Éder Militão — Player Profile — Express Ride to the Top
Football in Brazil, as many people describe, is a religion, a way of life. As the Pope John Paul II said “Out of all the unimportant things in life, football is the most important”. Éder Militão was born in Sertãozinho, São Paulo, Brazil on January 18, 1998. He was the second of three children and son to Edvaldo, an ex-professional footballer who played for the likes of Atletico Paranaense and Corinthians where he played alongside Rivaldo in 1995. But unlike his father and millions of Brazilians, Eder was not very interested in football as a child. Described as a shy boy, he was very reserved and one of his favorite hobbies, to this day even, was flying kites with his friends. He had no particular interest in playing football let alone make a living out of it. It wasn’t until his father finally convinced him to pursue a career in football that he changed his mind. Militão joined a Brazilian Football academy called ‘Camisa 10’ until finally singing for São Paulo at 14. He played primarily as a defender growing up but through the youth teams he was played in midfield and forward positions which he did not like, until his coaches finally decided that he was better suited in the defensive third.
Growing through the ranks at São Paulo he played as a centre-back and impressed immediately making his debut in May of 2017. A tall, elegant, confident defender with good passing and offering the versatility of being deployed as a defensive midfielder or right-back garnered him a big following in Europe. Clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid were interested in signing him until it was Porto who offered €7M to sign Militão. He moved to the recent Portuguese Champions Porto for the 2018–2019 season where after two months, he quickly established himself as a starting commanding center-back and an important pillar of Porto’s defense alongside Brazilian Felipe. He was quickly called up by Tite for the Brazil National Team in September of 2018 where he debuted against El Salvador in a friendly match. Eder Militão then returned to Porto where he excelled and people took notice immediately. He was named as Liga NOS Defender of the Month 5 months in a row from September to January. He was simply a step above the rest. Mid-season, he was moved from Center-back to right back to accommodate Portuguese Legend Pepe who was returning from an injury. Many disagreed with this decision as, although Militão delivered defensively as a right back, he did not provide much contribution to Portos attack and had a greater impact on the teams performance as a center back.
Militao remained as Porto’s right back for the remainder of the season playing sparingly as a center-back. It was the end of the season and Eder Militao had an extraordinary first season in Europe and every big club came calling. Teams like Bayern Münich, Real Madrid, and Barcelona. He had reportedly held talks with Barcelona but it was Real Madrid who secured the Brazilian for a €50M fee in March of 2019. Militão moved from one professional season at São Paulo, to his second professional season at Porto, to debuting with Brazil’s national team (eventually winning Copa America in the summer of 2019), and then being signed to Real Madrid all in a span of less than three years. The Brazilian was on an unstoppable ride to the top and now that he was there, it was time to prove his ability.
Éder Militão had many different challenges his first season at Real Madrid. First, he had to compete against two world renowned center-backs in Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos for a spot in the starting 11. Although his main goal when he was signed was to provide a good back-up for when either of these two were injured, he was still expected to perform at their level whenever the occasion called upon to do so. Secondly, Real Madrid’s 2018–19 was a season to forget and the pressure was on the entire squad to step up to the standards that a team like Real Madrid demands.
Éder Militão had a quiet first season at Real Madrid where he never quite showed the level he had shown at Porto. He only appeared in 15 league games ending the 2019–2020 season with 20 appearances in all competitions and helping Real Madrid conquer their 34th La Liga title. Militão competed as a decent backup to Ramos and Varane with great attitude, passing, and defending which was primarily shown towards the end of the season with his best game coming at the last game of the season against Manchester City in the Champions League Round of 16. Éder Militão was tasked with replacing the suspended Sergio Ramos in a crucial game at the Etihad where prior to the game in an interview he told newspaper AS “We do not have Ramos, but I am here”.
Although Real Madrid lost the game 2–1 due to two very bad mistakes by Varane, Éder Militão played an extraordinary game where he stepped up and showed his true quality. During his second season at Real Madrid, he again did not receive much game time during the first half of the season but he stepped up and showed promise and quality during the second half. He played a crucial role against Liverpool in the Champions League Quarter Finals where he had to replace injured Sergio Ramos and who he replaced for the rest of the season. The Brazilian ended the season with 14 league appearances and 21 appearances overall. In the current season, Éder is now faced with filling the gaps of Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane and establishing himself alongside David Alaba as Real Madrid’s new center-back duo.
In these three graphs I highlight the areas where Eder has developed and performed the best at this season. One of Eder’s main strengths this season is his passing. He ranks #7 in La Liga among all players in percentage of pass completion and #4 amongst all defenders in La Liga with at least 9 matches played and with a completed percentage of 91.3% per 90 minutes and an average attempted pass per 90 of 58.2 passes per game. Among players with more than 9 games played, Eder Militao is also one of the leading players of La Liga of Long Passes completed (passes that are longer than 30 yards). He is currently sitting at an average of 13 long distance passes per 90 and a completion of 80.8% landing him in the 6th spot among all players in La Liga above players like Casemiro, Alaba, and Mikel Merino. He is currently 4th place among defenders with only Sevilla’s Jules Koundé and Real Sociedad’s duo Robin Le Normand and Aritz Elustondo above the Brazilian. Militão’s presence has been felt in his contribution in passes and has covered the crucial role that Sergio Ramos played in providing long vertical passes to stretch the play down the wings. He has also been noticeable in defensive labors and his dribbling out from the back. He is one of La Liga’s defenders with best successful dribbling percentage with a success of 71.4%. He is also one of the leaders of La Liga with carries from the final third, controlling and carrying the ball an average of 45.8 times per 90 minutes played.
What makes Militão a good defender is his distribution, sense of positioning, and tackles + interceptions. But there are still many areas where he needs to improve. He must work on having a more aerial presence in offense as there have been times where his heading abilities have let him down. Another area where Eder must improve is his concentration for the full 90 minutes. During the current season there have been great games by either Nacho, Alaba or Éder but there seems to be a brief lapse in their concentration where the opposition takes advantage and scores a goal against Real Madrid that could have been avoided. During the current La Liga season Real Madrid have only kept 3 clean sheets out of 12 matches.
Eder Militão has grown into the player that many saw at Porto and with more protagonism, he seems to be able to fill the shoes of club legends like Raphaël Varane. With a rumored contract extension at Real Madrid reportedly on the way, his performances seem to fully warrant it. He has started all of Real Madrid’s games this season and has Ancelotti’s and the Real Madrid faithful’s full backing. He is somebody who appears to step up when asked to, who is not afraid of the responsibility and somebody who actually demands the responsibility and the pressure to perform at his best. Éder is a natural leader in the Real Madrid defense and he seems to be positioned to be part of the back four for a long time. The pressure of succeeding Ramos or Varane has not phased him this season and he seems to be fully prepared for the task. The Brazilian has reached the top and is determined to prove why he has done so.
