Evanilson’s scouting report
Meet Evanilson, a rising star in football with a dynamic skill set and tactical prowess. Born on October, 6th 1999, this player from South America has quickly gained attention for his versatility, playing through the middle. Known for technical proficiency, goal-scoring ability, and defensive contributions, Evanilson is poised to make a significant impact in the world of football. Join us as we explore the promising potential of this emerging talent.
Full Name: Evanilson de Lima Barbosa.
Date of Birth: 6th October, 1999.
Age: 24 y/o.
Nationality: Brazil.
Height: 183cm / 6'0.
Position: ST.
Weight: 79kg / 176lb.
Club: Porto.
Explore this scouting report to uncover the nuances of Evanilson’s playing style, delving into his strengths, areas for growth, and the distinctive qualities that set him apart as a coveted prospect. Immerse yourself in the unfolding story of Evanilson, a rising star with the potential to make a significant impact on the global football scene.
His biomechanics…? You know how much attention I put into making sure a player’s physical-profile is covered to perfection with as much detail as possible, therefore, under my guidance, playing related injuries, (and maybe training related injuries), will decrease significantly. Let’s see. Evanilson has great leg muscles, very interesting, good increased front-leg muscle (strong patellar tendos), he has increased width via his gluteus maximus (like Irankunda, who I have previously analysed) to support the rest of his body, he has wide thigh muscles + good springiness capacity via his biceps femoris / his seminembrahosus, and, his upper-body IS good though can be improved (not urgent).
I said about ‘wide thigh muscles’ and ‘good springiness capacity’…? I have analysed his sprints / in-behind movements to answer how exactly he should be running best. I will share my findings below.
This is showing his sprinting in-behind, actually a small diagonal run into the wide right assist-zone. Though, the shot IS NOT the problem here, or, it at-least isn’t what I want to pay attention to. Instead, this part is for bringing reasons, understanding the ‘whys’, into a principle that his sprints mostly ALWAYS follow. What exactly IS that principle…? You see, within my scouting of the player, regardless of his role, I noticed that a high percentage of his sprints would follow the ‘accelerate-to-decelerate’ principle, (without the ball). Though, first, we need to understand exactly what ‘acceleration-to-deceleration’ actually means. What good would sprinting be if you couldn’t quickly change direction to gain an advantage…? Think about animals, does the prey rely on sheer pace to escape the predator? Of course not. It’s too risky. Instead, it is the ability to suddenly change direction that determines survival.
Linking this back into the situation at hand, what good would acceleration be if:
- The opposition’s defence have a clear picture on where he’s going + knowing how to prevent him from scoring?
- The acceleration meant that should he enter a good situation to ‘damage’ the opposition, his step-count would be so poorly regulated that, he won’t be able to control the moment anyway.
So, what can we take away from this section…? What value can we understand about Evanilson’s overall profile? You see, how I would summarise this point, would be that; AS A RESULT of his biomechanics (more importantly the two I reiterated before showing the video), he slows down in the sprint. Though, on the right, his explosion into the sprint is very good (he is primarily right-footed).
24 y/o, he has been at Porto since September 2020. Three years, he was 21 years old when he joined the club.
There are a few muscle injuries, though, I want to focus on the most recent one. September 16th to October 3rd (in the 23/24 season). Those where the dates for his ‘ankle injury’ that would see him miss 17 days and 3 games via that injury. Knowing that this would be involving a joint in the foot, it is logical to suggest that this would effect his running, and, even more uncommon to think if repetition is added in similar areas… Well, the truth is, I would categories him in the ‘Eirling Haaland’ category of CF rather than the ‘Darwin Nunez’ one. (if he isn’t running onto the ball, he can manipulate space for a EOB sitter, though only with a short-to-mid vision for his career). Keep an eye on his availability, if you are interested in the player.
Basically, if we see CFs who can create for EOB sitters as a video game, Mostafa Mohamed (if you remember my analysis on him) is level one as the ‘Eirling Haaland category’, right? Evanilson, would be the level above that, level 1.2. Do you understand…?
Understating a player’s biomechanics is great and something that only a select few can actually do to a good level. Understanding a forwards movements and their capacity to do so is super helpful for profiling them efficiently. Though, how well (if at-all) does Evanilson’s natural instincts align with what we have already established…? You see, he is curving his run on this example, though, in a aggressive / rushed way. He has mostly been pressing OOP in the first line of pressure in Porto’s 4–4–2 structure for that primary phase. There are two roles for the STs in this type of pressing method, I explained exactly that inside of Field Visions (with Guardiola and Unai Emery as a reference), though, for now, does the ‘former’ best align with him or does the ‘latter’ best align with him…? To answer that, I must share his traits with you. He CAN maintain good distance on his passes, he most likely can arrive onto a pivot player to pick-pocket (against a 3–2, 4–2, etc). He can shoot across goal (with his right) or fire shots into the roof-of-the-net as the ST(R) though can be drawn out (against the opposition’s keeper) easily this way…
(What are those two roles? I explained that, in-detail, here).
I want to dedicate a section of this report with talking about the ‘reference points’ that I’ve seen Porto use within my scouting of Evanilson. I think I've said this before, but It’s completely truthful so I'll repeat; FORMATIONS do not exist, they are a LIE. Only reference points are real in this game. You see, how often is it that a team stick with the exact horizontal lines as they are supposed to…? Manchester City, Arsenal, etc… They don’t stick within the boundaries of 3–2–5. That formation isn’t even their overall reference point! Roles and references, not structures and positions.
Porto’s 4–3–3 reference simply places a high(er) emphasis on third-man circulation, though, in this example, Andre Franco is playing as what I would like to call the ‘free drifting third man’, who is mainly responsible for occupying zone-14 (lack of mental abilities to demand / dictate in the second phase, etc)… There is ONE key main impact that this would have on Evanilson. It is that he must run DIAGONALLY to reach the assist-zone(s), with more distance to cover.
Though, with what we know about his sprints / in-behind movements in mind, how can we have him VERTICALLY (straight line) running into the assist-zone(s)…? Porto do this also. You see, the exact thoughts was how Chico Conceicao (wide right) came to my attention almost immediately with Porto’s 4–4–2 reference point for his creative plays. Though, with further attention paid it became clear to me how he did not think like a creator, actually had a lot of ‘traditional winger instincts’ when IP. So, I had to then think why this reference point was on show (over the 4–3–3 one)… And, it is for the EXACT reason that I questioned, well, that is a reason for this system.
‘a good upper-body that can be improved’
This was said in my notes, and also in this report, while I was analysing his biomechanics / his physical-profile. Though, after seeing him as the ST(L) in a 4–2–4 (4–4–2 reference point), I want to make one thing clear, one AOI that he must work on… If he is to play on the left (his ‘weaker’ side), then he must be educated on playing his shoulders into the cut-back in a way where his shoulders end up facing the direction of the pass.
What can we understand from this video? Also, why am I showing this…? I will make that clear, though, first, let’s label the opposition’s OOP as a 5–3 faux defensive base (although their is a 6th defender, though this will make the reviewing process for the purpose of this report a LOT easier)…
Evanilson, in this example, holds the ball up + quickly generates separation, via his right-foot, so that he can feed in an underlapping ‘inside forward’ (from a lateral standing-position), and you can see that he is somewhat successful with doing exactly that. Though, I understand something so, so well about IP players against this type of ‘faux-defensive base’… I commented about it under a recent HT post on X, though it is (simply) about the near-side wide eight wanting to disrupt your usage of the back-foot to prevent those underlaps being fed. So, when under pressure, the underlaps are STILL found, only with a poor weight of pass…? You know that the pressure is a direct factor of this by-the-way, I have told you multiple ‘whys’ already in this report (biomechanics, how he should press, etc).
Why am I showing you this…? Well, believe it or not, this is not a completely unrelated section to the previous. In other words, these last two sections (the one you just read and this one) are both linked to the role that I believe he could really thrive in. He is attempting 2.43 take-ons per90 while only completing 0.97 take-ons per90 (40% success-rate). + 97th percentile for mis-controls with 1.70 per90…
Before I tell you what the role is, let me list some variables that lead me to this viewpoint…
- How he feeds underlaps.
- His weight of pass / best pressing role.
- The lack of a powerful frame for ‘dynamic superiority’ / ‘target-forward’ plays.
- His sprints over a large radius of space.
- His great acceleration.
- And many more, etc.
So, by this point, you probably want to know how exactly I would like for him to be played… Right? Wait, did I say how I would ‘like for him to be played’ rather than ‘how I would profile him’…? Why is that? Let me list some of the cons of him playing with this role. As a professional, who risk-assesses.
- Opportunities for wide right isolation (roof-of-the-net) shots are decreased significantly.
- Cut-backs with his ‘weaker-foot’ (remember when I gave a AOI of his game and how to improve that), + though, the truth is, I would favour ‘touchline retention’ with Evanilson, anyway.
- Lack of real situations to be explosive (back-foot being his weaker foot), educate him on this role being more ‘tactically disciplined’.
Right, okay, now, I will tell you what the role is…
CF and zone-13 symmetrical rotations.
It really isn’t that complicated, essentially, the team’s CF (Gabriel Jesus) and the team’s left-winger (Gabriel Martinelli) will rotate while maintaining the same zonal occupation as before they rotated.
In conclusion, Evanilson emerges as a promising prospect with a versatile skill set that encompasses clinical finishing, intelligent movement off the ball, and adaptability in various attacking roles. His technical proficiency, coupled with a keen eye for goal-scoring opportunities, marks him as a player with significant potential. Field Visions, we are an online educational platform with three main visions. Short-term, mid-term and long-term. Within the first phase, the present day, we have already made serious evolutions with how I teach, though, it is basically, right now, totally authentic explanations into important factors of scouting / exclusive analytical pieces. I will share all my sources there, weather it’s online, books, experience, etc. You, as a would-be scout, would probably really appreciate that.
