Name: Alexis Duarte:
Position: Centre-back
Foot: Right-footed
Age: 22 (12 March 2000)
Height: 186cm
Club: Spartak Moscow
Alexis Duarte’s main strength is his amazing acceleration and recovery speed. He makes a lot of quick, short steps in small periods of time and he’s a nighmare for opponents chasing balls into space. Although he doesn’t read the game that well and hasn’t got the greatest timing when closing down and intercepting, his acceleration and ability to stick his leg out quickly make up for it.
His phisique is quite underwhealming, thin body, relatively short, can’t really disbalance and bounces off most opponents. He gets outjumped very often and even when he wins aerial duels, the headers are mostly uncontrolled. He’s very aggressive and tends to not overcommit but still makes a lot of fouls. He has a tendency to slide tackle a lot, but can restart quickly.
When it comes to defending 1v1 situations he occupies the inside path and orientates his body towards the width of the pitch to be able to use his speed.
He isn’t really reactive to his surroundings, no communication or gestures to his defensive line.
Offensive play needs a lot of improvement. He has no vertical tendencies (critical scan, body orientation, backfoot), doesn’t try to create separation when under pressure and his solutions are mostly one touch passes into nowhere. When not under pressure he can deliver some precise long range passes.
He isn’t afraid to carry the ball into midfield but usually panicks when opponents apply pressure. Tends to get creative in 1v1 dribbling by using tricks, but can sometimes just create more trouble for himself.
Duarte signed for Spartak Moscow in January 2023 from Cerro Porteño which will be his first time playing in Europe. On the ball play is the main thing he needs to work on. He’s a solid base for most mid to low level European clubs and could prove himself to be a reliable option in the future.
