Facundo Pereyra: The Little Magician

Kerala blasters bagged their second only win of the season on Sunday night Thriller against a consistent Jamshedpur F.C. The Men of Steel hosted the Yellow Army at the Tilak Maidan Stadium for an action-filled game. The scoreboard at full-time displayed 2-3 in favor of The Tuskers, thanks to Costa’s header and Murray’s brace. Costa’s Header…?? Murray’s one-touch goal…?? Most of us might have seen the highlights at least. Where did it all come from…?? Only one answer, FACUNDO PEREYRA…!!!

Until this season, Kerala Blasters lacked a spark in the Mid-field. But this year Facundo Pereyra just ignited the Mid-field.

Heat map of Facundo Pereyra against JFC

Against Jamshedpur F.C, Facundo played almost 89 mins. In this 89 mins, he managed to get a total of 3 shots, of which 1 on target. He had 4 successful dribbles, and created 1 big chance. A very high threat for JFC on the right flank.

BODY MOVEMENTS:  

Though Facundo Pereyra doesn’t use much of his body while delivering or receiving a pass, he does use body feints while dribbling. 

These are his movements with the ball, now lets see his movements without the ball:

He is always alert and observes every movement of the players and the ball. These are simple actions that can even affect the results….!!! Yes, because of his nature of being alert and observant, resulted a goal for Kerala Blasters:

This is just moments before the second goal. We’ll see how it helped Murray score later.

A NATURAL PLAYMAKER

Facundo is a born playmaker. He plays not only with his quick legs, but also with his brains. To be a playmaker, one understands when to pass, pass to whom and also a perfect delivery of passes. Along with this Facundo has the ability to attract defenders and free his fellow teammates. 

In this we can see how Facundo finds Murray and then runs into the Zone 14 being in the blindside of Peter Hartley, one of the best CB in the league. And at the end Hooper makes a run through the left of Facundo, he made a feint and sent 2 defenders out wide. This opened up space in front of the goalkeeper, but unfortunately no one made runs into the area to capitalize the space.

His main motive while dribbling is to force the opposition players into decision making. Murray’s both goals were the after effect of Facundo’s this ability.

First, Facundo gets the loose ball and seeing the position of Eze and Hartley, he decides to dribble into the box. He dribbles till he finds that Peter Hartley has left his Man and is approaching him to stop him. Hartley could have stayed with his man, but then Facundo would be free in the box. This forced him to take quick decision. He decided to close Facundo. As soon as Hartley reached near him, he took the shot. The shot was blocked by Rehnesh, but the second ball was converted by Murray who was free in the box, as Hartley left him to close down Facundo.

Secondly, the game had just been restarted and most of the JFC players moved up front for an immediate comeback. As usual the KB players applied high pressure onto the JFC players which resulted in a foul. Facundo, realizing the numerical advantage at that moment took advantage of the foul. He again waited for Hartley to close him down, when Hartley came, he dribbled past him with a simple feint. 

He again slowed down seeing Eze. When Facundo reaches near him, he decided to pressure him and slow the attack.

But Facundo gave a through ball to Murray as soon as Eze was on his weak-foot. CLEVER..!!! These showcases his skills in understanding all situations and solving them within seconds. 

SCANNING AND VISION:

Scanning and vision of both, your teammates and your opposition is very important, while defending and creating chances. Facundo, playing as a no.10 had to have very keen scanning to create chances. While most of us looked at the chances created, no one thought how was it created. Anyways not by fluke.

In this we can see Facundo scanning, to find where his teammates are. He seen Hooper, ahead of his marker and flicks the ball to him. Which, in turn Hooper creates a chance. (Murray’s header that Rehnesh saved.)

WEIGHT AND SPIN:

Each and every pass, cross from Facundo was different. He passed the ball based on the runs his teammates made. He used techniques like topspin, backspin, sidespin in his deliveries. 90% of his deliveries are accurately powered, not more or less. 

This freekick is the perfect example for it. The weight of the ball is perfect as it correctly finds Costa. Facundo added an inswing to the ball, which made it easier for Costa. He just had to make sure that Rehnesh didn’t reach the ball before him. A slight and delight touch was the only thing Costa had to do. And he did it perfectly.

During freekicks and corners, Facundo always goes with Costa. Even the opposition knows it very well, but always fails to stop him. Most of the times, Costa comes running into the 6-yard box to head the ball. This is the main reason that opposition fails to stop him, you can’t mark a moving person. If you try to stop him, its ends in a foul.

BODY POSTURE:

We can see Facundo’s body posture while passing (please refer the picture in which Facundo passes to Murray with Eze on his weak-foot). His hands are spread out, ensuring that he doesn’t lose his balance. Passes with the inside of the foot, to ensure it reaches accurately, not just accurate but also to ensure that his teammates can control the ball and progress without any pressure.

(P.S. This pass was a bit overpowered, but every time he passes his body posture is the same.)

Facundo Pereyra was a man hid behind big names during the transfer market. But as the season progresses, he is showing his worth. Hope he continues to perform like this.

~ Mohammed Nazeem