Vinicius is the new ‘galactic’

There was no consensus on the figure of Vinicius. His football aroused a gradual curiosity, capable of the best and the worst so many times, difficult to scrutinize because of that exaggerated tendency to the good and the bad. A player with speed, dribbling and youth, but erratic in making the final decision and fighting for the goal. The object of ridicule and furious criticism, he had more detractors than supporters, although he was already established as an essential element in Madrid. Now, in a fair way, he has turned the general opinion around, he has broken all forecasts about his figure. Almost unanimously, Vinicius is already classified as what he appeared to be and did not finish being. He is a footballer of unique magnitudes, differential, expansive and showy. Perhaps such a colossal emergence was not seen coming, but Vinicius has earned Madrid’s galactic status in his own right, which will be accompanied by a renewal at the height of his growth.

The ascendancy of Vinicius in the Madrid game does not stop widening. He understands what he has to do, offers greater guarantees and has got rid of the goal problem. The arrival of Ancelotti has tempered Vinicius in all registers. He no longer acts in a hurry, he thinks what to do, and Madrid is grateful for this new version of maturity. His average passing accuracy shoots up to 86.9%, one point more than last year, six compared to 2019-20 and ten compared to 2018-19. The Brazilian participates more, signing 62 touches every 90 minutes (57 on average in 2020-21), and his teammates watch him continuously. He is the player in the top five who receives the most progressive passes. The match against Osasuna, denied by Madrid that night, is an obvious example. He attempted 71 passes (64 completed), his career record for white. This panorama triggers a greater significance for Vinicius in the Madrid pass circuit. In LaLiga, he has been involved in 71 sequences of shooting actions (13 ended in a goal), data that only his associate Benzema surpasses. And, above all, his renewed pulse emerges in definition. Vinicius’s goals are beginning to fall, in contrast to what happened to him in previous seasons.

The goal has entered the Vinicius catalog with force. He’s another player in the end zone. Your choices are getting more and more correct and your perimeter radar has been expanded. It is handled with greater finesse. Among the five major leagues there is no footballer under the age of 21 who has added more goals (9) and assists (5) than the Brazilian. Vinicius plays with his usual personality, now accompanied by a remarkable success and a sense of where he should be. In space it is unstoppable; in unemployed, their resources increase every game. There is no better way to appreciate this progression than with clearly illustrative and didactic images. So far only one flaw can be removed when it comes to defensive balance.

Vinicius continues to be a constant threat in one-on-one. For something, he leads the ranking of pipes (6) in LaLiga or the total number of players who have dribbled (40). Its ability to overflow breaks any defensive system. The number of drives in the domestic championship draws its lethality in this section. Vinicius records 21 drives for 90 minutes, with an average distance traveled of almost 13.2 meters. His ball transfers simplify Madrid’s attacks. Vinicius has created 24 occasions through his conductions, a number only surpassed by Fekir in LaLiga with 26. However, the Brazilian has scored three goals and provided nine key passes and one assist in these sequences. No one comes close to this easily quantifiable value. Vinicius is the king of statistics and the pitch. There are no longer any discrepancies about him, but a unique story. His renewal as a great footballer has to coincide with a new status in Madrid. The boy doesn’t want to slow down; nobody stops it anymore.