Analysing Federico Chiesa: A Ride to the Top
After some wonderful seasons at Fiorentina, Federico Chiesa got a well-earned loan move to Juventus. And he’s never looked back since then. Be it the shining star in a dull Juventus team or winning matches at the last moment for his nation, Chiesa has always been in the spotlight since then. And at the age of only 23, he just might be the next big thing!!
Overview:
Name: Federico Chiesa
Date of Birth: 25 October,1997 (23 years)
Team: Juventus (on loan from Fiorentina) / Italy
Position: Wide forward, more comfortable on the right
Foot: Right
Market Value: 66 million Euros (from transfermarkt)
Before we get into the analysis, it’s important to know what type of player he is. Chiesa is essentially a wide forward, who can play on both the flanks and also sometimes in the number 9 position up top. His game is trademarked with dribbles, bursts of speed and runs behind the defense. His finishing ability is quite good too, and combined with his speed, it makes him even more lethal.
Now without further ado, let’s get into the analysis!!
[Note: All the vizzes below have been made with data from the wonderful fbref website, and filtered out for his positional peers with a minimum of 15 90's].
Analysis
1. Attacking Output
Bagging a total of 26 goal contributions (15 goals and 11 assists) last season, Chiesa was one of the most important players in a lacklustre Juventus team.
He has also performed quite good in accordance to his expected goals and assists which can be seen from these solid underlying numbers.
Chiesa takes a lot of shots in front of goal, most of them being very clinical. His finishing in another important asset of him game. In all the matches I’ve watched him play, I have never seen him miss a shot that could’ve been a goal which goes on to tell how clinical he is, despite him not being a traditional forward.
His long-shot ability is also something to look into. For example, this stunner against Atalanta . Watch how he goes away from the defender, buying him some space and ultimately goes on to score. He is never too afraid to shoot, and probably that’s what makes him so good.
Here is another example when playing for Fiorentina. Goes away from the defender, gets some space and shoots without any hesitation.
2. Ability to make runs
His ability to make runs behind the defense is quite extraordinary, timing it as perfect as it could be.
In this example vs Roma, Chiesa anticipates the ball, times his run perfectly, uses his speed to go on and ultimately chip the keeper. However, credit should also be given to that perfectly weighted pass through the defense.
3. Penalty Box Movements
Being very agile, Chiesa is quite a menace in the penalty box too. In this example against Roma, watch how he changes his direction away from the defender at the last moment and slides the ball into the goal with a soft touch.
Chiesa is one of the most mobile and dangerous forwards in the penalty area, as you can see from the viz above, never allowing the defense to switch off for a moment. He is a menace outside the box too, with a high number of crosses in the box. In short, he never allows the defense to rest.
4. Passing and other progressive actions
Although Chiesa may not be a frequent passer ( you can’t really expect that from someone playing in his position!!), his passes are of a high quality, with a large number of key passes. He also has high numbers in terms of passes creating goals or shots.
Chiesa is also a tremendous ball progressor , with large number of carries into the box. Given that he isn’t typically a pass-playing player, his pass receiving numbers are a little low but owing to his pace and runs, he receives quite a number of progressive passes.
5. Dribbling
Now coming to one of the most entertaining aspects of his game, dribbling. Besides being always ready to take on a defender, Chiesa thrives in 1v1 situations as well.
One of his signature moves is isolating a defender and dribbling his way out with a burst of speed, as we can see in the example below in the game against Atalanta (also that is some tremendous hold-up play by Kuluseveski, noticed that aspect of his game quite few times now!!).
6) Defensive Output
Other than his attacking qualities, Chiesa is quite a hardworking forward too. Drops down to intercept passes, tackles for the ball and is ever-ready to counter attack. He is also one of the most hardworking forwards in the final third.
Also something worth mentioning is his ability to steal the ball from the player.
Watch how he literally steals the ball from the defender’s leg and goes on to score. Again, his speed being one of the most valuable assets here.
7) Achilles’ Heel - Heading
Like every other player, Chiesa too has a weak spot, and that being heading. He isn’t much of a aerial threat in the penalty box, something that needs to be worked on.
As you can see from the shot maps above, Chiesa has only one header in the entire Serie A 2020/21 season, which he didn’t even score. If he really wants to reach the greatest heights, his aerial ability has to improve.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Chiesa is, at the young age of only 23, one of the most complete forwards in Europe. Not only is he a player of immense quality and flair, but with him he brings a certain energy and creativity to the game. With the right guidance, he can certainly go on to become one of the footballing greats. A little bit work on his aerial ability, and there’s no stopping him!!
Hope you loved the analysis as much I enjoyed doing it. I’ll be doing more of them from now on, so drop some suggestions either in the comments or in my Twitter. Seeing you guys in my next one, until then….
