Gaston Gonzalez – Union de Santa Fe’s domineering winger
Gaston Gonzalez has been at the same club since the age of 7, dreaming of donning the red and white of Union de Santa Fe as the man affectionately known as ‘Pipa’ has become a regular starter for his club. The lumbering 19-year-old attacker had to sacrifice nights out with his friends, injuries at youth level as with the guidance and inspiration of his family, he made it to the first team. Managerial changes are not uncommon in South American football but with managerial change comes different tactical ideologies and player roles as Gonzalez is experiencing this at the moment after Marcelo Mosset, the caretaker manager from last year has been replaced with Juan Manuel Azconzabal.
Gonzalez was deployed as a striker during his youth career but impressed greatly as a winger during the past season as he is now playing as a wide attacker in a three centre-back system. Gonzalez has stated that he would like to play as a striker in the future, but his strength and size meshed with his quick feet pose a different threat to fullbacks from the wide areas. For such a lumbering player, his close control in tight spaces allow him to weave out of tight spaces to create shooting and crossing opportunites for himself. However, in this new system, he makes regular treks into the nine space as he sees less of the ball as his new position is about movement and timing.
This has presented an obstacle for the youngster who is still in the fledgling stages of his career as he receives possession less, meaning he has less time to get in stride and charge at defenders, using his body and lethal change of direction to shield the ball and skip past them. His role now consists of receiving the ball in the attacking line, looking to get on the end of crosses rather than create crossing opportunities for himself and making runs into the channels to chase lost causes and hold up play. This has taken away some essential facets of his game, the ability to receive the ball earlier or to receive switch balls and have the opportunities for 1v1s against his marker as he has less opportunities to dribble and create shooting opportunities for himself.
However, this role is allowing him to work on other facets of his game like his movement in attacking situations, his ability to receive possession in tight spaces and his decision making in the central areas which is lacking as well as his hold-up play. At the moment, Gonzalez can spend large parts of games on the periphery compared to last season while when he receives the ball, he struggles to beat his man due to being marked more tightly as his dribbling ability relies on him getting into stride and charging at players from the wide areas. His movement in the box is sharp as he has sense of knowing when to continue his run into the box or hold his run at the top of the box to receive crosses, but he will need to improve his aerial ability, especially as a player with his aerial gifts at six-feet tall.
A sequence that encompasses his dribbling ability is his first goal senior goal away to Rosario Central as he received possession on the left flank, with the time and space to find his stride and charge at defenders, guiding the ball past one marker, using his body to shield possession from a defender who was returning to tackle him as he drove into the box and smashed a shot past an unsuspecting keeper. Incidentally, Gonzalez then showed his ability at receiving possession in the central areas as once he received possession from the right flank, he allowed the ball to roll across his body to evade his first marker before sliding a pass to a teammate to beat another marker as his teammate had a shot saved. He also used his body to regain possession and win a foul on the left flank.
In the wide areas, Gonzalez proved to be very stout with combinations as he received possession from his fullback to trade passes with his fullback before holding possession as he threaded a pass to his fullback in the half-space to have a crossing opportunity blocked. In the second-half, he would use his outstretched leg to prod a pass to Franco Troyansky to have a crossing opportunity. He would then work another connection with his fullback as he received possession in space on the left flank to cut inside and thread a pass to his overlapping fullback with the outside of his left boot before receiving possession by the touchline to hold off a defender and play a pass to his fullback to tee up a teammate who had his shot blocked.
At home to Lanus, he had a cross deflected into the path of a teammate to apply the finish before Troyansky flicked on a header from an opposition goal-kick for Gonzalez to have a shot blocked with his stronger left foot as he curled the rebound in at the far post with his weaker right foot to double the score. The 19-year-old loves to use his left foot as he can easily transition into crossing and shooting with his left after beating players with his left but an ability to finish as calmly as he did with his right foot as he did with that particular sequence would make him an intriguing high-level attacker. His ability to dribble will be enhanced by the fact that he could go either side of an opponent to shoot with his left foot or open his body and finish with his right.
Gonzalez also possesses the ability to be a counter-attacking conduit as a left winger in a 5-4-1 defensive shape as away to Velez Sarsfield, he regained possession and played the ball to an attacker to instigate a counter-attacking move. The 19-year-old then made an interception, driving the ball forward before he skipped past a defender and had a shot saved. Gonzalez struggled with receiving possession in the attacking phase but in the second-half, he had a moment where he received possession on the flank with a horizontal body shape to prod the ball forward with his right foot to beat his marker before crossing the ball with his left foot as his delivery was cleared before Ezequiel Canete could get on the end of the delivery. ‘Pipa’ Gonzalez would then receive a switch ball on the left flank to drag the ball to the by-line to cut past a marker and drive into the box to use his body to nudge past a defender and cut-back for a teammate to have a shot saved.
At home to Boca Juniors, he intercepted a cross at the edge of his own box to muscle past one marker and skip past another to drive deep into the opposition half and cut-back for a teammate as the cross was blocked by a sliding opposition defender. In added time, he moved into space as his marker was engaged by the player in possession driving the ball forward before Gonzalez would make a blind-sided movement into a pocket of space to receive possession and have a shot on goal. He will need to make such movements in the future, especially in the central areas in order to create more shooting opportunities for himself and be more effective when he receives the ball in the central areas and half-spaces.
The 19-year-old has all the tools to be an effective attacker as he will need to improve his first touch in congested areas. Gonzalez has already shown an ability to do this as he allows the ball to roll across his body when receiving possession as he has also had situations when he dropped his shoulder to skip past a marker and drive the ball forward. The beginning of this year has been a period of education and development for him in a new role under a new coach as he will need to be more involved in creating goalscoring opportunities for himself and teammates towards the end of the season. He will also need to improve his ability to hold possession in the final third, using his body to shield the ball as there have been situations where he has received possession outside the opposition box to use his lethal change of pace and direction to manoeuvre into the box as these instances need to be more regular. The 19-year-old is a strong and dangerous crosser as he can carve out his own high-quality crossing opportunities with his dribbling ability, dragging an opponent to the by-line before cutting inside to send a low cross into the box.
" I am 1.83. I would like to play nine, because it is my position. But today I I have to do it in a place that I did not know, and I am adapting. Along with the indications and advice, I think I am taking it well. There are things to promote from now on. If they ask me to fulfill another role, I would have no problems doing it," said Gonzalez in an interview with LT10 from January.
“I have to continue working perhaps the aerial game and little by little I am incorporating it. It was something that was difficult for me when I played center forward. I think all the technicians I had helped me. Perhaps, the most that marked me was Eduardo Magnín. He always emphasized the things that I did wrong so that I could work on it and improve it. That is why he helped me explode as a player. When I used 4-3-3, I always put myself in the center of the attack," explained Gonzalez to the same media outlet.
Gonzalez made his debut in the Argentine U20 National Team as the Head Coach, Fernando Batista has used him as a left winger and as a second striker as he could be a player to watch at the U20 South American Championships which are set to take place later this year. Gonzalez was born and has spent his whole life in Santa Fe as it will be interesting to see him play with his National Team at U20 level. Gonzalez is not ready for a move abroad yet as it will be intriguing to keep an eye on his development in his new role to see if he can develop into a multi-faceted central attacker or if he will return to the left wing where he thrived last year.
