Facundo Medina 2019/20 – scout report

In his first two seasons for Talleres C??rdoba after leaving River Plate, Facundo Medina established himself as one of the best young centre-backs in Superliga. His performances for the La T didnt go unnoticed, and several European clubs started lining up, battling for his signature. This young Argentinians composure, ball-playing ability, and smart defensive plays show that he might be one of the best centre-backs for Argentina in the next decade. In this tactical analysis, I am going to analyse his defending, playmaking abilities, and what makes him one of the best progressive ball carriers from the centre-back spot in Superliga.

Defending

Medinas defending style of play is different from the most centre-backs in the league, he being 511 and having natural quickness allows for the aggressive, risky decisions.

Positioning

Medina is left-footed centre-back, and thus he mainly occupies the left side of the pitch. In the image below you can see his heatmap for this season, and its evident that he occupies the whole defensive third, with an occasional presence in behind the half-way line. The colour indicates how much time Medina has on the ball, and he is indeed the third centre-back in the league in terms of completed passes per game, amounting to 64,38 with 85,01% accuracy.

He is aggressive on the ball and doesnt hesitate to step out of the defensive line to intercept a pass or to put pressure on the receiver. This is a risky way of playing, and you can see in these examples below. The player receives the ball in the central area, and Medina immediately decides to push up and try to get the ball, even though he does it at the cost of leaving another player right behind him.

His agility and speed compensate for his aggressive movements, but not to the full extent. When he puts pressure on the opponent, it becomes vital that he has right body positioning to limit the passing angles through which the opposition can play, and the risk of being outplayed is still high.

In the example below Medina leaves the defensive line after the pass is played to the centre from the player on the wing. The space behind him can be easily exposed if the one-two passing combination manages to go through, and Medina realises this puts his leg up in the right moment and the attempted pass is deflected.