the opposition half.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this scout report and tactical analysis has given you a greater insight into Enzo Fernandez and some of the attributes attracting some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
In possession, Fernandez excels with a wide range of passes and qualities that make him one of the most effective players in Argentina.
His quality on the ball is evident and helps us understand why Fernandez is highly regarded.
Off the ball, Fernandez doesn’t quite excel to the same level he does on the ball.
Still, his familiarity with counter-pressing and pressing the opposition high up the field will help him transition to similar styles in Europe while allowing him to impact the game still.
