Guga – Atletico Mineiro’s gifted ball-playing right-back
Claudio Rodrigues Gomes or ‘Guga’ as he is more affectionately known dreamed of playing for Flamengo as a youngster with Avai before joining Atletico Mineiro in 2018. That dream persisted as it nearly came to fruition a few months ago with former Flamengo manager, Domenec Torrent on the lookout for an attacking right-back. Torrent and Flamengo decided to go with the more experienced Chilean, Mauricio Isla as Guga has continued to develop under Jorge Sampaoli. Spartak Moscow failed to meet Atletico Mineiro’s asking price for the Brazilian in the summer as he will continue to be a sought-after commodity in Brazil as he is one of the most gifted ball-progressing right-backs in South America.
Guga has become so crucial to Atletico Mineiro’s style because of his ability as a ball-playing fullback because Sampaoli has utilized him as a midfielder in 3+2 build-up shape and as a third centre-back as his progressive passing allows his side to break lines and facilitate quick attacking interchanges. He has rarely played as the overlapping fullback but more as an auxiliary midfielder or centre-back, stringing attacking interchanges from deep, regaining possession in the counter-press and trying to create opportunities by lobbing the ball into the box from the half-space to create high quality opportunities.
The 22-year-old will rarely make overlapping runs outside his winger as he is more efficient as an inverted fullback, receiving possession in the half-spaces and wide-areas, allowing his midfield teammates to push into the wide areas or the attacking line to try and thread passing interchanges through the lines or switch the ball to the weak side. In build-up, he will normally maintain a deep fullback position, or he will act as a third centre-back, allowing left-back, Guilherme Arana to push forward as the deep-lying midfielders will not have to drop deep to receive possession instead playing in the midfield line where they can move and wait for the three-chain to circulate the ball and open passing lanes into the midfield line. However, Guga can also fall victim to working ill-timed back-passes as at home to Corinthians, he played a back-pass for the opposition to capitalize and score. In a similar situation against Bahia, he played a back-pass that was latched onto by opposition attacker, Gilberto who beat the keeper and a sliding defender to finish and give his side a 2-1 lead.
He salvaged his performance with attacking ingenuity as he even notched an assist by lobbing a pass to Hyoran who controlled the delivery exquisitely and finished with aplomb. Guga then took up a central position to receive possession and thread a pass in behind to Jefferson Savarino who crossed to Marrony to have his header saved. When Atletico Mineiro are flowing, moving the ball at their pace and tempo, their inverted fullbacks become very crucial in receiving the ball in the central spaces, connecting attacking moves and creating opportunities. Left-back, Arana moved inside to work a pass back to the centre-back who played the ball to Guga who was found in a central position again to send a shot over the crossbar.
When Guga is positioned in a right-sided centre-back position, him and left-back Junior Alonso are the defenders tasked with breaking lines as Guga is gifted at threading the ball through tight lines when the opposition are pressing high as the ball will be circulated to one of the wide centre-backs who will be in space to drive forward and play a pass to the six-space or wide areas as well as playing penetrative passes in between the lines. Guga will be deployed as a right-sided centre-back in the build-up phase but when the ball is moved forward, he will then move into the half-space where he can veer into the wide areas to make really late overlapping runs but most of his influential activity will be in the centre of the pitch. Guga loves to drive the ball forward when he finds space to attract markers before releasing the ball to a teammate in between the lines as he can be effective at working with right-sided midfielder, Alan Franco and Savarino.
Being positioned so high can cause issues when Guga is facing a winger with searing pace as against Botafogo, Luis Henrique was a thorn in his side as the 22-year-old right-back struggled to recover. The fullback prefers to win the ball in the counter-press by pushing forward to make a tackle or interception while he has an innate sense for recovering deflected crosses. However, one of the most impressive facets of his defensive repertoire is his ability to regain possession in aerial duels as he can jump high to hover over his opponent and guide possession to a teammate. Guga is not the most towering or physically imposing fullback so his high-jumping ability is particularly impressive while he is well-versed at defending the wide areas. His body shape will direct opponents to the by-line or to cut-back and pass the ball back as if his marker tries to dribble him, he will nudge them out of possession with his core strength to retrieve possession cleanly.
Guga can also be effective in the build-up phase when he plays as one of two deep-lying midfielders as against Vasco Da Gama, he beat the press when he received possession in the six-space to play a one-touch pass to Eduardo Sasha who played the ball to Alan Franco to receive possession in the nine-space before releasing Savarino whose curled cross was not finished by Keno. Guga also regained possession in the counter-press to play through Sasha who was fouled for a penalty that Guga despatched himself. The right-back also showed his ability at winning the ball in the opposition during the press as he rendered Talles Magno a passenger as he put in an excellent performance against a pacy winger. He tightly marked the 18-year-old, regaining possession when he received the ball as one of Vasco Da Gama’s most important attacking outlets was substituted in the second-half.
In an away match against Corinthians, Guga was deployed as a touch-line hugging and overlapping fullback as former Liverpool and Hertha Berlin midfielder, Allan dropped into the defensive line to create a three-chain. He seemed to have a connection with new Atletico Mineiro signing, Eduardo Vargas as the Chilean received the ball in the left half-space and worked connections with Guga as the two worked clever one-touch passing moves. However, in the second-half, Sampaoli restored Guga to his more natural right-centre-back, inverted midfielder role where his main focus was playing passes through the lines and acting as an auxiliary midfielder while Atletico Mineiro overcame a one goal deficit to win 2-1.
There is doubt over whether Guga could be a fullback for the Brazilian National Team as Tite is intrigued by Palmeiras’ Gabriel Menino who has recently been moved from midfield to right-back at club level as well as International level. This could be due to his size, his penchant for conceding goals with careless back passes as well as the fact that he is not an overlapping fullback in the Dani Alves mould but rather a ball-playing inverted player. He is a player who may need to move abroad to prove his worth as a high-level fullback as Spartak Moscow and Benfica have already shown interest although, left-back, Arana was recently called into the Brazilian squad so Guga may need to continue performing well and bide his time. The 22-year-old could also thrive as a right-sided centre-back in a back three with his mobility, penchant for playing progressive passes to evade pressure and create opportunities as well as his ability to drive the ball into the opposition half when he finds space. His aerial ability and counter-pressing senses would also be crucial in this role as he could tuck inside to regain possession in the opposition half while he would also be adept to defending in the wide areas.
Guga was given his nickname in relation to his resemblance with the Brazilian tennis player as he has become one of the first names on Jorge Sampaoli’s team sheet. There are many ways that the Argentine manager utilizes him as winning a Brasiliero Serie A title would give his Brazilian National Team dreams some credence as the 22-year-old should target the Olympic Squad as a platform. A move to the Portuguese League or La Liga could be crucial for his development as he already has scouts tracking him as if he continues on his current trajectory with his unique skillset for the right-back role, a move should be in the offing for him.
