Eusébio, Luís Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo -- João Félix heir to Portugese throne!
PROFILE
João Félix 4th most expensive player of all time. Felix was the youngest player to score a hattrick in the Europa League in a 4-2 win victory over Eintracht Frankfurt while playing for Benfica. Felix isn't a physically dominant player, So physical presence is not his strength. Thanks to his agility and dribbling skills, he can keep the ball against physical opponents too.
POSITION
His best position is to play the second striker in a 4-4-2. He can also play comfortably as a 10 in 4-2-3-1. He is a perfect player for Simeone's system at Atletico and a worthy replacement for Griezmann. He can also play at right-wing during the build-up he drifts inside which leaves space for RB to attack.
CONTRIBUTING TO BUILD UP
Off the ball, he always occupies the space in between the opposition's midfield's and just in front of the defense. When in possession he can drop deep to help, but it's not his best zone of influence which is slightly further up the pitch. He can receive the ball at tight spaces, before finding his teammates or dribbling past the opposition. He is impressive in the building of transition and can free himself and the team with his first touch. Blended with his speed and his ability to spot a pass, he is lethal on the counter.
Here Felix is just behind the opposition's midfield, which allows his team to easily break the first line of defense. This is where Felix is at his devastating best, he influences the game from this position.
PASSING IN THE FINAL THIRD
When playing as the second striker, passing to the team's target man or wingers us an important attribute. Whenever he receives the ball, he looks up immediately to thread a defense splitting pass to his wingers or strikers. If he can't make the pass, he takes on his marker before laying it for his teammates or taking the shot himself. The central role is undoubtedly where Félix is most comfortable. This is reflected in his dribbles and progressive runs, 4.2 per game, and 1.8 per game respectively, compared to 3.07 per game and 1.02 per game when fielded elsewhere on the field. This central role gives him greater freedom to roam and allows him to put his technical ability to good work.
After receiving the ball he immediately finds his teammates run and makes a beautiful pass to his teammate.
Here he receives the ball and starts to exploit the space in front of him, before finding his teammate.
Again receives the ball in a tight space uses the space in front of him to take a shot.
DRIBBLING AND POSITION
Felix is dangerous when he gets the space to dribble. When he has players running in front of him, he hardly fails to play them perfectly timed through ball. About his position, he has a tendency to get into the box and step out a little bit, to find the space to take a shot or thread a beautiful pass to his teammate. He can lose defenders with his movement too and he is willing to shoot off his weaker left foot, which unsettles defenders - this is an area he could do with improving though.
Here Felix gets into the box where he finds himself in plenty of space to receive the ball.
Here he finds himself tightly marked and uses his speed and dribbling ability, to get past through the defender.
Hangs back to take advantage of defenders watching the ball.
THE DEFENSIVE ASPECT
Despite his natural talent and explosiveness in the attack, he is currently in the process of learning how to position himself to be most effective as a defender. He is good at pressing and is naturally sticky and hard to get rid of but he often loses his man and doesn't know how to position himself to prevent attacks. When he plays on the wing, he tends to neglect his defensive duties and only has two recoveries per game.
CONCLUSION
It is still far too early to even consider writing off Félix as a success at Atlético Madrid. Indeed, the early flashes of brilliance that he showed proof that he does have what it takes to bring something to Atlético Madrid that nobody else can. Out wide is a role that clearly does not support him and has frustrated his movement, with the consequent impact on his confidence affecting his finishing. There are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic regarding Félix’s future at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano given his impressive technical quality, but in his early months, it does not seem a clear tactical fit to put him into this side. With Suarez as a new number nine, he will help to get the best out of Felix.
