Matias Gomez – Club Atletico Talleres’ prodigious anchor-man

Argentina are developing a generation of deep-lying controllers as Maximo Perrone joined Manchester City, Enzo Fernandez moved to Chelsea for a world-record fee, Fausto Vera is a weekly starter for Corinthians while Juan Sforza, Federico Redondo and Ignacio Miramon are still plying their trade in Argentina. 17-year-old, Matias Gomez is just 10 weeks into his career with the Tallares Cordoba Reserva team as he only made his debut in March during a 5-1 victory against Instituto. He came through the youth system at Club Sportivo Estudiantes SL as he has already put an impressive set of performances together. He will be one of the next young deep-lying playmakers to follow on a production line that shows no sign of abating.

The 17-year-old plays with the poise and elegance of a much older player as he is well-built physically while being clever at covering spaces to make interceptions in the counter-pressing phase while he constantly maintains his focus in the defensive phase, covering passing lanes and denying direct passing lanes to markers. After his team lose possession, he will focus on tracking an opposition attacker or covering a passing lane to him while also pushing up to make an interception or tackle to regain possession for his side. In possession, he is a phenomenal one-touch passer, receiving possession with an open body shape while in situations where he is under pressure, he will work back-passes and move into space. However, this does not mean that he is afraid of pressure as he will slalom out of tight spaces and thread passes to teammates as he would thrive in a modern-day 2+3 build-up shape with fullbacks positioned closer to him as he can switch passes to the ball-far centre-back. He can also drive the ball forward and thread raking passes in between the lines to instigate attacking moves.

At home to Belgrano, in a 2+3 goal-kick situation, the ball would be played to the left-back as Gomez would move towards the flank as he received possession, allowing the ball to roll across his body and using his directional first touch with his right foot to push the ball forward and thread a pass to a teammate in between the lines. His side would lose possession in the opposition half as Gomez’ positioning was sound as he made an interception to thread a one-touch pass to the ball-far eight space. From an opposition goal-kick, he would control the ball with his chest before playing an outside of the boot pass around pressure and to a teammate. In the defensive phase, Matias Gomez does not get drawn to opposition attackers and is very disciplined with his positioning as he thrives at making side-to-side movements to regain possession cleanly in midfield. A deep pass was played in between the lines for the teenager to slide across and calmly regain possession with a tackle.

Matias Gomez thrives in the counter-pressing phase as he received possession in the six-space, controlling the ball with his left and playing a right footed outside of the boot pass to a teammate who lost possession. The 17-year-old responded by shifting across to cover for his man but held his position instead of being drawn to the ball as the opposition attempted to play a deep line-breaking pass in between the lines as Gomez was perfectly positioned to make an interception as he lofted a pass in behind which was interception as he won possession in the counter-press yet again to head the ball to a teammate. He received possession in the six-space, controlling possession and switching the ball to the right flank as his left-sided centre-back would find him behind the first line of pressure as Gomez controlled the ball with his left foot, utilizing an open body shape which allowed him to spin while receiving possession as he played an accurately lasered pass to the ball-far eight space.

In the defensive phase, a teammate was beaten as Matias Gomez was on-hand to make the follow-up challenge, using his body to shield the ball before poking a pass to a teammate. Away to the Arsenal de Sarandi Reserva team, the 17-year-old controlled a high ball before flicking a pass over an opposition player to the flank with the outside of his boot. In tight spaces, Matias Gomez will draw defenders with his directional first touch, using the outside of his boot to evade pressure and thread the ball through tight spaces. After a turnover in the defensive phase, the Argentine teenager would use his body to shield the ball before swiveling and threading a pass in between the lines for a teammate to instigate a counter-attacking move. He received possession in a tight space to play a one-touch outside of the boot pass to a teammate in the wide areas. He was perfectly positioned to make an interception, controlling the ball with his chest before playing a one-touch outside of the boot pass to the left wing. He won an aerial duel from an opposition goal-kick as he was positioned himself well to make an interception in the counter-press, taking a touch and lobbing a pass to the flank.

Matias Gomez received a lay-off in the six-space to play a one-touch pass to the eight space as he received possession in the six-space from the right flank while an opposition player was closing him down from his left for the 17-year-old to play a one-touch pass to the ball-far fullback. He received possession on the left and switched the ball for the ball-far fullback before the opposition would win possession from a Tallares goal-kick as the 17-year-old reacted quickly, pushing ahead of his marker to regain possession and make an interception in the opposition half. The young defensive midfielder is strong in regaining possession from opposition goal-kicks as he positions himself soundly to make interceptions or win aerial duels. His side would lose possession in a long-ball situation for Matias Gomez to react quickly, making an interception in the opposition half.

Matias Gomez received possession in the opposition half, driving the ball forward to thread a pass in between the lines. He won possession by making an interception from an opposition goal-kick to thread a pass to a teammate in the eight space as he won possession in the counter-press in the opposition half to deny the opposition a counter-attacking opportunity. He pushed into the opposition half to receive possession, using his directional first touch to direct the ball away from an opposition player, putting himself in between the opposition player and the ball as he attracted markers to thread a pass in between the lines with the outside of his boot. The 17-year-old received a lay-off in the six-space to lob a one-touch pass to the flank before he made another aerial interception in the counter-press. He was perfectly positioned to make another interception in the midfield line, playing a one-touch pass to a teammate.

At home to Estudiantes, he started the game by winning an aerial duel on a long pass in between the lines before he regained possession with another clean interception in midfield to work a one-two with a teammate on the flank before working possession into the centre. In a defensive situation, he would retain his focus to cover space, sliding across to track a marker and make a well-timed sliding challenge. In the build-up phase, he received possession from the left flank, driving the ball into the opposition half to attempt a through ball which was intercepted. The 17-year-old made another tackle in the defensive midfield position before playing the ball to a teammate while in possession, he received possession from his centre-back, swiveling when he received possession to use his first touch to drive the ball away from his teammate and work a pass to the eight space. In another situation, he instigated an attacking move, taking a touch and volleying a pass in between the lines. The 17-year-old received possession while he was under pressure, controlling the ball with his in-step before lobbing a pass over the opposition defender to a teammate.

After a turnover, Matias Gomez scanned and side-stepped into a pocket of space as he received a lay-off with an opposition player pushing up to close him down as the 17-year-old used his first touch to skip past a defender as he threaded a pass to a runner on the flank. In a counter-pressing situation, he reacted quickly to make a sliding tackle before receiving a lay-off in the six-space to play a one-touch pass in between the lines. In a 2+3 build-up shape, he received possession in the six-space with an opposition attacker pushing up to apply pressure on him as he allowed the ball to roll across his body to his weaker left foot before shifting the ball to his right, driving the ball with the outside of his boot to thread a pass to the six-space. In the opposition half, he controlled the ball with his chest to poke a pass to a teammate in the attacking line before pushed up to win a 50/50 challenge in the counter-press, denying the opposition an opportunity to counter-attack as he drove the ball forward and had a pass intercepted. After a blocked cross, the 17-year-old was perfectly positioned to make another interception in the counter-press before playing the ball to a teammate.

Matias Gomez’ positioning at the base of midfield allows him to consistently win possession, sweeping up attacking moves while allowing him to instigate passing interchanges in the opposition half as he has the defensive awareness and mobility to operate as a pivote. He was perfectly positioned to close down an opposition attack before repeating the trick in a similar fashion to regain possession. He received possession at the base of midfield before playing an outside of the boot pass to a teammate as his team lost possession soon after as the 17-year-old maintained his focus to cover his marker as he received a loose pass to play a one-touch pass to the eight space. In the defensive phase, he was covering direct passing access to the opposition striker as the ball was played to an attacking midfielder in his zone for him to push up and make a brilliant 50/50 challenge. He finished the game by winning another aerial duel on a goal-kick.

Matias Gomez has all the tools to develop into a pivote at the highest-level following Argentina’s lineage of deeper-lying midfielders as his defensive intelligence at an early age is particularly impressive. The 17-year-old can recognize danger with immense defensive focus as after possession is lost, he immediately looks to cover passing lanes or cover the nearest man while he will constantly scan to see if he can directly engage the ball to win a tackle. He will also shield the six-space and cover for his centre-backs as he has the mobility to make side-to-side movements, lunging to win possession on the ground while he is comfortable winning possession in the air. His positioning is excellent and crucial to him intercepting deep passes in between the lines and winning possession directly from goal-kicks. The youngster can win the ball calmly on his feet as he can go to ground, making a sliding tackle or dropping to his knee and lunging to regain possession. Defensively, he can man-mark or cover spaces which will allow him to easily adjust to a team that operates with a higher press.

In possession, Matias Gomez can play the ball quickly in tight spaces on his first or second-touch as his body shape when receiving possession is exemplary, constantly allowing the ball to roll across his body while using his directional first touch to drive the ball forward, drive the ball away from his marker or put himself in between the marker and the ball. He can also slalom away from markers by changing direction as he is unafraid of pressure or driving the ball into open spaces. He can play the ball with the inside of his boot but when he drives into congested zones or receives the ball under pressure, he prefers to play the ball with the outside of his boot. His one-touch passing allows him to receive possession in tight spaces with pressure in front of him or behind him to release the ball quickly. He thrives in a 2+3 shape as he is well-versed in receiving possession behind the first line of pressure, switching the ball to the inverted fullbacks or playing progressive passes to the eights in between the lines as he has an innate understanding of the passing angles in this shape.

He will need to improve his switching and long range passing as he can be inaccurate in these situations while when he receives possession under pressure, his slow feet can lead to him losing possession. This is due to him losing concentration rather than anything physical while he is not accurate with the angling and timing of some of his progressive passes, especially with his through balls to runners. Improving at this aspect of his distribution will allow him to add a chance creation element to his game. Physically, there are situations where he does not put his body into challenges and loses duels as he can win battles regularly if he engages and uses his body. The 17-year-old certainly has the time to improve these minor aspects of his game as he has already shown tremendous potential in such a short space of time.

Matias Gomez is only 17 as he could be on a fast-track to the first team as he could make his debut at the latter stages of the year when teams in Argentina are more likely to give youngsters opportunities towards the end of the second tournament. He has the tools to adapt quickly to first-team football in Argentina as in an injury crisis, he could also make the step-up to the first team. It will not be long before some of the top teams in European football are following him as clubs like Villareal B would be good places for his development, probably a year from now. Teams like Club Brugge, Antwerp, Genk, Gent and Club Brugge should be following him as should teams like FC Midtylland, Basel and Toulouse. Serie A would be a great league for him as Fiorentina, Bologna, Lazio, Torino, Monza, Sassuolo, Empoli and Lecce would suit his playing style. The Argentine deep-lying playmaker could become one of the next young players in his position to earn interest from around European football.