We have been following the player since his professional debut because of the hype generated from his debut, which is surprising for a defensive midfielder.

He is a player who is just starting out, he only has around 15 professional matches but he was directly followed by the biggest clubs. This is partly linked to his impressive style, swinging his 1m85 (~6’1″) with aggression, and his first very convincing performances at the age of 17 in a Brazilian league which is nevertheless very difficult for young players, contrary to clichés. Physically he is very advanced and his reading of the game is worthy of an experienced player.

Not everything was rosy for him and he had a string of very mediocre matches in September after his good debut. Normal for his age, but we are therefore dealing with a youngster who only has 5-6 good matches under his belt. He is far from ready.

Moscardo plays midfield in a 4-2-3-1, often on the right (see images 1 and 2). Corinthians do not play possession (47%) and above all, they do not press (12.3 PPDA, 2nd highest in Serie A). In France, these are the figures for a team like Toulouse.

This point of pressing is important for Moscardo, because he is a midfielder who has proven himself when he has to defend as a block, waiting for his opponent. He is in great difficulty when he has to go out to chase his opposition and he often loses his mark in this scenario. He is not a player with great explosiveness. Not at all comparable to Ugarte, but a profile that PSG does not possess. Let’s see how he would adapt to the defensive tasks of a possession game.

On the other hand, in terms of destruction of the opponent’s attacks and protection of his box, we are dealing with a player who is already very efficient with a huge number of defensive actions, recovered balls, interceptions, won aerial and ground duels and blocked shots (see image 3).
Sometimes a little excessive in terms of his aggressiveness, a lot of unnecessary mistakes due to uncontrolled commitment.

With the ball at his feet, the most important point is that he does well under pressure and is very available. He is absolutely not afraid to receive the ball in small spaces. He is in the top 20% in progressive runs, in the top 13% in attempted dribbles. These are dribbles to secure possession, not to create an attacking advantage.
He tries a lot of lateral passes but it’s not particularly bad for a 6, this is often the case for players involved early build-up and under pressure. His accuracy is not extraordinary, oscillating around the median depending on the type of pass (see image 4).

Note that he does not contribute much once he arrives in the opposing third of the field. He is a player whose zone of influence goes from his surface to the last 30 meters, no more. Don’t count on him to try lobbing passes over the defense like WZE. It may be linked to the context of his team because he already played higher up the pitch when he was in U17.

Our performance index already puts him in the top 20% of sentinel midfielders in Serie A, and our similarity index tells us that the 2 players from the 5 major leagues with the statistical contribution closest to his this season are Matic and Locatelli . A very good recruit therefore, provided you use him in a favorable context.

His potential is huge because what he does in ball recovery is not normal for an 18-year-old. But you will have to guide his progression carefully, if you start him in an L1 match at PSG in January there is a good chance that he will be lost. He’s not an Ugarte in style, but he’ll probably go at least as high given his talent.

We have pointed out a lot of flaws to present the player to you, but have no doubt, he is one of the biggest Brazilian talents of his generation.

by sept_sept

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