Background

Gabriel Neves was born in Maldonado but it’s in Montevideo with Uruguayan giants, Nacional, where his game has grown. Joining in his early teens and working his way up through their youth ranks, he has earnt international honours along the way.

At 23 years of age, he is now a regular starter for Nacional and was an instrumental part of them winning the league last season.

Assessment

Last season, Nacional would often lineup with a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-4-2 so Neves was predominantly used in the defensive midfield position, occasionally playing a more forward role. We can see with his VPM that it is heavily in favour of ATT, which is surprising for a defensive midfielder.

When we look at a couple of his central midfield partners from last season, Felipe Carballo and Mathías Cardercio (now at Defensor Sporting), we can see their VPM is much more balanced. Carballo had a 11 ATT, 10 DEF from a WR of 0.82; Cardercio had a 34 ATT, 24 DEF from an identical WR of 0.97.

The main difference between Neves and Cardercio, was that with the defensive actions, Cardercio had an extremely good success rate. Then when we look at Neves and fellow 23 year old, Carballo, it is Neves who has not only the superior success rate but also the superior volume.

For a defensive midfielder, Neves’ balance is unusual. However, given his team is a top of the table side and he often played with a defensive midfield partner, it isn’t a surprise that his DEF VPM is only 9.

These factors also meant he was able to get forward a bit more than a typical DM, grab a couple of goals and assists. He had a very good success rate for his offensive actions including the higher valued ones such as, through passes (49%), goals, crosses (44%) and final third passes (79%).

His overall distribution (87%) was clean and his range meant he could complete his passes at a high rate from anywhere on the pitch. Being comfortable on the ball and taking players on (53%), as well as having a reasonably accurate from midfield (33%), contributed to his high ATT VPM score.

The only weaknesses, and they’re minor, would be aerially (48%) and the timing of some of his tackles (sliding tackle success 41% and 13 yellow cards).

Conclusion

An overall solid player on both ends of the pitch. His distribution is of a high level and even as a defensive midfielder can offer a lot going forward. Only 23, so there’s a lot more to his game which could develop. At this stage and being conservative, he’d be a good fit for any second tier European league such as in Portugal or Belgium. He’d also do well in an Asian league like the Jleague or Kleague.

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