Gonzalo Perez – Liverpool Montevideo’s unyielding centre-back
Liverpool Montevideo are at the cutting edge of player development as Uruguay’s shift from developing players with the ‘garra chua’ mentality to developing players with a higher level of technical skill has borne fruit. Montevideo has a cluster of football clubs as the production of high-level youth players who are accruing game-time and thriving at first-team level should make Uruguay one of the key markets in a COVID-19 affected world with teams looking for bargains in world football. At 20, Gonzalo Perez is a commanding ball-playing centre-back who has the uncanny ability to play as a left sided centre-back, despite being right footed, and as a right sided centre-back.
At the back-end of last year, the youngster’s season was derailed by contracting COVID-19 as training at Liverpool Montevideo was cancelled with the squad forced into quarantine for 7 days. At that point of the season, Perez was putting together some high-level displays as a commanding ball-playing centre-back with the physical and anticipatory tools to push up and challenge attackers in the deeper areas of the pitch to regain possession and drive the ball into the opposition half to instigate attacking moves. It is rare that a 20-year-old centre-back has such a well-rounded skillset as he deputized at left centre-back as even though he may not be as comfortable as many naturally left-footed players in progressing possession, he still manages to thread line-breaking passes with his left foot.
Even though, he will have to develop at progressing play with his left foot as he normally takes time to adjust and reset his feet before releasing accurate line-breaking passes, he has become so comfortable at progressing play with his left foot that he even works passes with his weaker foot to evade pressure as a right sided centre-back. Away to River Plate Montevideo, he was playing as a left sided centre-back in a back-three as he moved to the flank to track a marker before hemming him into tight quarters by the touchline to make a clean tackle to regain possession and push forward to lay a pass to a teammate with his left foot. He then received possession from the goalkeeper to allow the ball to roll across his body before threading a pass to Martin Fernandez in the six-space with his weaker left foot to instigate combinations in between the lines.
He then showed a staple of his game that will make him a high-level centre-back, capable of making it at the next level when a pass was lobbed over his head for a striker to nod the ball around him in the box for Perez to calmly shield the ball from his attacker, drive the ball out of the box and work a passing connection. This is a constant in his game as he always shows a remarkable sense of calm when faced with challenging situations in the box, either closing down an opponent to force him to the touchline or making a faultlessly clean challenge to regain possession. The 20-year-old is immensely reliable from crossing situations as he always positions himself well to make an interception before driving the ball out of the box and looking for the best pass to instigate a counter-attacking situation. He does this through constant anticipation and adjustment to his environment and situations in the defensive low block as if a winger is cutting inside, Perez will provide cover for his teammate to block shots or make a tackle in the case of a dribble.
He continued his impressive performance against River Plate when he drove the ball forward with his left foot before switching the ball to his right to play an accurate pass to a teammate in the ten space to lay-off. He then received a pass from the six-space to take his first touch with his left foot to utilize a directional first touch to drive the ball away from an attacker who had a direct pressing angle on him before threading a pass to Hernan Figueredo in the eight space with his stronger right foot for a combination which led to an attacker being played into the channels. River Plate would move the ball to Liverpool’s left flank as a striker was positioned behind Perez in the nine space as the River Plate winger would attempt to work a vertical pass to the nine space for Perez to scan and realise he had a player behind him to push forward and intercept the pass.
That instance was Perez’ ability to sense danger by constantly looking to marshal his zone by consistently assessing his environment before anticipating to make a clever interception in the defensive phase. Towards the end of the first half, Perez would make another clever play of this sort as the opposition had the ball on the same flank for Perez who was goal-side of his marker to shift to the opposite side of his marker before pushing up to make another interception before driving the ball forward and playing a pass into a teammate with his left foot to instigate an attacking move. He would start the second-half by receiving the ball on his right foot before shifting it to his left and threading a pass in between the lines with his left. He would then push up to track his marker as he received possession in between the lines to receive possession as his marker had an errant first touch that Perez latched onto to slide the ball past the attacker with his right foot and thread a pass through the lines.
At home to Danubio in the Uruguayan Primera Division, Perez was excellent in regaining possession while breaking lines with his distribution as a left-sided centre-back. The 20-year-old threaded a fantastic ball through the lines for a teammate to win a foul in the opposition box as the centre-back was the catalyst for his side winning a penalty. In the Copa Sudamericana against Sporting Huancayo, Perez pushed up to regain possession twice and played a fantastic through ball from the left sided centre-back position with his right foot to send his team on the break. Despite playing on the side of his weaker foot, he continued to work fantastic passes in between the lines while Fernandez would lay-off passes to him from the six-space allowing him to drive the ball forward and work passes in between the lines.
Away to Plaza Colonia, he was tremendous in regaining possession while continuing to push up with the ball and distribute possession at a high level as he has started 2021 in his more natural position as a right-sided centre-back. He consistently pushed forward to work passes in between the lines while he was positioned perfectly from an opposition cross to regain possession, drive forward to trade passes with the left back before switching play to the right flank. He then masterfully controlled a high ball before lobbing a pass into midfield as Fabricio Diaz was laying off passes to him from the six-space so the centre-back could push up to work passes in between the lines. Perez was constantly looking to play raking passes through the lines as one of his passes was deflected into the nine space before finding a teammate with a more accurate pass.
He remained undeterred in his distribution and progressive passing despite mistakes as carrying and playing the ball forward is a major facet of his game as modern-day ball-playing defender. However, his ability to be in the right place at the right time from crosses at a defensive standpoint is another interesting facet of his game. He is frequently positioned in the perfect area to repel crosses with his head while in another instance an attacker touched the ball past him in the box, but Perez managed to recover to block the shot at goal. With Liverpool defending deeper in this specific game, his anticipation in regaining possession in the pressing phase was under-utilized but he still managed to win turnovers. Towards the end of the game, he pushed up to get into a battle with a striker to make a clean challenge to regain possession.
Away to Deportivo Maldonado, he moved to the left sided centre-back role in a specific situation to thread a pass through the lines with his left foot. He also made a brilliantly timed challenge to stop a counter-attack as he continued to thread passes to Diaz in the six-space past pressure. He then participated in a build-up sequence where the goalkeeper worked a pass to Diaz to lay-off for Perez to thread a line-breaking pass for the right-sided midfielder to lay-off to the wide areas. In another situation, he showed tremendous awareness as the left sided centre-back Christian Almeida played a back-pass to the goalkeeper as his centre-back partner, 11 years his junior, scanned and saw a striker pushing forward to make an interception. Perez adapted with a directional touch to the left flank to prevent the ball from reaching the keeper as the player was pressing him from the right to turn away from pressure and play a precise lob over pressure to Alan Medina in the nine space to lay-off for Diaz.
He showed his anticipatory skillset again when Diaz laid off a pass to him as an opposition attacker was pushing up to press him from the right flank as Perez angled a pass around him with his left foot to the right-back. He then blocked a cross with his left to switch the ball to his right foot to drive the ball out of the box and work a pass to a deeper-lying striker to facilitate a counter-attack. Perez would receive possession at the halfway-line to drive into the opposition half and thread a pass into a teammate in the ten space. He would then fake like he was driving the ball to the right flank before flicking his hips and working a pass to Diaz in the six-space. The 20-year-old would drive the ball forward again to play another lovely pass through the lines for a midfielder who laid a pass off for Medina before Perez would drive the ball forward, swivel and work a back-pass to Diaz in the six-space.
He continued to show his ability on the ball when he pushed up and waited for an opposition attacker to press him before working a pass through the open space to a teammate. He pushed up again, this time to make a clean challenge in a counter-pressing situation before making a second challenge to regain possession. He continued to drive the ball authoritatively when he threaded a pass for Juan Ignacio Ramirez to drop into the right half-space and lay-off a pass to the flank for a pass in behind. However, it was not all smooth sailing for the centre-back as he tried to shield the ball but was outmuscled by an attacker who drove into the box as Perez attempted a failed lunging sliding tackle as Almeida blocked the opportunity. He immediately restored his confidence after the mistake by driving the ball forward and lobbing a pass for Medina to break on the counter.
He started the second half in the same vain as the first by lobbing a pass over pressure to the right half-space before moving to the right flank to make a clean challenge before being fouled to win a free-kick. The 20-year-old was then tested when a pass was lobbed with him and an opposition attacker charging for the loose ball as it would have been easy to concede a penalty in this situation. He managed to win the ball cleanly before catching his opponent with his back-foot without swinging wildly. His ability to remain calm in most situations is exemplary for a defender his age as it will serve him well once he makes a move to the next level.
At 20, Perez is an immensely well-rounded centre-back as with more training and practice with setting his body to pass with his left foot, he can become a self-taught ambidextrous centre-back who is able to play on both sides which is a rarity in the game. He also has the potential to be an incredible high-line defender with his intelligence and clean tackling ability. He can also defend effectively in deeper block, bringing the same focus and grit to vigilantly covering his zone while defending crosses with impeccable insight. He is as strong in the air as he is on the ground while he is also able to defend quicker players in the wide areas without conceding fouls. He can play in a back four or in any of the three positions in a back three as he would be exceptional in the most central position in a back three if he was to move to a higher level and needed time to adjust. He would also thrive in a man-orientated marking system such as Ivan Juric’ at Hellas Verona or Gian Piero Gasperini’s at Atalanta as he is wonderful man-marker, having the physicality and mobility to track and quell an attacker’s threat while having the anticipation to regain possession with interceptions.
Perez only just turned 20 at the beginning of this month as him and a few other Liverpool Montevideo youth products have bright futures ahead of them. The Uruguayan centre-back would cost a lot less than other centre-backs with his well-rounded skillset and has the ability to accrue resale value. He is certainly ready and well prepared to move to Europe in the current window and should be more prepared in the summer as clubs should keep an eye on this bright prospect. The French Ligue 1 or La Liga would allow him to develop into a top tier centre-back at a quicker rate as he would also provide a cost-effective option for Dutch, Belgian and Austrian clubs. Perez is unique in his multi-faceted ability and his two-footedness as he will command a fortune in a few years.
