Pedro Vite – Independiente Del Valle’s playmaking prodigy
Businessman, Michell Deller turned the fortunes of Independiente Del Valle when he purchases them with some other investors as he structured a well-laid business model. He purchased the Ecuadorian club with the hope of winning the LigaPro and becoming a training club, developing and purchasing players to sell them. Independiente now have one of the finest academies on the continent replete with pitches, high quality facilities and education facilities that can house approximately 100 students. Former Swansea and current Birmingham winger, Jefferson Montero was signed from Emelec then sold while Gonzalo Plata has begun to thrive at Sporting Lisbon. Pedro Vite is next on the production line after excelling with the Independiente Del Valle U20s and Ecuadorian U17s.
Independiente Del Valle have thrived in the youth Copa Sudemericana and just won the youth Copa Libertadores with a highly talented team with Vite stringing attacking plays together as the Ecuadorians defeated South American giants like River Plate and Flamengo to lift the title. Vite is a throwback South American playmaker, waspish in size and stature but domineering in possession with a left foot that can send raking and accurate distribution across the pitch. The 18-year-old controlled games as he and some of his teammates were head and shoulders above their opponents, controlling games from deep while creating opportunities in the final third.
Vite resembles the exciting playmakers of the past but with modern tactical wrinkles as Independiente utilise a 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 with Vite playing as a free 8, being given a lot of tactical freedom to receive the ball and connect play in all areas of the pitch. He mainly receives possession in the half-spaces to then turn and work through balls into the channels as he has close control to shimmy out of tight spaces, dribbling the ball past gluts of markers to drive the ball into the final third. The youngster who dons the number 10 for Independiente is also comfortable dropping into the six space to use his metronomic distribution as well as his sense of timing space to work a pass for a teammate drive into space and receive the ball to then spread play across the pitch.
Against River Plate, he had a moment where he played the ball back to the keeper before dropping into the six space in between the two River attackers at the top of the box as the keeper played the ball back to him for Vite to swivel to his right towards his nearest marker before flicking the ball past him and driving forward. The weighting of his passing is precise as he can deftly roll passes into the path of teammates for them to control his distribution in stride as even in the deeper areas, he prefers to instigate attacking play by playing passes through the lines.
In build-up, Independiente Del Valle preferred to work sequences with rotating 6s as Marco Angulo would normally hold the six space but Vite would also drop into the six space to receive possession and draw markers allowing his teammate to push higher in between the lines before working passes to him. The Ecuadorian worked a sequence where he dropped deep to receive the ball and layoff to the left-sided centre-back who pushed forward while Vite made a movement under him to receive the ball on the left before pushing forward and working a pass to Angulo who was dropping in between the centre-backs. Angulo then worked a pass back to the left-back who drove forward and dribbled left before playing a pass to the left-back. Vite then moved into the left half-space to receive possession and lay-off for the left sided centre-back who worked a pass to Angulo in between the lines.
Vite is naturally left-footed like most South American playmakers who influence the game with guile and dexterity as the teenager will normally receive the ball with his left foot in the deeper areas, turning past pressure and distributing the ball with his stronger foot. He can work impudent chips for attackers running in behind or ping the ball across the field with unerring accuracy using the outside of his left boot. Vite excels in the six-space, half-spaces as well as the ten space where he can move into areas unmarked to receive possession and bring the game to his pace. He can play faster moves with one-touch passes in the pockets to string play together before working a through ball into runners in the channels.
He can also slow the game down, receiving possession in the pockets, rolling the ball back before releasing a teammate with a through ball or switch ball to a winger in space. This may get him into trouble at times where he can dribble in congested areas and lose possession. The reason Vite’s mastery is influential in so many areas is because he is a genius in space where he can drive the ball at the opposition defence and unlock holes with peerless vision and precise passing.
Watching him orchestrate moves in the second-half of a 5-0 thrashing of Wilstermann where he accrued two assists was poetry in motion. The first, he was on the deeper areas and worked a pass in between the lines for a teammate to flick the ball back to him in stride as he drove into the opposition half after guiding the ball with his chest as he laid a pass into Angulo to strike past the keeper from outside the box. For the second, he won possession in the opposition half during the counter-press to thread a pass through to a teammate on the left who finished at the near post.
Despite being strongly left-footed, Vite is comfortable receiving the ball and passing with his right foot. Against River Plate, he had a moment where he drove forward from the top of his own box as he was in the right half-space as he chipped the ball to a teammate in behind on the flank with the inside of his right boot. At times in the ten space, he will let the ball roll across his body to switch the ball onto the right flank with his right boot. With Independiente Del Valle focused on promoting youngsters and the U20 Coach Solano Yuri, now interim coach of the B team, Vite was bound to train and earn minutes with the first team before the COVID 19 pandemic.
Vite has shone with the Ecuadorian youth teams, scoring goals in regional South American tournaments as well as the U17 World Cup gaining more attention. At the moment, he is in a system that is built for his development and success at Independiente Del Valle or he could earn a move to one of the smaller European Leagues or to one of the MLS upstarts. The 18-year-old would be able to play as a deeper-lying playmaking 8, a free 8 or an attacking midfielder as he has the natural talent to be a star in a few years. Ecuador is on the brink of a renaissance with the Independiente Del Valle youngster filling the youth team squads as players like Vite could be the future of the country.
