Name: Iván Fresneda
Club: Real Valladolid CF
Position: RB/RWB/LWB/RCB in a 5
Age: 18 (September 2004)
Height: 1.82m
Overview: Path to the first team and youth career
Iván Fresneda grew up with the ball at his feet. Born in Madrid in 2004, Fresneda played futsal in his younger years, coached by a stringent father. Signing for Madrid at the age of nine, he eventually left in 2014 — to Leganés — citing the need for an upturn in confidence, and a new environment to achieve it. With experience both as a left-back and left-winger in the Leganés youth set-up, Fresneda ultimately made the switch to full-back but has featured across the back-line this season — a comment on his positional versatility and techno-tactical upside. In the summer of 2020, Fresneda was picked up by Valladolid and walked an impressive path straight from the juvenil side to the first team, where he made his debut in the Copa Del Rey as a seventeen-year-old in January 2022. After his league debut off the bench in a loss against Girona in September, Fresneda has become somewhat of bright spot in a Valladolid side that is battling at the bottom end of the table. In January, the Spaniard was linked with moves away, with both of Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal reportedly holding strong interest. At the time of writing, Fresneda has seventeen league appearances, with four coming off the bench. His last performance came in an impressive, home 3–1 routing of Spanish champions, Barcelona.
Below is a preliminary and non-exhaustive scouting report on Iván Fresneda based on six games (Barcelona (H), Atletico Madrid (H), Valencia (A), Mallorca (H), Real Madrid (H) and (A)). Photos (in the form of screenshots) will be used in the aim of painting a clearer picture and supporting analysis and description.
On-Ball Actions in Defence/ Moments of ‘Immediate Defensive Engagement’ (Duelling, Tackling, 1v1s, Stance, Orientation).
- Fresneda boasts a broad frame with powerful quadriceps and wide shoulders but remains reluctant to utilise his body proactively when competing for aerial duels or loose balls on the ground. In these moments, he sometimes directs too much focus towards judging the flight of the ball itself, often at the cost of the sight of his man and thus the optimality of his duelling stance. This phenomenon is accentuated in the case of difficult aerial balls, where Fresneda still struggles to gauge the direction of the ball. Fresneda’s conservative defensive temperament is such that he refrains from entering ground duels overzealously. Nevertheless, this conservatism can breed a lack of intensity, especially in loose ball situations, and he sometimes appears caught in two minds about whether or not to engage. These tendencies will almost certainly be causally related to a lack of experience and opportunity for application at the top level. Despite room for increased physical application in duels, he still normally comes out on top due to his anticipation and frame. Given his impressive physical profile, there is no reason Fresneda cannot become a brilliant dueller in due time.
- On the ground, Fresneda’s tackling technique is decent if inconsistent. He can lack assuredness in his challenges, born out of his conservative defending style. Similar to his duelling technique, he would do well to utilise his frame and power more proactively in tackles. Still yet, his anticipation and tackling radius — a function of his long legs — serve him well in 1v1 situations, with FBref placing him in the 78th percentile for tackles per 90 in La Liga.
- However, Fresneda’s reluctance to commit is as much a comment on this more conservative defending style as it is on hesitancy or complacency. Fresneda purposefully matches the strides of his opposite wide player and is visibly mindful about defending space before challenging the player, a preference that will be appreciated by the top clubs that fight for his signature. In so doing, he ‘covers’ angles, rather than closing them off entirely, a tendency that is aided by his natural ‘legginess’, a physical endowment he exploits by electing to block shooting and crossing angles from wide areas. Despite having only watched six games, I am not surprised to see he ranks in the 90th percentile amongst league full backs for blocks per 90 (according to FBref). Where forwards are particularly adept at snap-shots on the move, or manipulating shooting angles, Fresneda could feasibly struggle, and whereas his tendency to cover angles is helpful out wide, it can prove troublesome in more central areas, where angles are more abundant. There are also moments where Fresneda gets his spatial prioritisation wrong because he is overly conscious about his defending momentum (example below). In this vein, whereas Fresneda possesses various desirable defensive fundamentals, when and where to close down his man appear to be ones that currently elude him. Funnily enough, I got the feeling that Fresneda’s level of intensity was sometimes causally related to the perceived importance of his task. In the Real Madrid (H) game, Fresneda did well to engage Vinicius early on by pushing up onto the Brazilian’s back and making his presence felt, something he rarely inclines to do. Later on in the same game, Fresneda pushes up close to Camavinga but allows him to lay it off and turn, this time reluctant to commit. Camavinga exchanges a give-and-go with Valverde leading the Frenchmen in behind of a flat-footed Fresneda and through on goal, whereafter he assists Benzema. These are issues of applied defensive intensity. (For the Arsenal fans interested, I would not be surprised if the touchline theatrics and instructive approach of a manager like Arteta could be a positive in-game influence on Fresneda (: ).
- Fresneda’s stance and orientation when matched up in 1v1 situations are often effective but remain fundamentally exploitable via trickery. Fresneda’s defensive engagement (distinct from his defensive intensity) is consistent and he frequently alters his orientation to close off crossing and shooting lanes, visibly cognizant of threat. However, further from goal Fresneda disproportionately favours showing his wide player down the line by facing up his hips to the by-line, thereby denying passing and carrying lanes inside. While Fresneda can rely on his pace to match the strides of his man, particularly over long distances, he would do well to jockey between defensive stances. Similarly, closer to goal, Fresneda regularly gives up his back, too readily anticipating that the wide player will carry the ball towards the by-line. In both instances, Fresneda can remove the selectivity of his defensive orientation by lowering his defensive stance, and with it his centre of gravity, to facilitate the task of rotating his hips in accordance with the movement of his opposite player. I believe this is intertwined with his preference to delay defensive actions. Moreover, the Spaniard’s broad build means his hips are wider than most full-backs (and certainly wider than the wingers against whom he is tasked with defending), noticeably compromising his rotary fluidity. Fresneda moves his feet with purpose to adapt his defensive orientation 1v1 but is reluctant to lower his centre of gravity when doing so. As a result, he sometimes gives up his back and has to rely on turning 360°. Even with this as the most glaring hole in Fresneda’s defensive game, it is worth noting that his anticipation and ‘legginess’ often offset this against most wingers not named Vinicius.
Off-Ball Actions in Defence (Pressing/Counterpressing, Box Defending, Anticipation, Positioning, Orientation).
- Fresneda is a willing counterpresser when Valladolid lose the ball high in congested areas. On the rarer occasions where Valladolid meet the opposition build-up high, Fresneda is quick to back up the press. There is every reason to suspect that Fresneda has the requisite engine, work rate, and overall game IQ to be part of a side that presses high. However, his keenness to meet his opposition marker high sometimes does not correspond with the consequent need to initiate a duel or put pressure on the receiver such that the endeavour can look aimless. This ties back in with the issue of defensive intensity and can be remedied with more application and coaching.
- Pacheta’s (that is, Valladolid coach until the 3rd of April, whereafter Pezzolano took charge) sporadic usage of Fresneda as a right centre-back in a back-5 has acquainted the eighteen-year-old with box defending responsibilities. As it stands, the Spaniard is an average box defender, which is unsurprising given his lack of experience playing centre-back as well as his reluctance to utilise his frame and the above-mentioned issue concerning intensity. With that being said, box defending is unlikely to be significant given i) he will likely be profiled as a right-back more so than a wide centre-back (out-of-possession shape) going forward, and ii) high-line defending/backing up the press will present themselves as more immediate tasks than box defending at his next club, which will be a marked step up in terms of level. Where Fresneda is a useful box defender, this is in large part due to his tendency to scan at the appropriate intervals. Fresneda regularly checks his blind side when a cross is due to arrive from the opposite side and rarely loses sight of his runner, even while in motion.
- Fresneda’s defensive anticipation is best highlighted off-ball, where he regularly adapts his positioning in relation latent threat. Fresneda is best in settled defence when situations demand that he defend from out to in; that is to say, when starting from a conventional right-back zone and ‘squeezing’ the pitch to track a central runner (as opposed from in to out, where his intensity can be found wanting when closing a man down). Importantly, the right-back is privy to in-game tactical nuances. For instance, against Barça (H), Fresneda was clearly alive to the threat of league leaders’ habit of making a box midfield. As Pablo Torre inverted into the left half-space, Fresneda regularly followed his man inside to the deny Barcelona central numerical superiority, instructing his right-winger to track Alejandro Baldé into the last line. In this vein, Fresneda appreciates vacate-occupy principles when man-marking duties take him away from wider zones. This notwithstanding, Fresneda still has an imperfect on gauge on defensive prioritisation. In one instance of Torre narrowing, Fresneda elects to follow him inside despite his right-winger’s poor positioning relative to the movement of Baldé, whom Fresneda knows will exploit that space. The result is a clipped ball over the top from Frenkie de Jong into the path of Barça’s left-back. Fresneda’s intensity in defensive intensity in transitional moments might also be improved upon. He regularly finds himself ahead of the ball upon turnovers (through no fault of his own as he is often expected to hold high and wide positions) and his commitment to get back is situational. Overall, however, Fresneda’s positional sense off-ball is sound, possessing a mature conception of impending threat and an appreciation for how and where opposition superiorities are achieved.
- Fresneda proactively adapts his orientation in accordance with perceived threat, evidencing his off-ball defensive engagement. Similar to 1v1 situations, however, Fresneda often exaggerates his orientation — a fact that opposition sides can exploit. In the pictured example below, Fresneda pivots his hips to face the by-line to match the movement of his opposite wide man and turns his back on the inside channel between himself and his left centre-back. An exaggerated orientation such as this prevents him from making interceptions. Further, if a ball were played in behind here, Fresneda would either i) be flat footed and lose his momentum (if he turned clockwise) or, ii) have to turn his back entirely on the ball and its trajectory (if he turned anti-clockwise).
On-ball Actions in Possession (Passing, Ball-Striking, Retention, Ball Manipulation, Orientation)
- Valladolid’s rudimentary build-up is such that their full-backs are positioned to receive in the wide-most channels with very little meaningful staggering to their movement. This is to say that Fresneda often receives in awkward environments that prompt verticalisation (given opposition pressure and the lack of immediate passing options). This being said, Fresneda is a safe passer and prefers short passes to local options, which should bode well in his step up to a possession-based side. There is scope for Fresneda to improve his technical empathy, occasionally guilty of playing an awkward pass to a team-mate, however, this is more a function of the lack of recycling options for Valladolid as well as the right-back’s inclination to maintain possession. Fresneda’s preference for the short pass as well as his comfortability on the rarer occasions he faces play with the ball indicate that he could become fruitful in the first-phase as a right, wide centre-back in possession, even showing an appreciation for passing against the momentum of the opposition press/block when passing passing options permit it. Equally, Fresneda’s tendency as a safe passer has seen him start at left wing-back in the match against Atletico Madrid (H), where he was accessed several time as an outlet via a switch.
- Fresneda’s ball-striking variety means he has a number of passes in his offensive arsenal. Fresneda has an eye for threading both clipped and ground through balls into the channels for a forward to chase, not dissimilar to Ben White or Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deeper chance creation for their respective Premier League teams. Fresneda maintains an upright posture when given time and space, making his passes less telegraphed or prone to interception. When Fresneda has found himself facing play with the ball in deeper wide centre-back zones without the support of a ball-side midfielder, he has used a lofted ball to by-pass build-up altogether and feed a forward in behind. Fresneda can generate both power and whip on his crosses but appears to struggle when trying to balance the two (evidenced by his unfruitful half-space crosses). With enough familiarity, there is no reason to think he could not become a good half-space creator, an increasingly relevant tool in breaking down low blocks.
- While Fresneda certainly prefers to use his right foot, he is moderately ambipedal and can generate force with his left. In part due to the awkward angles at which he is forced to receive on the right hand-side, there are seldom opportunities for him to effectively use his left as he is forced to either i) kill the momentum of the ball with a pass inside (only achievable with a right-footed pass), or ii) step across an opposition forward pressing from RCB → RB, or iii) shield imminently upon reception. The limited sample size of his left wing-back stint against Atletico suggested he can cross with his left but lacks the same ball-striking variety, with two of his crosses too floated.
- Fresneda’s ball retention stands out particularly for his age. The lack of consistent patterns of play in wide progression for Valladolid mean that Fresneda often finds himself pressed with access only to 180°, compensating by playing quick, one-touch passes into the feet of one of his team-mates, located centrally. This is more readily seen in throw-in situations, where Fresneda understands himself to be the local +1 (being the throw-in taker). As Fresneda receives a 1–2 from his throw-in recipient, he often ensures the potential for horizontal connectivity and a switch to the underloaded, opposite side by playing the ball first-time into the free man as the opposition team jumps. The Spaniard also has notably quick feet and is good at sorting them to manoeuvre space openings in wide areas. Fresneda’s opposition manipulation is achieved via feints, which he uses effectively in line with his understanding of opposition momentum. Similarly, whereas we rarely see Fresneda in the first phase, his outings as a right centre-back as part of a five suggested he feels comfortable enough escaping pressure and carrying the ball forwards. He maintains an upright posture and keeps his head up to maximise his potentiality as a passer or carrier. However, he would do well to iron out the tendency of sometimes carrying towards the recipient of his pass before passing, which has the effect of rendering the pass itself redundant congests the recipient’s zone. I would suspect this tendency is in large part due to Valladolid’s lack of coherent in-possession dynamics and the subsequent stress on combination play as a means of chance generation.
- Fresneda is a good and effective ball manipulator, moving the ball to open up more angles where necessary or taking more purposeful directional touches to elude pressure/take on a man. In the game in which he featured as a left wing-back against Atletico Madrid (H), Fresneda trusted his ball and angle manipulation to take on his man and go by-line — something we have come to see from João Cancelo as a right-footed full-back deployed on the left. That
- but very few other, if any,
- might expect to see from João Cancelo off the left but very few, if any other, right-footed full backs, when playing off the left. Fresneda uses his ball manipulation, upright stance and orientation to postpone actions and alter tempo — which he was able to do more effectively in the Atletico game, where he had more angle access from the left. These technical particulars of his skillset mean he could prove a viable depth option as a left-back, who is comfortable high and wide due to his ability to access a variety of passing angles inside and retain posession.
Off-Ball Actions in Possession (Movement, Positioning)
- Fresneda’s running power is one of his biggest sources of threat with his arrival from deeper zones frequently unsettling the structure of opposition blocks. Given Valladolid’s profiles in the forward line, and the lack of ready socio-affective superiority (the on-loan Brugge striker Cyle Larin prefers to play on the shoulder of the defender), there is a marked onus on Fresneda to provide a dynamic option down the right, either via under- or overlapping runs. When Gonzalo Plata features, Valladolid’s left-footed right-winger, this dynamic is easier achieved as the winger prefers to gravitate towards the half-spaces with the ball, from where the wide right channel opens into which Fresneda can burst. However, Fresneda’s eagerness to move and search for a combination immediately after passing, as well as his arrival as a support option, can both be improved upon. Whereas Fresneda’s dynamism works to the advantage of Valladolid more often than not, who lack consistent means of creation, his eagerness to move towards goal when the ball is in the final third prevent him from from becoming a viable recycling or cutback option for his winger. Given that the right-back has been linked to Arsenal, Ben White’s staggered movement down the right flank — at once a timely overlapping threat via runs from deep as Saka fixes his man, and a half-space threat when Arsenal sustain pressure — seems like an apt point of reference. As it is, Fresneda occasionally congests the space of his winger. However, that Valladolid attack down the right 5% more frequently than they do down the left (according to whoscored.com), should be a testament to Fresneda’s threat. Where Fresneda’s preference to combine is most potent is after switches to an underloaded right side after play has been progressed down the left. The right-back is similar to Reece James or Nahuel Molina insofar as they all regularly seek to accelerate tempo by way of inside combination, followed by straight-line running power. Moreover, Fresneda’s intensity improves manifestly in these game-environments, where he demands the ball from his team-mates. Fresneda also has a good eye for making darting runs from deep to the back-post and could be a viable goal threat from deep crosses if more attention is paid to timing his arrival.
- Fresneda’s positional nous translates in attack just as much as it does when defending with the Spaniard regularly scanning to adapt his movement. It should be reinforced that Fresneda’s offensive responsibilities (particularly with regard to spatial occupation) definitively restrict the extent to which he can pose a threat. In the building phases, Valladolid’s full-backs are tasked with receiving in suboptimal locations and game-environments (broadly speaking, as middle third connectors on the touchline because Valladolid can only seem to arrive in the final third via risk-heavy wide combinations, transitions, or balls in-behind). Worse yet, in settled attack, he often finds himself holding width (I’m really trying to ram home that Valladolid are at best tactically elementary and worst tactically moribund). However, in particular instances, the right-back displays promising signs of shadow escaping to present himself as a passing option, as well as an appreciation for the third man, particularly in wide combination, where he is well-versed (see below for both). There is, of course, a lot of room for improvement. Fresneda’s keenness to combine can sometimes prevent him from being a ‘relay’ option in wide areas for recycling purposes (again, see the thread below for reference to the ‘relay’ option). In this vein, Fresneda could learn to stagger his movement so as to arrive in zones at the right time, however, it would be harsh to entirely separate his over-eagerness to attack from the collective temperament of this Valladolid side in general.
Summary and Profiling
- Iván Fresneda profiles as a conventional right-back, with various physical, technical and temperamental aspects to his game that allow him to be deployed in a number of different roles. Defensively, Fresneda is positionally sound and adopts more of a conservative style, prioritising the management of space over dispossessing his man. The defender’s physical robustness, top-end speed, and legginess make him adept both in smaller zones and big spaces. With that being said, Fresneda still has to learn the art of using his frame to initiate contact and force errors. This appears to be intertwined with what is sometimes a relative lack of intensity in the game-environments that demand it; interestingly, however, Fresneda has demonstrated that he can ‘switch it on’, evidenced by his impressive performance at home to Real Madrid, where he was more physical with Vinicius. The strongest aspect of Fresneda’s defensive game as things stand is his closing off of shooting and crossing angles in and around the box, comfortably matching his opposite man’s steps in 1v1 situations. Where his defensive game falls short most significantly is in his stance and orientation; the right-back is too prone to giving up his back in concerted attempts to show his winger the by-line. However, Fresneda’s frame, power, anticipation and positional nous make him a serviceable defender at the top level at the age of eighteen, with every opportunity to become a lock-down full-back.
- In the attacking phases, Fresneda demonstrates various highly sought-after qualities in spite of Valladolid’s relative paucity of principles in possession. The Spaniard’s running power is a useful offensive tool consistently used by Valladolid as a means of chance generation (either directly or indirectly), providing powerful overlapping and underlapping runs to support his wide man. His tendency to initiate inside combination from wide zones remains his most impressive and dangerous skillset at this moment. With improved application with regard to the timing of his movements (when to overlap, when to support and how to arrive in these respective areas), there is every reason to expect him to forge a dynamic relationship with his winger at his next club. Furthermore, Fresneda has a quietly diverse passing range, experimenting (albeit only occasionally) with clipped and lofted balls, as well as weighted through balls to feed his forwards in behind. Importantly, Fresneda possesses a number of transferable traits that herald a more expansive zone of influence in a team that commands more of the ball and boasts more in-possession ideals than Valladolid. The right-back is a safe passer and subtly good at retaining the ball in tight areas by employing feints and manipulating opposition momentum to find the free man or evade pressure. In this vein, Fresneda could fulfil a similar role to Ben White (22/23 season) — a wide centre-back in possession, from where he can look to support attacks upon progression to the final third. Likewise, his ball manipulation allows him to access a variety of different angles when given time and space, which explains his occasional usage as a left wing-back for Valladolid. Given his wider build, I would not expect clubs to foresee using Fresneda to invert ahead of the ball as a pivot in possession, despite apparent murmurings that compare him to Zinchenko. With that being said, Fresneda’s temperament, ball mastery and mature game IQ promise proficiency in central areas, if even in a ‘half-back’ type of role. His upright stance and decent reception orientation also support the notion that his role in the first phase could be expanded upon.
- Lastly, though I feel ill-equipped to adequately assess his mental profile, he appears to come across as both self-aware and driven. His awareness of nuances pertaining to tactical dynamics in-game speaks to a defensive engagement that is impressive for an eighteen year-old who only recently settled as a full-back. He has also commented on how previous managers have helped his development, citing Alex Dorado as the first coach to remark upon his strength running down the wings, and referencing Arteta and Arsenal’s play style as the one he enjoyed watching and playing the most.
A big thank-you to @jdeposicion (Twitter handle) for the relevant biographical information that this article uses.
And @UddhavChauhan4 (again, Twitter handle) for pointing me to the right websites to watch back La Liga games after Footballia crashed (:
