July 2019, before the 2019/20 season started, I had an aspiration to create my own handbook that introduced about young prospects to follow this season after witnessing the great work that the Scouted Football team had put out there. But due to my respect to Stephen, Joe and the crew, it was not possible for me to create an English version of my handbook and became one of their competitors. This led to me creating a Vietnamese version of this and I was surprised to see how well it was welcomed and I was very grateful for that.
Almost one year later, I have looked back at that handbook and felt proud of the effort that I have put into this project. Whether if there is a second version of this being published is still a doubt, but given the current situation, I might push the project a little bit further in order to provide as much contents as possible to keep my audience busy from home.
Along with thinking about the next project, I also want to review several names that I had highlighted in the handbook, which leads to the creation of this series, “Revamped Reports”. I will be reviewing seven young players that I have written, comparing their performances up to now with what I have written back in July and forecasting their future once again. Today’s review will focus on Ferran Torres, Valencia’s wonderkid who has seen a significant rise in his development since Albert Celades took over Marcelino’s hot seat back in September 2019.
Ferran’s style of play
Last season under Marcelino, Ferran had already been used as a right-winger in his 4–4–2 formation and with Celades continued to pick up where his predecessor left off, this allows the Spaniard prospect to excel in his preferred position. Furthermore, since he is used on the same flank compared to his favored foot, it helps him in controlling the ball more comfortably while also stretching the opposition’s defensive line.
Quite often this season, it is possible to see Ferran hugs the line from his position as he aims to drag the wing-back (and winger, if used) out wide and creates space centrally. As Valencia’s right-back Daniel Wass usually stays deep to create a three-man build-up along with the two centre-backs, Ferran’s positioning will allow the team to have one attacking option out on the right-hand side when Wass drops next to the centre-backs.
On several different occasions, though, Ferran also can drift into the central area and attract the attention of at least one of the opposition players. As shown in the situation below against Atalanta, after noticing unoccupied space in behind Marten de Roon and Remo Freuler, the Spanish winger immediately moved into that area and dragged along one of Atalanta’s centre-backs. Usually the result of this trait is he will open up space out wide for Wass to overlap and allowing either Mouctar Diakhaby or Gabriel Paulista to find him with a direct pass.
It does not come as a surprise to see how intelligent Ferran is when he does not hold the ball. As shown in the situation above, he is good in off-the-ball movements as he can help creating space for his teammates and disrupt the opposition’s defensive shape.
Along with that, he also demonstrates his intelligence style of play through his positioning and anticipation. It is possible to consider Ferran as a space manipulator as the Spaniard is good when it comes to capitalising unoccupied gaps left by the opposition’s defenders or created by his teammates. Celades has made sure that his player has the chance to do so more often by allowing him to roam from his position more often and in between the right-wing and the half-space.
After moving into an unoccupied gap on the pitch and receiving the ball from his teammate, Ferran has the tendency to take on the problem by himself and uses his dribbling ability to work his way out of trouble. Before having the control of the ball, he tends to scan the space around him in order to come up with a direction for him to dribble into. This is a very beneficial trait for him as this supports his dribbling by identifying potential space which he can exploit or even encourage his teammates to join him.
From there, pace is the main attribute that he makes the most out of to dribble the ball into the final third or even the penalty area. The way he controls the ball in tight space is exquisite as he tends to use some techniques in order to bypass the opposition’s defenders while also making sure the ball is sticking to his feet. Furthermore, agility is also another of his strengths which allows him to shake off the pressure and the challenges that come from the defenders. With that in mind, it does not come as a surprise to see him racking up a high number of dribbles per 90 minutes with 5.02 (across all competitions) and a successful rate at 52.9%. Moreover, he also registers 10.26 offensive duels per 90 minutes, in which he won 42.9%.
The output that comes from his moves inside the final third or penalty area is also decent as he already has 6 goals (across all competitions) for himself while registering a total xG of 5.47 (0.18 xG per 90). Being a right-winger who tends to hug the line most of the time does not mean he can’t score as his confident mentality allows him to dribble from the halfway line into the penalty area and convert that chance all by himself. Also, several of his chances also come from the ability to capitalise unoccupied space across the field with intelligent movements that allow teammates to make through balls into his run, and that is what actually happened during Valencia’s second-leg match against Atalanta.
In a game that Valencia faced the pressure of securing a positive result with a significant goal-margin against an excellent Atalanta, they approached the game well but was not able to stop the Italian side to score four goals. Still, on the other end of the pitch, they did well by scoring three goals that allowed them to keep their confidence high.
Ferran’s contribution to the game was significant and he even got himself a goal that put Valencia 3–2 up after almost 70 minutes. In the situation below, notice how the Spaniard intelligently moved into the space behind Freuler to receive Dani Parejo’s through ball. With Kevin Gameiro already pinned down Berat Djimsiti, this left Ferran in a 1v1 situation with Freuler as he entered the opposition’s half. Although starting at a deeper position compared to Atalanta’s defensive line, his pace and anticipation were good enough to identify the gap in between Mattia Caldara and Robin Gosens and encouraged him to sprint into the area.
Parejo’s lofted pass was excellent although he also faced the pressure from Freuler and Mario Pašalić as he set the young winger into another 1v1 situation with goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini. Amid the chase from Caldara and Gosens, Ferran still had enough space to lob over the former Aston Villa goalkeeper to give Valencia the temporary lead.
Besides from being able to convert chances that are given to him, he can also create chances for his teammates thanks to his crossing and passing ability. Up to now, his number of assists is currently stopping at 8 and reflects clearly what the numbers have expected him to do (7.96 xA — 0.26 xA per 90). Ferran is also a player who likes to cross whenever he reaches the edge of the penalty area as he registers 3.78 crosses per 90 minutes and completes 34.78% of them.
In terms of passing, he makes an average of 0.97 key passes, 1.46 through passes, 2.1 passes inside the final third and 4.3 passes into the penalty area per 90 minutes, and all of them are pretty decent numbers. This show that he has the potential to be converted into a playmaker while still given the license of roaming with the ball more often, as he can act as the connection between the attackers up front with the midfielders beside him.
But one thing can be noted when watching him play, he tends to be very conservative and careful when making passes towards his teammates. As Valencia are a side who tend to move the ball quickly both inside their half and the opposition’s, his trait can become crucial as the team aim to recycle possession among themselves and not losing the ball high up the pitch. His passing completion rate might not be too high, which stands at 79.88%, as he can make misdirected passes at some point in the match but he definitely has room to improve and can excel when playing for a lower-tempo team.
On the opposite end of the pitch, Ferran tends to involve heavily in the team’s press as Valencia aim to press the opposition right from their build-up phase and turn up aggressively when recovering possession. Speaking more generally about Valencia’s defensive approach, one of their key principles when it comes to forming their 4–4–2 defensive shape is the player’s discipline. This was shown clearly last season under Marcelino and this example in their Copa del Rey final against Barcelona demonstrated clearly. The players tend not to leave their position when forming the shape as this will allow the opposition to capitalise gaps in between them.
The former Villarreal manager took on a more defensive approach as the team focused on staying narrow and overloading the central half of the pitch (they still pressed if needed, though, as both Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno were aggressive when pressing Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet in that match). They would create a low-block in front of their goal with two banks of four and the players were tasked to keep the channel in between their lines as narrow as possible. When playing against Barcelona last season, the Catalunya-based side struggled when they attempted to get the ball into the box through the central half, instead, were forced to distribute wide more often. In the match below, they had no choice but to rely on crosses being made by Jordi Alba and Nelson Semedo, which did not turn up well for them since there was not enough players inside of the box to receive those crosses.
This season under Celades, though, Valencia played in a very similar way but also engaged a high press with more players involved. In this situation, Betis’ centre-backs were pressed by Valencia players and Ferran was tasked to close Sidnei down before he could receive the ball from Edgar Gonzalez. Again, this is one of the scenario that can be seen quite frequently this season as Ferran attempts to move forward and close down either a centre-back or a wing-back.
But, playing against a back-four does not seem to be a problem for Valencia’s high press as they are able to match the opposition’s number. Against a back-three like Betis’, problems can be shown immediately when the players start to press. In this situation, Gonzalez’ positioning was used very good to create a three-man build-up for Betis and also attracting the attention of Maxi Gomez. While Gameiro was already tasked to close Aïssa Mandi down on the opposite flank, Ferran had to move away from his position to close Sidnei down but this left him in a 3v1 situation.
As the Brazilian centre-back received the ball, he had two viable option in front of him in Andres Guardado and Alex Moreno (not in the shot, but he was out on the left-wing) while facing Ferran as he continued running towards him. Still, already being in a passing triangle allowed him to bypass the press and passed the ball towards Moreno, which resulted in a fail defensive action executed by Ferran. This is not his fault, though, as it is more of a tactical weakness from Celades but it is a defensive aspect that Ferran can look to improve as he can press the opposition more intelligently rather than just running towards them and ends up failing the action.
Playing in an aggressive pressing system requires a player to adopt a similar mentality when they involve in the team’s press, and Ferran is no exception as he can also be aggressive when needed to regain possession for his side. While he is not the type of player who would dive into tackles often as he only makes 0.58 tackles per 90 minutes and 0.73 tackles per 30 opposition’s possession. But his number of yellow cards does raise a huge concern as he was booked six times across all competitions this season, a number that does not look ideal for a winger.
On the positive side, though, his effort when involving in the team’s pressing phase has somewhat been reflected through his interceptions as he registers 2.82 interceptions per 90 minutes and 3.52 interceptions per 30 opposition’s possession. While these numbers can definitely improve when playing in a more efficient pressing system, this still show how good can Ferran be as he joins up with the attackers and attempts to regain possession high up the pitch. Discipline is the biggest aspect that he needs to work on, but as he continues to develop in the same way that he is right now, there are no doubts that he can fulfil his potential sooner or later.
Conclusion
After almost a year, looking back at the Handbook and the contents I have written in that, I feel like there are some rooms that I can improve on but I feel happy with what I put out there. About Ferran, he continues to thrive after picking up the form that saw him turned into one of Marcelino’s first-team choice last season. As he will remain as a Valencia player in a foreseeable future and hope to maintain that work rate in the race to help Celades’ team qualify for the Champions League again, there will be big names sniffing around him and lurking for that opportunity to snap him up.
At the age of just 20, the future is bright for Ferran if he can keep on developing at the rate like he is doing right now. Spanish football have been looking for the next generation that can play along veterans such as Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets, looking to gain some valuable experience from them, and later become their successor to drive Spain towards another major trophy. This scenario is not unrealistic, given the likes of Dani Olmo, Marc Cucurella or Mikel Oyarzabal are already excel at their respectable clubs, time will tell if these young prospects can actually become Spain’s next “Golden Generation”, but for now, it is fair to say “the future is bright” for the country’s national team.
