Although four matches is a relatively small sample size, some promising players have been breaking through in Brasileirão 2022.
After being relegated in 2020, Coritiba is back in Brazil’s first division with an exciting start to the season.
They won the Paraná state championship and currently sit fifth in Brasileirão.
One of their star players is 21-year-old Igor Paixão.
A product of their academy, he is having a breakthrough season with an impressive attacking output.
Igor has 0.32 goals per 90 and 0.32 assists per 90 in the 2022 season so far.
Although he is right-footed, Paixão plays as an inverted winger on the left wing.
As seen through his numbers, Igor is a threat both passing and scoring-wise.
Additionally, the Brazilian is able to constantly create and get in dangerous areas through his dribbling.
Overall, he is a well-rounded, dynamic talent.
However, Igor is still somewhat raw in areas that require improvement, as we will explore in this analysis.
In this scout report, we will use statistical and tactical analysis to examine Igor Paixão style of play.
More specifically, we will examine his strengths, as well as areas where he needs improvement.
Igor Paixão Positioning
Igor is predominantly right-footed and plays on the left side.
Cutting inside from the left wing, he poses a very dangerous threat in the final third.
As Coritiba progress closer to the opposition goal, Igor will drift more inside.
Many of his goals have come from being in the right place at the right time.
The 21-year-old often enters the box, finding spaces and being effective in the attack.
In earlier phases, Paixão provides width and attacks the depth from the left-hand side.
Although he primarily plays on the left wing, he has occasionally played on the right wing if needed.
Igor Paixão Heat Map & Radar Map
A statistical overview allows us to see how effective Igor Paixão has been in Brasileirão 2022 .
Although only four matches have been played, Coritiba have faced some very strong opposition in Santos, Fluminense, and Atlético Mineiro.
The talented inverted winger has been able to maintain his form from the state championship, averaging impressive numbers in key metrics.
Most notably, the 21-year-old averages 0.9 key passes per 90, 3.38 shots per 90, 0.45 assists per 90, and 7.89 dribbles per 90.
We will now examine these strengths in more detail.
Igor Paixão Finishing Abilities
There is no doubt that goal-scoring is a key part of Igor Paixão’s style of play.
In 2022, he has 0.32 goals per 90 from an xG of 0.33 per 90.
Not only has he consistently produced in the final third, but he is also expected to continue doing so based on the xG model.
Igor has consistently found himself in good positions to finish chances.
This successful output stems from various factors.
While he gets into very good spaces, especially in the box, Igor Paixão finishing is fairly dynamic and effective.
The Brazilian winger’s late equaliser in the Paraná championship illustrates his finishing ability.
Now operating on the right side, he can score a beautiful goal from a very tough angle.
Although taking a shot with such a low-scoring probability is not the best decision, his finishing often allows him to get away with it.
In the box, Igor has also demonstrated great composure.
He is able to capitalise on chances due to his great positioning and movement.
Whether from arriving late or simply holding his run, cutbacks have been very successful for him.
Against Maringá, the 21 year old snatches the winner in a similar fashion.
Playing on the left wing, he slowly drifts inside as the play progresses on the right wing.
As his teammate enters the box, Paixão makes himself available for a cutback cross and finishes with ease by placing it in the far corner.
Despite being short at 167cm, Igor is still able to pose a threat from headers.
He has scored a few headers in his career, usually by losing the defender with his movement.
Against Avaí, he scored the equaliser from a deep cross.
Paixão was able to get off the ground really well, but most importantly lose his defender and jump for the header uncontested.
Although Igor Paixão’s finishing ability is fairly impressive, his shot selection and decision-making must improve.
While his xG per 90 is good and almost exactly the same as his goals per 90, it could be even better.
There are several factors we must consider to gain a deeper understanding of this.
Igor is averaging 2.94 shots per 90 in the current season.
His 15 total shots in the Brasileirão 2022 is the second-highest in the league.
A common characteristic of Brazilian youngsters is the risk-taking and aggressiveness they possess.
While this can certainly be beneficial and desirable, it may lead to poor decision-making, especially when it comes to shooting.
Paixão will take shots from poor locations with a very low xG.
As he takes a lot of shots, these will add up and sometimes mislead his xG figure.
His finishing ability is very good and has allowed him to make up for this, but as he looks to progress to the next level, he should look to improve his shot selection.
Igor Paixão Shot Map
The above shot map of Igor’s illustrates the locations of his shots.
Those on either side of the box have very poor angles and should rarely be taken.
Furthermore, there are far too many shots from very long-distance areas.
Essentially, he should look to compress these shots into the middle section of the box, or the ‘golden zone’.
A notable example of this occurred against Santos.
Igor gets the ball with a lot of time and space just outside the box on the left-hand side.
Despite having five teammates near the goal, he takes a very poor shot into the near post.
In this scenario, a cross would have been the optimal decision rather than shooting.
Another example of his poor decision-making took place just a few minutes later.
Igor advances centrally, just outside the box.
As he gets closer to the goal, Santos’ right-back drifts inside to pressure him.
By doing so, he leaves an incredible amount of space for Coritiba’s players.
The optimal decision in this case would have been to play it wide rather than taking the long-distance shot.
Various instances like this highlight the need for Paixão to improve his decision-making.
Igor Paixão Dribbling Skills
Perhaps Igor’s most notable strength is his dribbling.
In the Brasileirão 2022, the talented winger has the most total dribbles so far at 35.
Additionally, he ranks eighth for dribble success rate, at 65.71%.
Not only does he frequently take players on, but he is also very successful in doing so.
There are several factors and characteristics that contribute to the effectiveness of Paixão’s dribbling.
To begin with, the Coritiba star does not have the most flair.
Rather than performing fancy skills moves, he likes to be very direct and effective with his dribbling.
Igor Paixão dribbling is also dangerous due to quick changes of direction and speed.
His acceleration and reaction allow him to perform these moves with success.
Igor Paixão has a very traditional stop-and-start characteristic to his dribbling.
Similar to Lionel Messi, the Brazilian will constantly change the speed and direction of his dribbling in order to get the defender to react.
This is very effective in sending defenders the wrong way, in addition to getting past them.
Against Atlético Mineiro, he was incredibly successful going up against Mariano.
In this match, Paixão had eight dribbles and was successful in six of them.
One of the first examples took place in the fourth minute during an offensive transition.
The 21-year-old is a very good outlet for Coritiba counterattacks, and this was a prime example of why.
In a 1v1 situation against Mariano, Igor starts to dribble forward.
As Mariano approaches, he quickly stops and does a body feint inside.
Thinking he will cut inside to his preferred right foot, Mariano falls for it.
This quick move allowed Igor to get past Mariano and attack the space behind.
A similar scenario took place 20 minutes later.
This time in the box, the quick stop allowed Igor to get past Mariano once again.
After stopping, he performs body feints to get Mariano in the weakest position.
Once Mariano is flat-footed and unbalanced, Igor quickly accelerates down the line.
Igor’s ball control also allows him to be very effective in his dribbling.
In this situation, he takes two players on at the same time.
With a quick change of direction and tight ball-control, the Coritiba talent cuts between both defenders into a very dangerous space.
Later in the second half, another example took place, once again against Mariano.
In the image, we are able to see how Igor Paixão waits for the perfect moment before knocking the ball down the line.
Mariano attempts to win the ball and has his leg extended.
Igor quickly reacts and puts the ball past him.
After getting past Mariano, Atlético Mineiro’s centre-back provides coverage and closes Igor down.
With a quick touch, he completely stops himself and the ball.
The centre-back does not react and stop fast enough, allowing Paixão to get inside.
Against Santos, Igor took on two defenders again.
In a very similar fashion, the Coritiba talent got in between Santos’ defenders and cut inside.
He pretends to take it down the line and cuts inside before quickly taking another touch in between them.
If the second Santos defender is not careful enough, he could easily commit a foul.
Igor Paixão performs this move relatively often.
Igor Paixão Chance Creation
Another key strength of Igor’s style of play is his passing.
The stereotypical Brazilian winger has tremendous flair yet underwhelming passing abilities.
However, Paixão is the opposite.
Despite his youth, he is very effective and possesses a creative passing ability, which is often overlooked in this type of player.
In Brasileirão 2022, Igor has two assists in four matches.
Across all 2022 competitions, he has averaged 0.32 assists per 90.
Further passing metrics indicate just what a creative player Igor is.
So far, the Coritiba winger has averaged 1.35 smart passes per 90 and 0.9 key passes per 90 in the Brasileirão 2022.
In the final third specifically, the 21 year old is a tremendous creative threat.
As we have seen, his dribbling enables him to enter very dangerous areas, often within the penalty box.
Against Atlético Mineiro, he beats Mariano and is able to find his teammate for the equalising tap-in.
Igor Paixão is able to play the pass in between the opposition player’s legs and just in front of his teammate.
Against Goiás, Igor’s quick change of direction allowed him to get past the defender with ease.
He stops, threatens to cut inside, then takes it further down the line.
After doing so, he has time to pick out a perfect low cross to his teammate near the penalty spot.
Although the goalkeeper saved the shot, it was a very good chance created by Igor.
Igor Paixão’s crosses are also very good, despite not performing them with a high frequency.
This is mainly due to the fact that the Brazilian plays as an inverted winger, making it harder to cross with his right foot.
Playing on the left side allows him to drift inside very often, so passes to the box tend to be much closer and with a higher completion probability.
At any rate, Paixão has displayed an effective and intelligent crossing ability.
Against Santos, for instance, he notices the space in the back post and places it there for the centre-forward.
Although the goalkeeper was able to intercept it, Igor’s intelligence and awareness was on display.
Now against Remo, he performs a very similar cross.
Igor puts it in the back post for the Coritiba centre-forward, who headers it uncontested for a goal.
A good portion of Igor’s assists tends to come from set pieces as well.
He takes corners for Coritiba and is able to play very dangerous balls into the box.
Below is an example where the Brazilian assists his teammate by perfectly finding him in the first post.
Against Atlético, the 21 year old displayed an impressive ability with this pass near halftime.
As Coritiba looked to start a counterattack, Igor Paixão plays an outside-the-foot long ball to the centre-forward.
Not only does he get the perfect curve on it, but he weighs it very well to find his teammate in front of the opposition.
Conclusion
While still raw in some aspects, Igor Paixão is an exciting talent to watch for in the upcoming months.
The talented Coritiba winger was able to carry his form into the Brasileirão and is having a breakthrough 2022 season.
His dribbling and creation are very impressive and effective.
While his shot selection needs improvement, Igor is still able to get into very good positions and score at a high frequency.
Overall, Igor is a very dynamic and exciting talent.
Coming out of a ‘smaller’ club in Brazil, his market value of €800K is relatively low for Igor Paixão potential.
A lesser-known talent, the 21-year-old may prove a bargain to many European or even bigger Brazilian clubs.
