Scout report: Eduardo Camavinga

Eduardo Camavinga is a name that most football fans are familiar with in 2021. He is universally known as one of the brightest young footballers in Europe. The 18 year old French midfielder has been linked with moves to European giants such as Arsenal, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich & PSG, and with his contract expiring in just 12 months, we should expect his transfer away from Ligue 1 outfit Stade Rennais this summer.

Despite his vast reputation, not many are familiar with his attributes on the pitch and his style of play. So, what is he all about? In this piece I will attempt to break down his game, so hopefully more people learn about this gem of a footballer.

*Data used in piece is courtesy of StatsBomb via fbref.com and game footage was taken from football.instatscout.com*

BACKGROUND

Eduardo was born in a refugee camp in Angola in 2002, to Congolese parents, who had fled from their hometown Kinshasa. Two years later, he moved with his parents and five siblings to France, where he grew up in a town named Fougères. He joined Rennes’ youth academy at age 11, before signing his first professional contract at 16 years old and one month in December 2018. Three months later, he became the youngest ever player in the club’s history, debuting in a Ligue 1 fixture against Angers. He also became the youngest player to ever play for the French national team since 1914, debuting in a UEFA Nations League game against Croatia in September 2020, at age 17 years old and 9 months. 

Ever since these milestones, he’s established himself as one of the first names in the team-sheet in Bruno Genesio’s Rennes, playing mainly either as a right sided number 8 in a 4-3-3, or in the right side of the double pivot in a 4-4-2. He excels at many different attributes, both on and off the ball, making him an extremely desirable profile in the modern game.

ROLE IN BUILD-UP

Rennes’ 4-3-3

Camavinga operates as the 2nd most advanced midfielder in the 4-3-3, alongside Nzonzi, a classic lone #6, and Flavien Tait, an attacking #8. He can be described as an archetypical “box-to-box” midfielder, who has many responsibilities in the short build-up and ball progression, as well as stepping into the final third in attack.

Rennes aim to progress the ball mainly through the flanks, and they use a lot of width in order to achieve that. Nzonzi drops in the back-line and splits the two CB’s wider, creating a back 3, and pushing the full-backs high. Genesio uses a traditional attacking left-back who operates on the touchline (Truffert or Maouassa), while right back Hamari Traoré, inverts in the right side of midfield, close to Camavinga’s starting position, who himself moves centrally in front of the back 3 and forms a diamond. Right winger Jeremy Doku maintains the width on the right, while Tait (LCM), Bourigeaud (left winger) and the CF (Terrier or Guirassy), fill in the central and half-space lanes in Rennes’ forward line.

Renne’s shape in the build-up phase

The fact that Rennes progress the ball mainly through the flanks explains Camavinga’s relatively low 3.6 progressive passes per 90. His role in the build up is mostly to alleviate pressure by receiving the ball in central areas, before the ball gets played back out wide. He excels in that role technically, due to his excellent ball retention and technical security. He averages an immense 6.43 progressive carries per 90, by combining his close control, dribbling and long legs, which allow him to skip past challenges and pressures. He is also very comfortable at receiving the ball facing his goal, an action which is usually considered risky, not for him however, due to his overall ‘press resistance’.

Despite his role limiting him, he possesses excellent technique in his passes, and can easily break lines with his forward passing, bringing variety in Rennes’ build-up process. He is very biased to his left foot when passing (uses it 92% of the time), however his overall shiftiness on the ball erases that concern, and makes him an elite tool in the first phase.

The impressive thing about his ability on the ball is his confidence. It’s rare to see such a young player dictate a team’s tempo with his personality, aura and talent. He doesn’t shy away from responsibility, the opposite in fact, he is sometimes over-eager to get on the ball.

In this instance, he’s dropped in the back line to receive the ball between the CB’s. As he is pressured by the opposing CF, he uses his trademark body feint: body orientation shows he is going right, but he instead knocks the ball with his left foot towards the opposite side. His vatiery of body feints make him a very hard player to dispossess:

Once he gets past his marker and subsequently breaks the first line of pressure, he spots the playmaker Bourigeaud between the lines, and finds him with a beautifully paced ground pass that breaks Nantes’ midfield line:

He’s also shown good awareness off the ball in the build up. He alleviates pressure not only with his press resistance, but also with his awareness to move into open space. In this instance, he starts from deep and vacates the empty space and gives the passing option to Doku, who’s being pressured 1v1:

Camavinga then receives and carries the ball a few metres forward, before breaking the midfield line by finding Tait in behind with the disguised left footed pass:

FINAL THIRD / ATTACKING PLAY

Camavinga is also heavily involved in Rennes’ attacking play. He profiles as an advanced #8, operating slightly behind the forward line. Occasionally he will step into the box, but as of now, he is mostly adept at connecting the play to the forwards as a midfielder. While his creative stats are very average at this point (0.06 xAssists per 90 & 2.04 shot-creating actions per 90), I personally feel like he has great potential as a playmaker. Let’s dissect that:

Rennes’ final third structure

There is no clear right half-space forward presence for Rennes. The RW Doku is instructed to maintain width, and so we’ll see either the RB Traoré make underlapping runs into that space, or Camavinga will occasionally step into that space, as mentioned earlier.

Camavinga’s creative potential is very evident in the transition phase. Here he receives the ball in the middle of the pitch and immediately spots Doku making a run in behind Sevilla’s left back, who he then finds with a beautifully weighted pass. His vision is one of the most underrated parts of his game:

Again in transition, we see an instance of him showcasing intelligent movement off the ball, a sign of his versatility and IQ. He finds himself having occupied the right half-space. As Doku picks up the ball on the near-side touchline, he moves diagonally towards the same touchline, pulling the Dijon center back with him:

This allows Doku to move a few yards inside, and Camavinga, who is on the blind-side of the defender, makes a darting run in behind. Doku manages to find him with the lofted through ball:

He receives, carries the ball into the box, scans for runners, and cuts it back perfectly to the onrushing Terrier, who fails to make good connection with the ball:

Another good showcase of his off ball movement, this time in semi-transition is his assist against Dijon: Bourigeaud picks up the ball in the right touchline, and spots Camavinga making a straight run between the two center backs. He then proceeds to find him in behind with an angled through ball:

Camavinga receives the ball just inside the box, and is 1v1 with the goalkeeper at a very tough angle. Instead of rushing his shot, he looks up, sees Terrier making a late run, and calmly cuts it back to him for the open net finish:

As mentioned earlier, in settled attacks against a low block, his role is more of a midfielder’s and rarely attacks the box. At the moment, he definitely lacks goalscoring instincts, backed up by his very low 0.07 non-penalty xG per 90, however, I feel like the off ball movement he’s shown in the transition phase can absolutely translate into effective third-man runs in settled attacks in the future. Furthermore his ball striking is effective from distance, and I expect him to score quite a few long-rangers in his career, as he’s shown he is able to strike the ball with power, accuracy and swerve.

He also has excellent technique in receiving the ball between the lines. He receives progressive passes 3.3 times per 90, and his ability to turn and explode off them is quite impressive. 

Still he has potential to be effective in unlocking defences in the final third. As mentioned earlier, his dribbling technique is very good along with his body feints, and averages 1.98 completed dribbles per 90. He also scans the pitch a lot, and is always willing to participate in 1-2s and combination play.

In this instance, he’s drifted wide left to receive the ball. He passes it to Bourigeaud:

He immediately then makes the run beyond the opponent’s defensive line and Bourigeaud finds him just inside the box for the cutback:

Admittedly though, the weight of his pass occasionally lets him down in the final third when pressured, and also his decision making tends to be inconsistent.

In the example below, he has three very clear passing options, and all three would likely result in high xG shooting chances. Instead he hesitates, keeps the ball himself and fires a shot right at the keeper:

Despite some of his shortcomings in the final third, he is extremely useful against a settled defensive block as a deep playmaker. He averages 2.44 carries into the final third per 90, and his passing range from deep has been extremely impressive at times.

This lobbed pass from the middle of the park to find Bourigeaud breaking behind the defensive line was simply world-class:

Again, I want to reiterate that even though Camavinga has been inconsistent in his execution as a creator, his vision and striking technique are already there at 18 years old, and I maintain my belief that he has serious potential as a playmaker in the near future.

PHYSICAL PROFILE

An intriguing part in Camavinga’s development as a footballer is his unique physical profile at only 18 years old. He is a very athletic and mobile presence, who stands at 1.82 metres (6’0”), and has extremely long legs which help him for several things:

First of all, his long legs combined with his reactions, means he can get to the ball quicker than most others, and results in some nice one touch passes to avoid a duel, or when tackling. After all, he is one of the best tacklers in Europe, averaging 3.89 successful ones per 90 minutes.

Furthermore, his long legs means he has a big stride when covering long distances, on and off the ball. He is also a naturally fast player with a great engine.

His only weakness physically is his strength in duels (wins only 49.2% of his aerial duels) and weighing at only 68 kg, he could certainly use a little bulking up. However, it is fair to keep in mind that he is still only 18, and this will naturally improve over time in the future.

DEFENSIVE PROWESS

When out of possession, Genesio’s Rennes defend in a 4-5-1 mid block. Camavinga is a crucial part of the defensive structure, as he blocks space in the right side of the midfield 3. He also has the responsibility of stepping up at times and executing pressing traps, in order to disrupt the opponent’s build-up.

He is generally good at blocking space, and is intelligent at knowing when to commit in the press, however, he has shown some lapses of concentration.

In this example, he gets caught ball watching instead of guarding the left half-space, and is nowhere near pressing the ball or blocking the passing lane:

It is sensible to accept some defensive mistakes by such a young player, especially considering the other things he offers defensively, such as his elite tackling (mentioned above). The hope here is that some of these rare lapses of concentration will be ironed out with more experience.

He is also an energetic presser, averaging 22.55 pressures per 90, with 6.4 of them being successful. At times, Genesio would instruct his team to press high with 2 men in the highest line of engagement, in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 shape. Camavinga would usually join the center forward in the front 2:

VERDICT

After watching him extensively, Eduardo Camavinga is indeed one of the brightest young footballers in the world at the moment, and certainly has the highest upside out of any U-20 midfielder, rivalled only by Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham in my opinion. 

The most impressive thing for me is that while he is so raw as a footballer, he is yet very complete, an extremely rare and impressive mix. He could easily develop into an all-time great #6 or box-to-box #8, and even as a quality creator between the lines if he wanted to. He has shown the capability to play regular minutes in a high level top 5 league team, so if you asked me, he should prioritise a move to an outfit where he’d be a starting XI calibre player. In terms of profile, I think his current role is great for his development as a true box-to-box presence, as it demands for him to be active in every single phase of play. He should not specialise yet into a more limited role, as it would be a waste of the unprecedented talent and potential he possesses.

Written by @ncstef16