Manuel Locatelli : Passing Savant
written on Jul 17, 2020
Sassuolo are one of the most exciting teams in the Serie A this season. Dubbed ‘Atlanta’s little brother’, it’s truly surprising how Roberto De Zerbi has got this team firmly in 8th place, and within 6 points off the Europa League spot. Much of their success comes on the attacking front, with Berardi, Caputo, Boga and Đuričić combining for 46 goals this season.
Behind them are the midfield duo of Locatelli and Magnanelli. Locatelli has been crucial for Sassuolo this season. Here’s a graphic showing a few select stats this season.
On a per-90 basis, he averages over 7 passes into the final third and creates almost 3 open-play shot chances. These are incredible numbers from a central midfielder who regularly drops deep to aid build-up play.
Film Breakdown
Before I begin, I’d like to mention that is not a scouting report on Locatelli or Sassuolo. This is simply a study of Locatelli’s film against Juventus to show you some of his traits and versatility as a passer. I could have included more games, but I intend for this piece to be rather short and I personally feel that the Juventus game does a great job of showing just how good this guy is.
Locatelli at first glance, is just a quite tall, pretty decent central midfielder who dictates play and is good on the ball. Much like every other good central midfielder, he’s very good at guiding a ball in a particular direction with clever touches. This invites pressure and thus, creates space for his midfield partner. In this instance, it was in the 90th minute, and his teammate did not run into the space.
He does this very often and since Sassuolo prefer to pass their way around the back, this is a useful skill to have.
While inviting pressure is a skill all elite holding midfielders possess, it’s his one touch passing that is really what catches the eye.
In the first instance, Muldur(#17), the right back calls out for the ball. Before an opponent can press Muldur, Locatelli(#75) plays a quick one touch pass to the right flank. The weight on it is a little heavier than ideal, but you’re already starting to see that Locatelli rarely ever telegraphs his passes.
In the second instance, he is being chased down by a Juventus player, his quick one-touch pass doesn’t allow Juventus to recover their defensive shape, Berardi plays a one-two and almost scores.
In the third clip, which is filthy good, his one touch to pass to Đuričic leaves 4 Juventus player behind the play.
Most modern managers *insert Mourinho joke* employ fluid offensive systems where many players have the freedom to move about on offence and take up different roles. This adds and element of unpredictability to a team’s offence but the double edge here is that they risk getting caught out on defence. To take advantage of this, opposition players must quickly progress the ball into dangerous areas before X team can set up in their defensive blocks/lines. Passes like these create numerical advantages- 3 v 3 or 4 v 3 situations which Sassuolo are great at converting. Sassuolo are not just dangerous when they are building up from the back, but also in transition.
What really makes good passers great is one’s mentality. As Pep put it , you need to be bolder on the ball. You should always be looking to make that killer pass that will inevitably lead to a chance on goal. Locatelli has that.
In the first sub-clip, he receives the ball with his back to goal, before passing it, he turns around and looks to see if he can make a forward pass.
In the second bit, he holds his head up for a good few seconds, waiting for any opportunity to make a threatening pass show up. When it doesn’t, he lays the ball off.
He’s not only looking to make these line-breaking passes, he makes them often and he makes them with effortless ease.
Along with this impeccable ability to pass through pressing lines, Locatelli’s long passing and cross-field balls is no joke. According to fbref, he’s attempted 13 long passes/90 this season with over a 70% accuracy.
In order to mitigate the threat posed by Locatelli passing through the middle, most team sit in two compact lines reducing the space in the most dangerous zone of the pitch. This gives Locatelli the opportunity to play a cross-field pass to his full-back, usually right-back Mert Müldür, who can then exploit the space out wide. It helps that Muldur is one of the most explosive full-backs in the league who’s constantly making runs down the right wing.
Locatelli is also an above average dribbler for his position and makes good passes while on the move
In the first clip here, he makes a good pass that leads to a good opportunity on goal. The second clip shows us how well Locatelli uses his eyes to fake out opposition player, he dribbles towards the centre of the pitch, and pulls the Juve defender towards him before making a no look pass to the other side giving Raspadori space to attack.
In-fact, Locatelli is quite the flamboyant passer, frequently making these stylish passes. In the following clip, he makes a Modric-esque outside boot pass and a no look back-heel, both of which lead to decent shots on goal.
Finally, what makes him even more scary is his ambi-pedal nature, he isn’t afraid to use his left foot even when being pressed by multiple players. He’s also very comfortable making long passes with his left-foot.
Locatelli is on the radar of quite a few big clubs, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave since Sassuolo has a history of selling their best players. Is he the next big thing. Probably
Thanks for reading.
