Ponte Preta’s Danilo Gomes could develop into a high-level striker

There are a cluster of Brazilian teams who are remarkable in their recruitment and development of talent, having good academies, showing good cost control and scouting on their regional market while developing young talent in the country. These are teams like Ponte Preta, Esporte Clube Vitoria and Botafogo SP as these teams play in Serie B and Serie C but are remarkable in their dedication to unearthing and honing talent from their own academy and the academies of some of the bigger clubs in Brazil. Danilo Gomes has spent most of his career on loan from Sao Paulo as he has only played two games for the Brazilian giants as he is currently on his forth loan, after being loaned to Brasil de Pelotas, Atletico Goianiense, Cuiaba and now Ponte Preta.

Danilo Gomes wears the number 9 but has spent majority of his time in Serie B, deployed on the right wing but he has the potential to become a high-level central striker with his penchant for hold-up play as well as intelligent combination play while he is a phenomenal striker of the ball. The 23-year-old can drop in between the central lines to receive possession and work lay-offs and combinations to connect play and influence attacking moves. His dribbling is more effective in the central spaces as he can be a phenomenal 1v1 dribbler to evade markers and create shooting opportunities for himself while he can also hold up possession, swivelling to drive the ball at the opposition defence, possessing a lethal change of direction to weave past gluts of players and draw fouls while he has the strength and turn of pace to hold off markers and drive past them.

Away to Vasco Da Gama, he received possession on the right flank after a turnover to lead a counter-attacking situation, receiving the ball on the right flank and cutting past a defender on his left foot to drive a tame shot at goal from range. Danilo Gomes created another shooting opportunity for himself when he made an interception on a defender’s pass to cut onto his left foot to unleash another strike past the far-right post. The 23-year-old is a good striker of the ball because he has the uncanny ability to wrap his foot around shots and generate good power and direction from shots, especially with shots from range where he mainly gets his shooting opportunities from on the right flank. He can also dribble into space and finish dribbling sequences with shots, especially as he has become accustomed to cutting past defenders and creating shooting opportunities for himself. Defensively, Danilo Gomes would be closing down the right flank before making a tackle to regain possession, poking the ball to a teammate before receiving possession to hold off a sliding tackle, skip past another sliding defender and attempt to thread a through ball into the nine-space which was intercepted.

He received possession on the right flank once more, using his first touch to guide the ball away from a marker to cut into the centre before readjusting his body to play a pass through the lines to a teammate. He replicated the trick when he received possession on the right flank to take a touch, adjust his body and work a pass to a teammate in the next line as his first touch when receiving possession in between the lines, ability to hold-up play and his vision for through balls and line-breaking passes could make him effective at receiving deep passes in between the lines and connecting play in the final third. Away to Guarani, after an opposition cross was cleared, Danilo Gomes would push forward to make a clean tackle on an opposition defender, driving the ball forward into the opposition half to spread a pass to the left flank where his teammate would cut inside and have a shot blocked.

The 23-year-old then received possession on the right flank to hold possession and thread a pass in between two players for a teammate to have a crossing opportunity blocked. He then made an interception on the right flank to muscle past an opposition defender, driving forward through the centre of the pitch before switching the ball to his right foot and having a tame shot from range blocked. Danilo Gomes would be able operate in the central spaces due to being able to receive possession with his back to goal or on the half-turn, using his body to shield the ball while maintaining the leverage to spin past markers and drive the ball forward as moves like this are essential in facilitating transition and will also be crucial in the attacker creating shooting opportunities for himself in and around the box. The 23-year-old would regain possession once more, using his first touch to flick the ball past a marker before slaloming past another defender as he began to drive the ball forward but was hauled back by an opposition midfielder for a foul.

Danilo Gomes has a well-rounded skillset but to be a proficient central striker, he is still lacking with his movement and interpretation of space, especially in the opposition box. He would tuck inside to make a run into the centre from the right flank as the run from his striker opened a gap in the centre of the box. Instead of moving into the centre to occupy the space, Gomes made a run towards the back-post where he had less space and a lower chance of receiving possession while in the centre of the box, he could have had an opportunity to receive a cut-back and have a shot on goal. The 23-year-old was then involved in the creation of another high-quality opportunity, receiving possession on the right flank, driving the ball forward before cutting inside to thread a pass to a teammate in between two players for his teammate to have a high-quality crossing opportunity across the face of goal which was blocked.

Away to Bahia, the right winger would tuck into the centre to lead the pressing phase after a back-pass as he maintained a good position to mark one of the centre-backs. Once the ball was played to his centre-back, he pushed forward to apply pressure on the defender from the centre to force an errant pass to the wide areas for a Ponte Preta throw-in. He then received a switch pass on the right flank to cut inside, driving past two defenders to have a well drilled strike at goal from range. Danilo Gomes has not yet had the opportunity to have high quality shooting opportunities from high quality situations inside or outside the opposition box as it will be interesting to analyse his finishing ability from better situations. The 23-year-old is a penetrative passer in the final third as his hold-up play is exceptional while he has the ability to scan and move in the final third. He made a movement towards the right flank, veering further away from his marker to find a pocket of space to receive possession as he wanted to attempt a vertical central run behind him to receive possession but moved back towards the flank where he received a pass, evading one marker to move deeper before spinning past another defender to thread a pass in between two players into the box for a teammate to have a shot blocked.

Danilo Gomes would finally have a shooting opportunity from inside the box, receiving a cross at the back-post, controlling the ball with his head before volleying a strike over the bar from a tight angle. His ability to generate power with his shots from awkward angles and in tight spaces could make him a better finisher in the future as he managed to wrap his foot around the ball as he could have scored by adjusting his body and directing the shot with more precision. He moved back to the right flank to receive possession, cutting past two defenders before swivelling to angle another precise pass for a teammate in the box. His ball-carrying and dribbling also allows him to win fouls in the opposition half as he received possession in between the central spaces, skipping past one marker before he was on the wrong end of a two-footed challenge from a defender.

Danilo Gomes is capable of isolating markers and making circular or looping movements into space as well as making little runs and darts into space as the 23-year-old frequently utilizes these movements to find space on the right flank. During a throw-in, he would side-step into his defender’s blind-side before making a quick dart while his defender had set his feet to receive the throw-in to surge into the box and drive a shot wide with his weaker right foot. The Brazilian attacker would tuck inside, closing down a defender to make a clean tackle before surging forward on the break and spreading a pass to the left flank which was too light for his teammate to drive a tame shot at the goalkeeper from range. The attacker is very disciplined with his defensive work as he has the mobility and reading of the game to cover spaces allow him to regain possession cleanly as he is a highly capable presser and counter-presser from the central spaces while he is also capable of leading the pressure phase from the nine-space.

The 23-year-old would tuck inside to the nine-space, dropping out of the position to receive a pass in between the lines and play a one-touch pass to a teammate before receiving possession once more to spread a pass to the right flank for a cross. When Danilo Gomes spreads the ball into the wide areas for crossing situations, he never makes runs into the centre of the box instead preferring to hold the deeper positions to receive cut-backs and attempt shots from the top of the box, even in congested boxes. He will need to better analyse spaces in the box before making runs into areas where he could receive deliveries and have better opportunities on goal as his overall sense of shot locations is the facet of the game which needs refinement and improvement. He received possession once more on the right flank to isolate his marker in a 1v1 situation before playing a pass to a teammate. He won another free-kick, receiving possession on the right flank as he cut past one defender like he was going to drive into the centre before cutting past another defender to drive towards the by-line as he was tripped before he could drive to the by-line. After a turnover, Danilo Gomes would make a subtle movement and run to move into a pocket of space to receive possession in the box, poking a shot harmlessly wide with his left foot from the right. He should have looked to drive the opportunity across the face of goal with his right foot but his innate movement to receive possession in space while staying onside would bode well for his future as a central attacker.

Danilo Gomes ranks 4th in completed dribbles in the Brasiliero Serie B and 10th in completed dribbles per 90 with a 55% succession rate while he ranks joint 11th in total shots as 70% of his shots have been from outside of the box while he has managed to get 75% of his shots on target. This emphasizes his ability to wrap his left foot around shots and direct shots on goal from range as he could be effective long to medium range shooter while it will be intriguing to assess his shooting from inside the box as he still needs to improve his shot locations. The attacker’s penchant for penetrative passes shines through in his expected assist numbers as he ranks in the top 30 with a 1.04 expected assist number and 0 assists. Danilo Gomes ranks third in progressive runs as his ability as a ball-carrier also applies to his metrics according to the WyScout Ranking service.

Danilo Gomes has the potential to develop into a high-level striker with his ability to receive possession in between the lines, work one-touch lay-offs to teammates as well as being able to hold off opposition defenders to turn and drive the ball forward. In the final third, he can turn and thread through balls into the box to create crossing and shooting opportunities. He has also shown the ability to interpret space, make innate movements and runs past his defenders to receive possession and have opportunities on goal. The 23-year-old’s greatest strength is his dribbling and ability to weave into space to have shots from range as it is integral that he improves his shot locations as he has the potential to place shots with power as his ball-striking ability could make him a striker that could certainly play at the European level. His movement in the box could also improve to get on the end of deliveries in high quality areas inside the box while he has the potential to score left-footed shots from the right side of the box, curling strikes past the goalkeeper. He has shown potential at being able to strike the ball proficiently with his weaker right foot as he will need to be more confident in his weaker foot going forward.

Danilo Gomes was loaned to Ponte Preta from Sao Paulo as his contract with the latter expires at the end of the year as the 23-year-old will be a free agent in the January market. He has played a few games in the Copa Sudamericana for Atletico Goianiense as he may be able to earn a British work permit for a Championship or Scottish Premier League club like Rangers or a team or an English Premier League team like Brentford or Brighton with a loan to Midtylland and Royal Union Saint Gilloise. Teams like Familicao, Vizela and Santa Clara should be interested as should FC Basel in Switzerland. In Mexico, he would be a good fit for a team like UNAM Pumas who are shrewd on the market and look for low cost acquisitions like him as he would be a good fit for Andres Lillini’s 4-4-2 while he would also be a strong acquisition for Necaxa. A team like Stuttgart or Mainz in the Bundesliga would also be a good landing as would Hamburg in the German Second Division as would Celta Vigo or Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. Teams in Ligue 1 would also be able to utilize as newly promoted Toulouse could utilize an attacker of his ilk as would Reims, Brest, Nantes and Montpellier. Within Brazil, Danilo Gomes would be an exceptional replacement for Red Bull Bragantino’s Artur as in Mauricio Barbieri’s system, he would be allowed to take more high-quality shots and venture into the centre more while Athletico Paranaense would also be a good place to develop his talent. It will be interesting to see where Danilo Gomes lands as he could be one of the most undervalued young players on the Brazilian market.