Matheus Martinelli – Fluminense’s breath-taking pivote
At 19-years-old, Matheus Martinelli has become one of the most intriguing prospects in Brazilian football as he has excelled in a deeper-lying midfield role under three different Head Coaches, in Odair Hellman, Marcao and Roger Machado. Such is the fast-paced nature of Brazilian football, that he only made his debut against Red Bull Bragantino at the end of November last year as before his debut, scouts from Arsenal had already watched him. Richarlison made a move to Watford while Joao Pedro made a move to the same club as more recently, Kayky has made a move to Manchester City as Fluminense’s academy is churning out high-level talent. Martinelli has been with the Xerem since his mid-teens, playing at U17, U20 and U23 level as he is now one of the first names on the team sheet for Roger Machado’s side.
He was born in Presidente Prudente, in the interior of the sprawling Sao Paulo as he played youth level football with Marila and Gremio Prudente before reaching Xerem as he does not hide his pride and affection of playing with Fluminense. He is a lanky deep-lying midfielder with a vision for incisive passes from deep as well as a knack for elegantly spinning past markers to drive the ball forward and attract pressure before releasing the ball to a teammate in between the lines. As he has continued to gain first-team experience, he has improved the defensive side of his game, throwing his body into challenges and sliding across to win crucial interceptions. He is beginning to develop into a fully-fledged deep-lying midfielder who can protect his defence as well as instigate attacking moves as he has become as crucial to his team as the elder statesmen of the squad such as Fred and Nene.
At home to Sport Recife, Martinelli was the deepest-lying midfielder attempting to connect play as he would drop in between the centre-backs to distribute possession as he had two attempts at line-breaking passes intercepted. He managed to angle some intelligent passes to Calegari as the 19-year-old would be involved in Fluminense’s opening goal, playing a wonderful pass for Calegari to get in behind and cut-back for Lucca to have a header deflected past the goalkeeper. He also showed an ability to keep possession, twisting and turning out of opposition pressure to work passing interchanges while if he identified an opportunity to pass the ball in between the lines, he would thread the ball to a teammate. Matheus Martinelli’s ability in the six-space is improved by the fact that he can turn away from challenges while he is also able to work one-touch passes on the half-turn which allows him to move the ball quickly and efficiently out of tight spaces.
At one point, he swivelled out of pressure to work a pass in between the lines as his short passes is very quick and intelligent. Under Marcao, Fluminense would work longer build-up combinations which would include him receiving possession before releasing the ball and moving into space to receive possession as he would string together press-resistant passing interchanges. Away to Coritiba, Martinelli lobbed a fantastic pass into the box as he is not only capable of receiving possession in the six-space or in between the centre-backs, his ability to turn once receiving possession and intelligence for one-touch passes allows him to be effective in receiving possession in between the lines to string together attacks in the opposition half. The 19-year-old would then do brilliantly to connect play before driving possession into the opposition half to thread a pass in between the lines to Fred. Martinelli then played a one-touch pass to a teammate on the flank that Luiz Henrique nearly got on the end of.
He proved his ability as an intelligent line-breaking passer by consistently finding Fred in between the lines from the deeper areas while he also moved into the final third to link play together and look to thread passes to runners in the channels. In the second-half, the ball bobbled to him as he flicked the ball past a marker to receive possession and drive the ball into the opposition half before working a pass for John Kennedy to cut-back and have a shot blocked. In the defensive phase, he consistently lunged to make well-timed challenges to regain possession in the defensive phase as well as using his reading of the game to make interceptions in the counter-press. He had one of his usual moments at the base of midfield when he received possession to turn past a marker and thread a line-breaking pass to Fred.
Matheus Martinelli would finish the game with a 90% pass succession rate from 79 passes with a 76% pass succession rate in the final thread as well as an astounding 10 ball recoveries. Away to Ceara, he had a moment that encapsulated his skillset and intelligence at the base of midfield, moving into space to receive possession from the left flank to work a one-touch lob over a marker with the outside of his right-boot to receive a lay-off from his teammate to spread the ball to the right flank, to move into the right half-space to receive possession before switching possession to the left flank where the winger and fullback worked a one-two for a crossing opportunity. He would receive possession from the left flank again to turn and thread a pass through the lines to a teammate on the right flank. The 19-year-old would then take a goal-kick, drive the ball forward and lob a pass to the right flank.
Matheus Martinelli would receive possession from Calegari on the right flank to work a pass to the left-sided centre-back before holding his position in the six-space, to receive possession from the left-back to take a touch to control the ball and work a pass to the left-winger to evade pressure. Under Marcao, Fluminense tended to hold possession against more organised deep to low blocks so there was an onus on Calegari to string together passing sequences on the right as well as Martinelli to drop in between the centre-backs to receive possession and drive the ball forward with his distribution and ball-carrying. He would also constantly play the ball before moving into space to receive possession and connect play from deep as he had the passing range to work switch balls but Marcao preferred sequences with short passes rather than sequences with longer passes. However, Martinelli can also work switch balls and longer passes when the opportunities present themselves.
At home to Santos, under Roger Machado, he continued to operate at the same level in the same position while adding more grit to his defensive resolve. He played the ball to the fullback before dropping into half-space to work a one-touch pass into the next line. He also pushed forward to make an interception as he did a phenomenal job in being engaged defensively, moving into the wide areas to push in front of his man to make timely interceptions as well as brilliant tackles. He would drop into the left-sided centre-back role in a three-chain to work passing connections before moving into the six-space. He then won possession from an opposition corner to launch a counter-attack. In the defensive phase, he was commanding in the way he slid across to close passing lanes and make interceptions while he also held his position in opposition counter-attacks to regain possession.
As Matheus Martinelli improved defensively, his distribution continued to be high-level as his first touch allows him to turn out of tight situations or release the ball quickly at the base of midfield. In the opposition half, his immaculate first touch gives him the opportunity to circulate possession rapidly and effectively while also recycling possession in the opposition half at a quick tempo. At home to Athletico Paranaense, he continued to be impressive at the base of midfield, receiving possession to work a pass through the lines to Fred as in one situation, he moved to the left to receive possession, cut-past two players before playing a back-pass as that forward pass was not available. He then received possession on the right flank to poke a pass to a teammate to receive possession and drive forward as he sent a strike wide from range.
He would then make two tackles at the base of midfield from an opposition throw-in before he lunged to make a challenge in order to shield his back four. He constantly looked to play the ball forward with his passing and ball-carrying as he is capable of some lovely tricks in the six-space as he received a pass from the right to pull off an elegant swivel to beat his marker before threading a pass past two opposition players. However, he would make a mistake in a match that Fluminense were leading but were on the back of a 4-1 thrashing with a flurry of goals conceded at the end of the game. Martinelli was on the right but was unable to lunge or read the situation to shift across to make an interception as the ball rolled past him to Richard who applied the finish.
Martinelli has quickly elevated himself to the status of a high-level deep-lying playmaker in Brazil as he has been dubbed ‘Xavinelli’ as an ode to Xavi Hernandez who he has been likened to. He continues a great crop of deep-lying playmaking talent in South America as Fluminense have no intention of selling him while he has no intention of departing. His ability to receive possession and turn away from pressure or work quick passing sequences to orchestrate attacking moves is his finest asset as he is not averse to risk in the defensive midfield position. He can also play line-breaking passes and switch balls as the vision and precision of his passing is already remarkable. He has rounded out his game defensively with his ability to make interceptions and tackles in the counter-pressing phase as well as defensive phase which is impressive due to him not being the most physically imposing defensive midfielder.
Fluminense are not in any rush to sell players as the fee they received for Kayky from Manchester City alleviated their financial pressure while they signed Matheus Martinelli to a new contract till 2024 with a €40 million release clause. Arsenal have been said to be interested in a summer where they will probably lose Granit Xhaka, but that price-tag could be too costly for them. Martinelli will also be one of Brazil’s leading players in the U20 South American Championships which are set to take place later this year as he will continue to grow with a young Fluminense side which are in the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores as well as in the higher echelons of the Brasiliero Serie A.
