David Ayala – Estudiantes’ Defensive Midfield Prodigy
The Ayala family are filled with eight siblings as two of them ply their trade for Estudiantes La Plata as they could become the club’s second family after three generations of the Veron family donned the famous red and white of the Argentine side. Andres and David have three younger brothers as 18-year-old, David has become one of the most highly regarded defensive midfielders in Argentine football. His childhood was filled with football while he took the time to gain insight from Javier Mascherano when he returned to the club. Ayala would constantly seek advice from his elder counterpart on the deep-lying midfield position while Mascherano would develop an affinity and high regard for the youngster.
The family are natives of Berazategui in the Barrio Maritimo, 33 kilometres away from the city of La Plata as although Ayala has become a weekly starter for his side, he rarely gets stopped for autographs and photos when he is walking around his hometown. However, if his career continues on this trajectory, he will not only become a known entity in La Plata and his neighbourhood but all over the world as he has established himself as a defensive midfield prodigy. Ayala meshes his history in youth football as a more offensive midfielder with a willingness to participate in the defensive side of the game, making strong challenges and interceptions to regain possession for his side in his own half. David’s dream is to become a pillar of the Estudiantes side with his brother as he is accruing interest from abroad.
On 9th December 2019, he made his debut against Argentinos Juniors as his more experienced teammates in Mariano Andujar and Gaston Fernandez told him to play a simple game as they knew that it would be the first of many. His family and other siblings sacrificed for him and his brother to pursue their football careers as they played at school, in the neighbourhood while their mother challenged them to make balls out of paper and play indoors. Ayala prefers a simple life and is very family orientated as he loves to drink mate, talk with his parents and play with his brothers as his family is a fundamental pillar in his life that guide and supports him.
The 18-year-old is a tremendous ball-carrier and dribbler from the deeper areas as at home to San Lorenzo, he received possession in the six-space by allowing the ball to roll across his body to skip past one marker before threading a pass to a teammate in between the lines. Ayala has a low centre of gravity which allows him to twist and turn out of tight spaces while executing sudden changes of direction to glide past opponents and drive the ball forward from the deeper areas. Ayala would regain possession by having the anticipation to notice that the ball would be played to a midfielder in his zone, so the teenager pushed up to make the challenge and poke the ball away from the opposition midfielder.
The left footed deep-lying playmaker would then receive possession from the right flank with a striker pressing him from his left while two players were closing him down from his centre and his right side as the 18-year-old allowed the ball to roll to his left foot before cutting back to his right that not only the striker slid past him but the attacker pressing him from the centre as well for Ayala to create some space for himself to push up and spread the ball into the wide areas. One of Ayala’s favoured manoeuvres in regaining possession is positioning himself in between the opposition player and the ball to regain possession while usurping control of possession. At times, this could lead to clean challenges, but stricter referees have penalized him for obstruction as he can concede free-kicks with this manoeuvre.
Early in the second half, he regained possession from an opposition corner as he drove the ball into the wide areas to be hemmed into tight spaces by opposition players before he nonchalantly spun past his marker to drive the ball forward and play the ball to the winger. In a 1-1 draw with Racing Club, Ayala started the game by lunging into two well-timed tackles before he received possession under pressure to execute one of his trademark nonchalant spins to beat his marker and set his side on a breaking situation with a phenomenal progressive pass. He would continue to twist and turn away from markers as he evaded three markers to drive the ball to the right flank before cutting past another marker to win a foul.
His confidence in possession has the possibilities of getting him into trouble but he is so quick at swivelling away from pressure or forcing an opposition player to foul him if he finds himself in trouble. The 18-year-old’s distribution could also lead to his side creating opportunities as he played a lovely pass in between the lines for the ball to be spread to the wide areas for a cross as Estudiantes had nobody in the box to apply the finishing touch. Despite his immense potential on the ball, the youngster rarely shirks a challenge out of possession as his positioning is sound as he regularly makes clever interceptions. He would regain possession to play the ball back to the keeper before receiving possession again to hold the ball for a second to attract pressure before flicking the ball into the next line with his weaker left foot.
In the second-half, the 18-year-old would demand possession again, allowing the ball to roll across his body to his left foot before playing a fantastic pass to Ivan Erquiaga to get in behind and cross to find Leandro Diaz for a glancing header at the near post as the striker was unable to redirect the cross at goal. The only time Ayala seemed phased is in one rash challenge he made but he still managed to get the ball as in another situation he cleverly slid across to intercept a pass and lob a ball forward for the right winger to establish a counter-attack. Away to Velez Sarsfield, he would use an immaculate first touch to control a high drilled ball from an opposition midfielder to execute an interception before threading a pass through to Diego Garcia on the left flank as the Uruguayan was tackled after he tried to cut inside.
Ayala has the ability to stretch opposition sides when he drops into the six-space to receive possession, swivel and play defence splitting passes forward to instigate attacking moves. Against Velez, he received possession with a striker pressing the space behind him to take his first touch with his weaker right foot to push the ball backwards before scanning and threading a pass to the flank. He would then regain possession using his manoeuvre after an opposition attacker’s first touch from a cross was heavy for Ayala to use his body to regain possession and drive the ball forward. The 18-year-old would follow this up by controlling a high ball with his chest to redirect possession away from his marker to play the ball into the centre before winning a brilliant tackle to send his side on the counter.
The 18-year-old demanded possession from a kick-off to thread a pass to Garcia who lobbed a pass for 17-year-old Dario Sarmiento to have a 1v1 on the flanks. In the second-half, the 18-year-old would lunge to intercept a lobbed pass before swivelling away from an attacker and holding possession to spread the ball to his left-back. He would regain possession with another well-timed lunge to drive the ball away from his marker and into the centre of the pitch as the central striker was dropping deep to press him as Ayala found Garcia with a brilliant line-breaking pass to instigate a counter-attacking move. He would instigate another attacking move by finding Garcia in between the lines again with a one-touch pass on the half-turn as his progressive passing is exceptional. He would regain possession again by tracking his marker into the opposition half and man-marking him before a ball was played to him for Ayala to regain possession in the opposition half with his left foot.
Estudiantes would change coaches after the season after appointing Ricardo Zielinski who would alter the 4-1-4-1 which allowed Ayala to act as the solitary pivote at the base of midfield for a 4-4-2 where the 18-year-old would be forced to shoulder both attacking and defensive responsibilities in midfield. However, against Godoy Cruz, he would drop in between the centre-backs to receive possession and work a wall-pass with his midfield partner before spreading possession to the wide areas. He would continue to shield his defence with valour, making a strong challenge to regain possession at the base of midfield. He struggled to participate in attacking interchanges sometimes pushing forward with little central outlets as he was not as assured defensively, earning a yellow card in the first half before he was taken off.
Ayala will need to work on his longer range passing, in particular his switch balls to the flanks or sending direct lobs into the forward areas as this is one of the biggest deficiencies in his game. If he plays a longer progressive pass it will more likely be on the ground or on the half-turn where he prefers to drill line-breaking passes. His ability to hold the ball and maintain possession in tight areas is exceptional while his directional first touch as a left footed deep-lying playmaker allows him to let passes from his right roll across his body to beat players or receive possession with the outside of his left boot before swivelling as this allows him to be more press resistant. His talents in possession meshed with his ball-winning ability give him the potential to add to the lineage of great Argentine ‘Number 5s’ while playing at the highest level in Europe.
“The truth is, after sharing the team with him it will be so David Ayala. He is a very good performing midfielder, similar to Fernando [Redondo]. I think it would be perfect for this ball, “said Javier Mascherano last week at a press conference after his announcement as an ambassador for La Liga as he was asked which Argentine player that he would like to see in Spain.
Ayala has the dream of winning titles with Estudiantes as the 18-year-old will progress in a new role with the side as he was one of the team’s better players in the Copa Diego Maradona as his side struggled to score goals. His current contract expires at the end of 2022 as European teams should be taking a look at the teenager who will be turning 19 later this year. With the U20 South American Championships expected to be in the second half of this year, it would be interesting to see Ayala’s positioned in a side well stocked with deep-lying playmakers. He may not have enough Copa Libertadores matches to qualify for a British work permit so Spanish, French and German sides should be looking to sign the youngster for a cut-price fee.
