Valentín Gómez– Velez Sarsfield’s defensive prodigy
It has been a whirlwind few months for Diego Valentin Gomez, better known as Valentin Gomez as his professional debut was on the 24th of February in a 2-0 loss to Huracan. A sudden long-term injury to Lautaro Giannetti thrust him into a starting role at the heart of the Velez Sarsfield defence as they switched managers from Mauricio Pellegrino to Alexander Medina as the Argentine side have embarked on an impressive run to the Copa Libertadores semi-finals where they will face Brazilian giants, Flamengo. The 19-year-old’s immeasurable calm and stout defensive presence has also led to him getting an unexpected call-up to Javier Mascherano’s Argentine U20 side where he participated in a training session with the Albiceleste, even taking a picture with Lionel Messi.
The 19-year-old has a background as a left winger and as a central striker which has allowed him to develop into one of the finest young ball-carriers in Argentine football. He joined the Velez Sarsfield academy as a 10-year-old as Hector Cohio Almandoz was a friend of his father, constantly watching Gomez as a youngster as he would encourage the youngster to attend a trial at Velez Sarsfield before young Gomez eventually relented. He has responded to being thrust into an integral starting role by taking it in his stride as last year, there were not many conversations about him being a first-team player as he expected to only train with the first-team during pre-season. He has continued to lean on Giannetti for advice while he plays with one of the best defenders of the modern era in Diego Godin while the 19-year-old sought out the advice of Walter Samuel when he was training with the Argentine U20s as well as hanging on Mascherano’s every word.
Gomez is a lanky and well-built defender as he is extremely comfortable in defending 1v1 situations, closing down an opposition attacker from the back before lunging to poke the ball away from him. In terms of his anticipation, he can push forward to regain possession with well-timed tackles and interceptions as he does have the capabilities to be a high-line defender in the future. He tends to win the ball aerially as when a pass is lofted, he can surge forward to win an aerial duel and regain possession for his side in a high line as well as in a counter-pressing situation. His greatest asset is his ball-carrying as when he trades passes with his fellow centre-back, he will drive the ball forward, gesturing for a teammate to move into space to create a better passing angle for himself as he can work passes in between the lines or play well-angled passes to the flank for his wingers to have 1v1 situations. His background as an attacker also allows him to pull off some neat tricks in tight spaces in order to weave past players and drive the ball forward.
At home to Lanus, Godin lost possession as Gomez retreated to collect the ball while an opposition attacker was pushing up to pressure him for the 19-year-old centre-back to play a one-touch pass into the midfield line. In a defensive situation, a pass was cut-back to an opposition attacking player behind him for the young centre-back to close the attacker down to force a lay-off as Gomez pushed out of the box to execute a well-timed sliding challenge. After Godin pushed out of his area, the opposition played a pass into the zone for the teenager for his more experienced partner, executing a well-timed sliding challenge. In a counter-attacking situation, Gomez pushed up to close down an opposition attacker in the opposition half, outmuscling him to make a well-timed sliding challenge to regain possession. The 19-year-old is authoritative in making challenges in open space, closing down attackers in 1v1 situations and covering his centre-back partner as the confidence he plays with, belies his age and experience. The teenager would receive possession in the box while under pressure from two attackers to calmly work a pass to the flank for his left-back.
Gomez received possession from his left-back while under pressure from an opposition striker to play a one-touch pass over pressure and onto the chest of an attacker dropping deep. At such a young age, it is impressive that he maintains calm in a wide variety of high-pressure situations with and without possession as his distribution from pressure situations is excellent, especially his one-touch passing with an opposition attacker in his face as his composure is what sets him apart from many young defenders his age. The 19-year-old would push up to win a 1v1 challenge when defending in a high line as his anticipation, mobility and strength has given him the tools to be a forceful defensive player. There is also the issue of his mentality as if he is beaten in an early challenge, he constantly looks to recover and force a turnover as he pushed up for another 1v1 situation with the striker maintaining possession. Gomez responded by remaining touch tight to him, closing him down as the striker swivelled away from him to play the ball to a teammate for the 19-year-old to slide and regain possession in an interception.
In the possession phase, he received possession from the goalkeeper to drive the ball forward and thread a pass into the left half-space. At home to River Plate, he would exhibit another moment of relentless and doggish defending, winning a 1v1 against Lucas Beltran to force a turnover during the counter-press in the opposition half. The 19-year-old then slid across to cover for his left-back during an early pass into the channels to execute a well-timed sliding challenge to regain possession cleanly. Gomez received a lay-off from the six-space to prod the ball forward and angle a penetrative pass to a teammate in the left half-space before he received another lay-off from the six-space, using an intuitive directional first touch to control the ball with his left in-step and push the ball forward, evading an opposition defender to drive forward and work a pass to a teammate. There are some situations where Gomez drives the ball forward and does not look for the deepest pass as there are other situations where the deepest pass is not available as when he pushes forward, he can be more penetrative with his passes in certain situations.
He received another lay-off from the six-space to switch a pass to the left flank with one-touch to create a crossing situation before dropping into his own box to receive possession from his goalkeeper, driving the ball to attract three opposition attackers before releasing a pass to a teammate in the next line. Gomez enjoys driving the ball forward with great regularity as he has the strength, change of direction and close control while he constantly has his head up when pushing the ball forward to scour the pitch for a progressive pass. The 19-year-old received another lay-off from the deepest-lying midfielder, faking a pass before utilizing a turn of pace to evade his first attacker, drawing another opposition player before calmly sliding a pass into the next line. He then started a counter-attacking situation with another one-touch long pass to Abiel Osorio to flick a pass to Lucas Pratto who drove the ball forward.
He created a shooting opportunity, receiving possession from the goalkeeper near the halfway line, striding into the opposition half to thread a pass in between the lines to a teammate who took a shot from range from just outside the opposition box. In a defensive situation, Gomez was positioned perfectly to make an interception before poking a pass to a teammate in between the lines to instigate another attacking move. Away to Godoy Cruz, he received possession under pressure to calmly work a pass into the next line before driving the ball forward to thread a pass in between the lines. He won a tussle with Salomon Rodriguez as he would face the Uruguayan in the channels for the attacker to flick the ball past him as Gomez recovered well to make a brilliantly timed sliding challenge. Gomez was a 19-year-old playing next to a 36-year-old centre-back in Godin as he plays like him and his partner have the same level of experience as he received a back-pass under pressure to elegantly skip past an attacker and play a deep pass to Osorio in the nine-space.
Gomez would slide across to make a crucial block on a shooting opportunity as there were a few times where the 19-year-old had the calmest head in the defensive line. There was instance where Godoy Cruz infiltrated the Velez Sarsfield box as while other players were frantically going to ground to regain possession, he stayed on his feet, moving to the flank to make a crucial tackle. He finished the game with a 93% pass succession rate and 1 blocked shot in what was a characteristically commanding performance from him. At home to Gimnasia, he traded passes with a teammate in the six-space before swivelling to leave an attacker in a heap as he played the ball to his centre-back partner. Gomez received possession to push the ball forward and thread a deep vertical pass into the next line. In a defensive situation, he shuttled across to cover for his right-back before lobbing a pass down the line and onto the chest of a teammate. He received possession to drive the ball forward and play a simple pass to a teammate in between the lines.
In a defensive situation, Gomez won a 1v1 tussle to regain possession with two opposition attackers pushing up to apply pressure on him for the 19-year-old to thread a pass in between the two attackers to a teammate. Velez Sarsfield lost possession in the midfield line for the opposition to counter as Gomez won possession by stretching to intercept a vertical pass into the nine-space. He regained possession again, this time by winning an aerial duel from an opposition goal-kick as in another goal-kick situation, a ball would be deflected into an attacker in his zone for the teenager to react quickly, lunging to make another well-timed challenge. He had a lay-off played back to him while an opposition attacker was pushing up to close him down for Gomez to control the ball with his chest and flick an outside of the boot pass, over pressure and into the left-back who drove the ball forward. He received possession in his left-back zone to push the ball forward and to play a deep vertical pass to Pratto in the nine-space.
Gomez received possession from his goalkeeper to drive the ball into the opposition half to swivel his hips in order to thread another vertical pass to the ten space. The 19-year-old received possession in the opposition half once more with an opposition attacker pushing up to apply pressure on him, skipping past an attacker to leave him sliding before driving the ball forward to play an outside of the boot pass to the flank. This was another situation where he evaded a marker and drove the ball forward but took a short passing option instead of attempting a line-breaking pass as he had the opportunity to play a through ball for the striker in that situation. The confidence from his teammates to consistently play the ball to him in pressure situations proves that he has the makings of a high-level, press resistant centre-back. There was an instance where his left-back won a turnover on the flank and played the ball to Gomez with an attacker pushing up to close him down from his left as the young centre-back received possession with his right foot, to work a pass to a teammate on the left flank who lobbed a pass to the six-space for Velez Sarsfield to evade pressure.
Gomez then traded passes with his deepest-lying midfielder on the halfway line to thread another penetrative pass to the ten space to instigate an attacking move. He received another pass to drive the ball into the opposition half and poke a pass to the flank. The 19-year-old is an astute man-marker as when a pass was switched to the right flank, he remained tight to his striker, shadowing him with good tracking movements to make a run to the near post when his striker made a run to the near post and closing the distance from his marker while remaining goal-side as the ball sailed over their heads. He won another aerial duel from a long goal-kick situation as he wins aerial duels by not necessarily being taller than his marker or physically engaging him but rather timing his jumps to perfection to regain possession. As a press resistant centre-back, he thrives by being able to change direction in an instant as he is agile despite having such a big body as Gomez had a sequence when he received possession, skipping past a marker in the opposition half to attract markers and thread a pass into the next line.
Gomez received possession in another instance to work a pass to the wide zone for a teammate to have a crossing opportunity for the 19-year-old to receive possession in his left-back zone again, skipping past an attacker to drive the ball into the opposition half and work a pass to the flank for the winger to play a deep vertical pass to the nine-space for a situation that led to a goal. He won another aerial duel from an opposition goal-kick situation before receiving possession to drive the ball into the opposition half and thread a pass past three opposition players to the ten space. In a counter-attacking situation, he was moving towards the centre to close down a marker before spinning around to close down a runner in the wide areas, showing his immense mobility to regain possession. Gomez had his most exhilarating moment of the game, pushing the ball forward while gesturing for a teammate to move into space as an attacker was closing him down from the blind-side to execute an elegant flick past the attacker before utilizing a balletic spin to beat another opposition player to drive the ball forward to play an outside of the boot pass to the flank before making a run into the box.
He drove the ball forward once more to thread a pass to a teammate in the next line before being perfectly positioned to make an interception on a long pass from the opposition goalkeeper. Gomez ranks in the top 23 for ball-progression by passes as he is 2nd for U23 players while being the youngest player in the top 30 while he ranks in the top 10 in ball-progression by runs. In passes to the final third for U23 players, he ranks in the top 25 as one of 4 centre-backs on the list while he ranks in the top 15 for progressive passes. He ranks in the top 15 for long passes for U23 players as he ranks in the top 30 for interceptions for his age-group. He is in the top 10 for aerial duels inside his own area for U23 players, ranking in the top 10 for success rate according to WyScout ranking data.
Gomez’ fledgling steps in professional football have been phenomenal as he has become a constant on a Velez Sarsfield back-line that is constantly evolving with injury as he is skilled at the defensive side of the game as well as the offensive side of the game which is rare for a player of his age and limited experience. In 1v1 situations, he will constantly close down spaces, remaining touch tight to his marker to make tackles while he can use his physicality and poise to push up, lunge and regain possession from a situation where he is behind his attacker. This attribute, paired with his anticipation make him a proficient counter-pressing defender, stepping in front of an attacker to regain possession in the opposition half in the air or on the ground. In counter-attacking situations, he is adept at reading the game to close down markers while also having the mobility to cover spaces as Gomez is immensely comfortable in making well-timed sliding tackles in open spaces to quell counter-attacking situations and regain possession for his team. The 19-year-old is also a brilliant covering defender, sliding across to cover for his left-back or his defensive partner to close down spaces and regain possession.
In possession, Gomez is a highly developed ball-carrier, constantly looking to drive the ball forward to attract markers and create better passing angles for himself. Gomez can change direction while having a highly developed close control to weave past players and drive the ball out of tight situations as he will need to add deeper and more penetrative passes to his ball-carrying situations. This could also be due to the tactical demands of his team as when he drives the ball forward, he sometimes struggles to find deep passing options as he has shown that he can reset his feet or contort his body to thread line-breaking passes in between the lines when he receives possession. He is currently a press-resistant defender with his ball-carrying and his one-touch passing as the 19-year-old is extremely comfortable in passing out of pressure situations as Gomez can expand on this skillset by adding switch passes to his repertoire. Gomez is a commanding defensive presence in the making as he is currently one of the leaders in deep pool of young left-sided centre-backs.
Gomez recently signed a new contract until the end of 2024 as with continued minutes in the Copa Libertadores, he will be a player that will be a target for many big clubs in European football as his style of play already suits that level. Arsenal could be a good place to him to develop as they target young players of his ilk as he could be a similar project to William Saliba as well as backing up, Gabriel Magalhaes who has been a subject of interest in recent months. His ball-carrying and passing under pressure would suit Mikel Arteta’s style while the Arsenal manager would challenge him to be more creative with his distribution. Ajax would also be a good stepping stone for the youngster while AC Milan and Lille have had success developing players like him as he would suit their current playing style. Monaco, Nice, Bayer Leverkusen, Brighton and Hove Albion and Rennes would also be good clubs for him as would Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta. At 19, with only a few months of professional experience, Gomez is already building a strong pedigree as his early performances are immensely encouraging.
