Sergio Gomez’ future lies in midfield
Sergio Gomez was born in Badalona in 2000 and was a standout player for the Espanyol and La Masia youth academies, overcoming injuries to become one of the leading youth players, eventually earning a move to Borussia Dortmund. The German side have adapted their strategy in investing early in young talent in the latter stages of their teens to nurture them in their youth academy in their formative years before they progress to their first-team. Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho and Giovanni Reyna have been the shining lights of this strategy as Gomez struggled to make the final step to the first-team despite starring performances at the U17 World Cup in India in 2018 and the U19 European Championships in 2019.
Gomez has played a variety of positions in his youth as there has always been a debate over whether he should be played out wide or in the centre. People in the know in Germany and Spain have believed that his future lies in the centre, where his fleet of foot and speed of thought could provide creative genius to his team. In his first season of professional football at Huesca, he has shown that his future indeed lies as a central player as he has the intelligence and defensive resolve to even thrive in a deeper role in a classic 4-3-3 formation. He received regular game-time as a substitute at the start of the season before becoming a trusted figure of the starting line-up at the age of 19 as he has grown with experience and confidence.
Last summer, Huesca sought to kick-start the careers of some young talents whose careers had stalled like another La Masia youth product in Jordi Mboula as well as Nigerian, Kelechi Nwakali as neither have had the impact that Gomez has. Huesca’s manager, Michel has chosen to deploy Gomez as a winger with an overlapping fullback and wide-midfielder who will sometimes take wide positions, allowing the youngster to move into the centre to receive possession, work combinations and carve out shooting opportunities. He will still have to defend and press from the wide areas which has added some resolve to his game, but his best touches this season, have come in the centre as it seems that he will thrive if he plays exclusively as a central midfielder in the future.
He has played on the left and right-flank but continues an ongoing trend in football of playing an attacking-player in the half-space of their weaker foot, so they can cut-in from the flank, driving inside with the ball on their stronger foot, allowing them to better shield the ball from defenders as well as work switching opportunities to the opposite flank. As the season has progressed, it has become brutally obvious that Gomez is ill-suited to the wide positions as he does not have the requisite pace and strength to drive defenders to the by-line while he can struggle to manoeuvre out of 1v1s. He will frequently lose possession if he has dribble down the flank, but he will come alive if he has the opportunity to work combinations with teammates and thread balls into the centre.
One of Huesca’s more recent games against Alcorcon was a prime indication of his limitations in the wide areas as he struggled to have an impact on the game, rarely touching the ball while being restricted to the flank. His best two touches of the game came when he backheeled a delivery from the half-space for a teammate to have a shot on goal and when he regained possession in the pressing phase, negating an overload in favour of the opposition by flicking a pass to a teammate while moving into the half-space by receiving possession to cleverly shimmy past his marker and have a shot saved attempting to curl the ball into the keeper’s far post from the edge of the box. He was hauled off immediately after in the 56th minute in what was an uninspired performance.
In his wide position, Gomez has thrived at utilizing the half-spaces, working connections to move into the centre and lob crosses for teammates or create shooting opportunities for himself. He even has the vision to switch passes across to the weak-side changing his side’s point of attack as in the wide areas, he seems to be limited by meagre options as he favours using his low centre of gravity, beguiling turn of pace and sharp change of direction to cut past a defender and drive inside where he seems unencumbered. His dribbling style is not made for driving to the by-line as it is more suited to changing direction to weave past a solitary marker, leaving them on their back-side to shift into the centre where he can open his body and utilize his creativity.
He loves to receive the ball, shift possession to the outside of his left boot allowing him to change direction at pace as he can thread reverse passes into the channels or create shooting opportunities. Against Las Palmas, he had a move he dropped closer to the six-space to receive possession with his right foot, shift the ball to the outside of his left-boot cut past a marker to engineer some space and thread a ball through the lines to a teammate to instigate an attack. He had another situation where he tucked inside during a throw in on the opposite flank to receive the ball in the half-space with his fullback overlapping him to shift towards the flank, rolling the ball under his left boot before working a pass to his fullback who played the ball back for him to cut-back a cross with his right foot.
He yearns to be in the centre as when possession is on the opposite flank, he will tuck inside, even positioning himself in the ten space as in the build-up phase, he will normally be situated in the half-space. His blind-sided movements towards the man in possession to be a passing option are also clever as he is able to find-space, receive possession and arrow a pass to the flank for the fullback to cross into the box. He can also receive the ball on the half-turn to shield possession from a marker and look to thread a through pass for an attacker and create opportunities for his team. The 19-year-old receives possession and plays the pass before the creation of the opportunity while also having the vision to create an opportunity for himself.
Gomez could also function in a deeper midfield role as he will frequently shift into the 8 space, underlapping his fullback and wide-midfielder to move closer to the deepest-lying midfielder. Upon receiving possession in the deeper areas, he can turn, and thread passes to teammates in between the lines as his low centre of gravity and quick feet, allow him to twist and turn out of pressure and shield the ball from opponents. The speed at which he changes direction allows him to drive into the opposition half before opening his body and playing a pass to a teammate in between the lines or switch the ball to the opposite flank. As a deeper-lying midfielder, he would ease transition and use his skills to connect the defence and attack with his press resistance, weaving elaborate passing patterns past opposition pressure.
His experience in the wide areas have not been a total lost cause as youngsters his age can only be improved by playing in a variety of positions in the formative years of their career. Even as a central attacking midfielder or free 8, Gomez is clever at moving into the wide areas as he can create opportunities through playing cut-backs to the top of the box. Moving from the centre to the wide areas allows Gomez to receive the ball in space with options to deliver the ball adding another dimension to his game. As a central midfielder, Gomez has the potential to be effective in a wide array of areas across the pitch.
Defensively, Gomez is an astute presser as he is disciplined and efficient in Michel’s pressing strategies as if the ball is shifted to a centre-back or fullback on his flank, he will push up to regain possession or force an opposition back-pass as well as a wider pass. He has also been exceptional at attacking an opponent’s blind-side when he is counter-pressing, rushing back when the ball is lost behind him to nudge an opponent out of possession. He will also rush back to fill his role in his side’s defensive shape, maintaining focus to concentrate on his marking responsibility and pressing triggers.
His future is up in the air as this month, German media stated that Borussia Dortmund were willing to sell him while the media in Spain have stated the opposite as well as the fact that Huesca would like to loan him for another year, especially as they have won promotion to La Liga as that would be beneficial for him. He only has a year left on his Borussia Dortmund contract that expires in 2021. It is integral that in his next journey, he begins to play in central midfield as his talents are limited in the wide areas as he could be a cost-effective project for any club willing to sign him for a central role. It is integral to remember that he is only 19, turning 20 in September and has a lot of growth ahead of him. Gomez has finally had a season in professional football where he has been able to build-on youth level potential.
