Real Madrid and their connection with Brazilian footballers are well known. Legends like Didi, Ronaldo Nazario, Roberto Carlos, Robinho, Marcelo, Kaka, and Casemiro were part of the Galacticos, who graced the legendary all-white jersey. Such a youngster who joined as a 16-year-old boy from Flamengo in Brasil is Vinicius Junior.
As per the International player transfer rule, Vini was registered as an official Real Madrid player as after turning 18, as he flew from Brazil to complete contractual obligations.
We will dive deep into Vini’s past before we look at his last season’s stats.
Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior or commonly known as Vinicius Junior or Vini Jr hailed from a poor family. He tried for Futsal in Flamengo in the 2009 season. Given his tender age, he was asked to apply for the same in the upcoming season. However, just like seasonal changes, Vini had a change of heart and he wanted to play football he opted out of joining Futsal and decided to try for football at Flamingo, which he passed with flying colors.
In 2017, he joined the Spanish giants Real Madrid, as per the International transfer law(where players who are 18 years are eligible to play) for a region of 46 million, making him the second-highest player to be sold after Neymar Jr. Another driving force apart from playing Real Madrid, was Cristiano Ronaldo. He idolized him, and he was a driving force for the youngster to land in the Bernabeu.
2021/22
Known for his clean footwork, dribbling skills, beating defenders with his pace, and providing incisive passes inside the box. Vini plays as a left winger. He used to drop deep, to receive the ball in his half. You can find him mostly in the penalty area, drifting inside at times, staying out wide to provide the width. Vini has been a constant menace for the opposition with his constant dribbling, making his way inside the box.
From his seasonal heatmap, we can see that Vini has terrorized defenses down the left wing. The one where it’s bright burning yellow is where he made most actions in the form of passes, dribbles, and taking on defenders.
We will Dissect his Passes
- Normal Passes
- Ball Progression
- Dribbles Made
- Pass Clusters
- Assists
Normal Passes: Vini has made a total of 2389 passes, where his majority of passes were short. He attempted 755 short passes. He has made 25.26 passes per 90, which puts him into the 94 percentile. He exchanges short passes while progressing inside the box. He made 22.62 passes per 90, which puts him in the 93 percentile.
From the heatmap, we can see that his passes are down the left wing. His passes are mostly inside the box.
We have compared him to players from the top 5 League when it comes to passes made to the danger zone(Passes into the penalty box and Key Passes[Passes which create a goal or shot-creating chance]). He falls into the first quartile.
Ball Progression
Vini excels in progressing with the ball at his feet. He made 3.71 progressive passes (A forward pass that attempts to advance a team significantly to the opposition goal).
He excels in progressively carrying(carries that move 10 yards or closer to the ball), as he made 14.25 progressively carrying per 90, which puts him in the 98 percentile.
One other aspect which needs to be looked into is the distance covered while progressively carrying the ball(total yards a player moves with the ball to the opposition defense through dribbling). He has covered 363.95 distances per 90, which puts him in the 98 percentile.
He has received progressive passes from mostly the defenders to progressively carry out the ball or pass it to opponents. He has received 10.57 passes per 90, which puts him in the 97 percentile.
From the heatmap, we can see his ball progression. All of them came on the left side of the pitch.
Looking at his visualization, we can see that he ranks in the first quartile along with Messi and Neymar.
3) Dribbles Made
Vini excels in dribbling past the opponents. Taking them on one vs one situations and beating them at ease. He has attempted 7.53 dribbles per 90, which puts him into the 99 percentile. He completed 3.38 dribbles per 90, which puts him in the 94 percentile.
From the visualisation, we have compared him with forward-midfielders from the top 5 League. He falls inside the top quartile, behind Jeremy Doku and other few players.
4) Pass Clusters
A cluster is a way of telling as to where the player has made the majority of his passes. Looking at his pass clusters, in cluster 1 we can see that he has made a total of 1283 completed passes, concentrated on the left side of the pitch.
In the second cluster, we can see that his passes are concentrated in the attacking third and inside the penalty box. He made a total of 953 passes.
In the third cluster are the rest of his passes. The rest of them was distributed all over the pitch, i.e down the middle and the right side. He made a total of 330 passes.
Assists
Vini had 10 assists to his name. He made 0.33 assists per 90, which puts him in the 95 percentile. He created 13 big chances for his team to score a goal.
From the heatmap, we can see that his assists are mostly inside the penalty area.
Other metrics to be considered are:
- Carries
- Touches made
- Carries
Vini excels in carrying the ball into the final third and inside the penalty box. From the visualization, we can see that he ranks head and shoulder above the rest of the players in carrying the ball, which puts him in the top quartile. He made 3.88 carries per 90, which puts him in the 97 percentile, and he made 3.38 carries to the penalty area, putting him in the 98 percentile.
Touches Made
Vini Jr has made most of his touches in the attacking third and inside the penalty box. He has made a total of 1232 touches in the attacking third.He made 41.22 touches per 90,putting him to whoppong 98 percentile. Compared to that he made 273 touches inside the penalty box, making 9.13 touches per 90, putting him in the 98 percentile.
From the touchmap, we can see that he made touches all over the left side of the pitch. But his most touches were concentrated in the attacking third and inside the penalty box.
Looking at his dashboard, we can see his passes and touches made.
Goals Scored
Vini scored 2,3,3 goals in his previous seasons while playing for the Los Blancos. Last season, he erupted by showing his true potential by bagging 17 goals. Out of 80 shots that he made, 16 were inside the box, and 1 was outside the box. Even though he missed 11 big chances to extend his goal tally, he had scored decently enough. He scored 0.5 goals per 90.He had 1.2 shots which were on target per 90. His goal scoring exploits sees him put to 95 percentile.
From the heatmap, we can see that his goals are from the left side of the pitch.
Vini had a blast,scoring 17 goals, and having 10 assists to his name. He was the only goalscorer in the recently concluded UCL final in which Real Madrid won.
From the visualization, comparing Vini to Forward Midfielders he ranks in the top quartile.
From the scout report, we can see that Vini excels in everything. He ranks 95 percentile and above in all the metrics, bar total shots were taken. It goes on to show how far Vini has come.
Verdict
It’s frightening to see how far Vini has come. While he initially struggled, he will be looking to justify his huge price tag. The pacey tricky attacker is looking to own his left wing.
It’s frightening to see that Vini is only 22 years old. He has time to perfect his game, and become one of the most lethal attackers in the world — if he isn’t already. Watch this space as the boy from Sao Goncalo dazzles the world with his trickery and pace.
