Gabriel Strefezza is a 28-year-old Brazilian winger currently playing well for FC Como 1907, who were promoted to Serie A last season.
In fact, Strefezza has had a rich footballing journey so far.
He started with SPAL and was then loaned out to Juve Stabia and Cremonese.
In 2021, he moved to Lecce, which was also in Serie B, and helped them get promoted to Serie A.
That represents an enriching experience that will serve him in his upcoming footballing adventures.
Strefezza joined Como in January 2024 on a 41-week loan with the obligation to buy, before signing another contract with Como that ends in June 2027.
In this tactical analysis and scout report on one of Serie A’s hidden talented players, we will explore Strefezza’s style of play, attacking, and playmaking traits.
The analysis will also compare Strefezza’s playing style to some of the big teams’ wingers to assess whether he has the talent and numbers needed to be considered at the same level as those wingers and whether he deserves a chance with a top Serie A team.
Who Is Gabriel Strefezza?
Strefezza has mostly been used as a right winger, whether with Lecce or with Como in a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-3-3 formation, as he adapted his abilities to the roles that his position required.
At the same time, Strefezza has also been useful as a left-winger at times with Como.
In fact, Strefezza has the traits needed to play near the main striker and can succeed in such a position, as he is a crucial goalscorer.
However, playing in that position requires moving to a team that plays the 3-5-2 or the 3-4-1-2 formation systematically.
Gabriel Strefezza Heat Map & Positions
The following picture highlights Strefezza’s positioning in general and shows that he is more of a right-winger than anything else, yet he can play wing-back, left-winger, and striker.
In terms of roles, we should stress that Strefezza has always been a crucial penalty taker for most of the teams he played for.
He is a penalty specialist who can contribute a lot from set-pieces, given his excellent shooting accuracy and his goalscoring talent.
Strefezza is also a great dribbler and a very agile player who reminds us of Lorenzo Insigne.
At the same time, his crossing and finishing style resembles that of former Udinese legend Antonio Di Natale.
A combination of Insigne’s dribbling and curved shooting, plus Di Natale’s accurate crossing and crucial finishing, whether in open play or during set-pieces, explains why Strefezza is making a remarkable impact with Como and has the potential to shine elsewhere.
This also means that Strefezza’s mastered roles include crossing from the right wing to eventually make assists, dribbling from the right to cut inside or inside the box before shooting or passing, taking set-pieces, shooting from distance, and defending whenever needed, especially on the right flank.
Gabriel Strefezza Goalscoring Talent
When it comes to goalscoring, Strefezza is an underrated finisher who deserves more opportunities and recognition.
With an xG reaching 0.18, 2.3 shots per match and 0.22 goals per game on average, Strefezza still has a long way to go in order to become one of the most clinical players in Serie A as these numbers are not consistent enough in terms of goalscoring.
That said, we cannot neglect or undermine the fact that Strefezza has some outstanding goalscoring abilities that not all wingers have.
That’s why Strefezza needs to work even harder to showcase this finishing talent more consistently.
Gabriel Strefezza Shooting From Distance
The following goal, for example, highlights the player’s world-class finishing with a shot from distance in a complicated situation.
He received a pass from a corner kick and intended to shoot quickly, with precision, and with power before the trajectory became impossible due to an opponent’s arrival.
Despite that, he was capable of shooting the ball with extreme control of its trajectory and its power.
Gabriel Strefezza Finishing Against Top Teams
Furthermore, he deserves credit for having a strong personality and taking the responsibility to shoot from distance despite facing tougher opponents, such as Napoli, in the following example.
This further confirms that Strefezza is a very dangerous player when it comes to shooting from distance with accuracy.
Thanks to such shots, he has already punished many goalkeepers in Serie A.
Another talent that makes Strefezza a reliable and complete winger is his ability to position himself well inside the final third, whether with or without the ball, as well as his ability to finish second balls and anticipate his opponents in such cases.
Gabriel Strefezza Second Balls Finishing
In the following example, we explore how Strefezza’s dynamism and agility serve his anticipation of what happens around him and, therefore, his opponents’ movements.
During this corner kick, Strefezza ran to provide a passing option to the corner-taker.
As the ball was crossed, Strefezza continued his run and accelerated even more to be first on the second ball.
What was even more impressive in this action was his ability to quickly coordinate his body and score a beautiful goal using a half-volley that made his shot complicated to save.
In the first part of this article, we stressed that Strefezza can be very useful as a second striker if the team changes the formation or if he moves to another club soon.
That is mainly because Strefezza’s movements without the ball, tactical awareness, and quick decision-making in tight spaces make him cope well with the second striker role.
Asking for the ball behind the defensive line and making the necessary movement without the ball to get to the ball, as well as knowing when to protect the ball, when to dribble, and when to pass, makes things easier for Strefezza.
He often shows that he knows how to make the right decision when inside the box.
Moreover, he can be instrumental during counter-attacks as he usually attacks the spa (stopping a promising attack), whether centrally or on the wing, in order to receive the final pass.
His agility makes things even easier for him and his teammates.
He usually provides excellent passing options and does not lose the ball easily or without making an impact.
Gabriel Strefezza Importance In Counter-Attacks
In this counter-attacking example, Strefezza proposes a passing option while running fast towards the box and finishing with a first-time shot using his left foot, knowing that he shoots using both feet and scored several goals with his left foot, including shots from distance.
Gabriel Strefezza Playmaking & Passing
Strefezza can be considered a reliable winger in terms of passing.
He provides 76.3% accurate passes per game, 55.3% accurate long passes, and, more importantly, 46.4% accurate passes to the penalty box.
Although the last statistic can be improved further, Strefezza’s overall passing numbers are good enough.
What he still lacks is taking more risks in terms of passes and providing more dangerous passes per game.
That said, Strefezza can provide accurate crosses from the right wing and has done so very often, offering his teammates suitable goalscoring chances.
His crosses are usually accurate and executed with adequate power to meet the receiver at the right time and help him score easily.
Moreover, Strefezza chooses his destination with attention on each occasion, prioritising crossing to the player who is going to be unmarked as the cross is being executed.
Gabriel Strefezza Crossing Assist
The following assist example highlights Strefezza’s ability to spot the most suitable receiver and wait for his movement without the ball towards the right direction prior to executing the cross.
This is very important to guarantee the cross’s accuracy and efficiency, as some other wingers tend to cross towards the box without calculating their exact destination this much.
That’s one of the things that makes the difference between average wingers and impactful ones.
We should add that Strefezza could have opted for the more obvious option of crossing to the striker.
Yet, he preferred to cross the ball to the player coming from behind as he knew his cross would be more beneficial that way, knowing that the striker was already marked during this action.
Moreover, Strefezza’s crossing during set-pieces and especially corner kicks has greatly benefited both Lecce and Como, as both teams based their corners on his excellent crossing accuracy and his mastery of their trajectories.
We saw him provide many assists from corners previously, which confirms that he is a reliable set-piece taker.
In addition, Strefezza’s ability to deal with a defensive disturbance in tight spaces is remarkable, and the player has already shown that he can create danger when put in such circumstances.
Strefezza often leans to the middle and tries to penetrate and provide a key pass when possible.
These movements that get him out of his position make him even more valuable.
Given his dribbling talent, passing accuracy, and agile movements, he becomes more dangerous whenever he gets closer to the box.
Gabriel Strefezza Penetrations & Change Of Positions
The following action shows a perfect example of this change of position in attack.
In this action, Strefezza cuts inside as soon as he finds the space needed to do so, but he faces intense marking from two defenders in front of him and two other players coming from behind to disturb him and try to intercept the ball.
Nevertheless, Strefezza still succeeds in providing the final pass without overcomplicating things while doing the exact perfect action that should be executed in such a situation: passing towards the empty space in the direction of his unmarked teammate’s run.
Strefezza can become an even more crucial assist-maker if he succeeds in being consistent in terms of key passes.
This would be an excellent way for him to become more impactful at Como and attract more interest from top teams.
Gabriel Strefezza Vs Christian Pulisic & Matteo Politano
To assess Strefezza’s actual numbers and discuss whether he has the level of Serie A’s best teams’ wingers, we thought of comparing his statistics with those of shining right-wingers like Milan’s Christian Pulisic and Napoli’s Matteo Politano.
Gabriel Strefezza Vs Christian Pulisic
There are many similarities between Strefezza and Pulisic.
The most important one is that both players are right-footed and often play as right-wingers, making the comparison fairer.
In fact, Pulisic has way higher goal contribution rates compared to Strefezza.
He is also better in terms of dribbles per 90 and touches inside the box per match.
This means that Strefezza needs to focus further on being involved in the actions inside the box, as that would make him more impactful in terms of goal contribution.
Pulisic also has higher dangerous and progressive passing rates, and Strefezza also has to focus on improving that, given that he has the qualities needed to excel in this regard.
On the other hand, Strefezza is better than Pulisic in terms of positioning, aerial duels won and number of passes per 90.
Although Pulisic has better numbers than Strefezza on many important aspects for a winger, Strefezza is not very distant in terms of statistics and has the potential to get closer to Pulisic’s level soon, especially if he gets the needed support and adequate instructions from the coaching staff.
Gabriel Strefezza Vs Matteo Politano
If we compare Strefezza to Napoli’s Politano, we notice that the gap between both players’ statistics is not so big and that they have numerous similar traits.
Politano is slightly better in terms of positioning, passes per 90, dangerous and progressive passes per match, as he is way better in terms of dribbles per game.
At the same time, Strefezza beats Politano in terms of goal contribution, shots per game, accurate passing, and ability to win aerial duels.
We can argue that Strefezza is not very far from Politano’s level and that he already has the abilities needed to play at a club like Napoli and start getting confidence and playing time progressively to become an impactful big team player.
With the adequate coaching of a world-class head coach like Antonio Conte or Sérgio Conceição, Strefezza can become much more useful in attack, as such big teams and head coaches can quickly improve the small details that can change the careers of talented players like Strefezza.
Conclusion
Gabriel Strefezza is one of Serie A’s underrated wingers who deserves a chance to play at bigger clubs thanks to their hard work, talent and determination.
Strefezza has the talent needed to benefit any team in Serie A, whether those playing to avoid relegation, mid-table teams, or those playing for the top spots.
For the teams playing for the title and for European spots, all that is needed is to work with Strefezza further to increase his goal contribution rates and make him take more risks in terms of passes to become a more crucial player.
