Federico Valverde's Superpower

In a squad of Galacticos, Federico Valverde is probably one of the most important players for Real Madrid. Especially post Toni Kroos, he has had to step up and try to be the leader in the midfield.

If you watch a Real Madrid match and solely focus on him you’ll notice he does a couple of things well:

1. Workhorse - wins tackles, makes important interceptions, runs up and down the pitch

2. Consistency - rarely misplaces passes, won’t have multiple poor performances

3. Progressive - excels at progressive carries (2.46 p/90) and progressive passes (6.58 p/90) helping move the ball into the opposition’s side of the pitch

He also has done something over the past couple of years that I don’t know why we don’t talk about more because this seems to be his superpower.

That is his ability to shoot from outside of the box.

Not only does he strike the ball hard, clean, and effectively, but he is also converting goals much higher than his expected goals numbers would suggest he should be.

Go look at his two goals this season in La Liga against Valladolid and Villarreal and they are cleanly hit long shots that have changed the game both times.

In all of his league matches with both Deportivo La Coruña and Real Madrid, Understat has him at:

• 156 shots

• 9 Goals

• 3.78 xG ( -5.22 xG - G)

So far this season, he doesn’t seem too keen on changing that trend of shooting outside the box as he hasn’t attempted a single shot from inside the box in league play! (up until the writing of this post)

How this superpower helps Real Madrid

In La Liga, teams will often play with a lower, more compact defense, especially if you are seeing a mismatch like Real Madrid vs a bottom-of-the-table team. When these teams are compact there are a couple of ways to beat them, and one of those is through long shots.

Players who depend on dribbling, or even teams that try to just pass around the top of the box for 45 minutes, will often struggle to break down these low blocks because of the tight spaces. A long shot, especially when it is hit accurately and powerfully, will draw the defense out from those positions. They know they have to come out and try to defend, deflect, or distract the player from accurately hitting the shot.

Valverde helps this Real Madrid team a lot by being a great long-shot shooter. Players like Mbappé, Vinicius, and Rodrygo need space in the final third, so Valverde’s shots open up the defense and allow space in those tight areas.

These types of shots do come with a downside though of it can often be a wasted attack.

Sometimes a team will pass pass pass and then someone tries to play hero ball and skies it into the stands.

Valverde will sometimes do this, but he is often forcing a save or attempt from the goalkeeper which keeps the defense on their toes.

What do you think of Valverde’s long-shot ability? Is it a key part of his game or is it just a bunch of waste and he should go back to making tackles from behind on Álvaro Morata?