Lucas Paqueta Scout Report At Lyon 2021/2022: How The Reborn Brazilian Midfielder Has Become The Perfect Partner For Neymar At Copa América – Player Analysis

For all the Rossoneri fans, it must be frustrating watching Lucas Paquetá now.

The 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder, who only registered one goal and three assists in his 44 appearances for AC Milan, has had a fantastic season with Lyon, which earned him a place with his national team in the Copa America 2021.

Despite not playing every match on the group stage, Paquetá enjoyed quality minutes and is now one of the most in-form Brazilian players going into the final against Argentina.

He has contributed one goal in each knock-out stage and reached the decisive match of the Copa América full of confidence.

In this tactical analysis, we’ll look at his role in the Brazilian tactics, his contribution in front of the goal and his partnership with Neymar.

Player Overview And Different Roles

Paquetá is a left-footed offensive midfielder who stands at 180 cm / 5’11’’.

Despite being more talented than physical, he still has a good frame that helps him when shielding the ball, and he’s powerful in the first meters, being capable of dribbling and driving the ball through the rival defence.

He’s dynamic in short distances and likes to pass and move, but doesn’t make very long efforts to run in behind from midfield.

Being an attacking midfielder in the Brazil squad, we can easily imagine some of the characteristics Paquetá has.

He’s very talented, technically gifted and creative to do the unexpected.

He’s also extremely pleasing to watch thanks to his wide technical repertoire and willingness to show his talent.

Regarding his role in Brazil’s tactics, Paquetá can play in different positions in the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 Brazil use.

He can be part of the double pivot, taking responsibility to progress from the back and getting a lot on the ball or play slightly higher, be it as a right central midfielder or as a 10, moving between the lines to receive the ball, drifting wide to let the winger run in behind and get more central and using his passing ability to create chances from there.

If we compare his stats against Peru, when he played as an attacking midfielder, and against Colombia, when he played as a central midfielder, the difference is clear.

We’ll use per 90 stats to compare both games.

In a deeper role against Colombia, Paquetá attempted 75 passes per 90 and completed 97% of them.

He was in charge of distribution and getting the ball into the final third instead of trying to create chances.

Against Peru and in a more advanced role, he just had 45 passes per 90 and completed a much lower 84% of them, but he registered 0.26 xG and 0.64 xA, both stats being zero in the match against Colombia.

His ability to break lines and create dangerous situations is quickly understood when looking at his stats.

Paquetá is fourth in through passes per 90 with 2.02 (right above Lionel Messi) and second in the accuracy of those passes with 42.86% (only behind Neymar).

He also stands third in key passes with 1.44 per 90, only behind Messi and Neymar.

All this translates into 0.62 expected goal contributions per 90, the seventh-highest in the Copa América.

A constant in Paquetá’s game is his ability to win the ball back when he engages in defensive duels.

He uses his strength and hips very well to win duels and dispossess the rival, being the player with the highest percentage of defensive duels won in the tournament with 88.46%.

The map below shows his recoveries in the tournament so far.

In the following sections of this scout report, we’ll analyse further how Paquetá progresses, creates and scores chances for Brazil.

Role In Ball Progression

Given Paquetá’s skill set, he plays an important role when Brazil try to progress into the final third, both as the target of the passes when positioned between the lines and as the creative force that can make that progression happen.