In this tactical analysis, we focus a magnifying glass on Emanuel Vignato. He is a crystalline talent of the first team of Chievo Verona (Serie B). Born in Negrar in the province of Verona in 2000, Vignato comes from an Italian-Brazilian family. Therefore, it is not by chance that he has already collected some presence in the Under-17 green-gold national team of Brazil and then decided to definitively “marry” the blue colours of Italy in the Under-18 and Under-20 squads.
Vignato began to play for Chievo´s first-team squad at the age of 16, in the 16/17 season, and soon the reasons for this choice were explained to everyone: his class, talent, and pure inspiration. It is no coincidence that he won the confidence of the Gialloblù squad in a noticeably short time. Since last season, the club has joined him on a permanent basis to the first team as well as given him his Serie A debut against Roma.
The Venetian jewel has not gone unnoticed even outside Verona: teams like Juventus and Milan, as well as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea, all seem to have asked his agent for information. However, Chievo sold him for just 2 million euros (current market value: 4,2 million euros) in the last winter transfer window. Otherwise, he would have become a free agent this summer. His new club Bologna immediately loaned him back to Chievo for a half year. In August, Vignato will return to Bologna to play in Serie A again.
Both, Chievo and Bologna know it: Vignato is a big talent and ready to start a successful career. This scout report will provide a tactical analysis of the role Vignato plays at Chievo. Furthermore, the analysis will show you how he will fit into Bologna´s tactics.
Role in the system at Chievo
In the 4-3-3 system of Alfredo Aglietti, Vignato (number 25) is deployed in the role of the right-winger. If necessary, he can also play on the left wing. So he can help the team playing as the most offensive player during a match as you can see in the image below.
If head coach Aglietti uses a tactic with an offensive midfielder (4-3-1-2), Vignato is playing as the only number 10 in an advanced midfield position or as a false 9. In these two positions, he can show his creativity the most.
During this campaign, the young Italian played as a right-winger (8), left-winger (4), offensive midfielder (17), and as a false 9 (1) in 30 matches. Clearly, Vignato is a very flexible offensive player.
Role in the system at Bologna
Bologna is lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that often becomes a 4-2-1-3 when the team is in attack. Bologna´s head coach Siniša Mihajlović relies on Nicolás Domínguez and Gary Medel for ball recuperation, and especially for serving the ball to either the full-backs or the three attacking midfielders, Roberto Soriano, Riccardo Orsolini on the right wing and Nicola Sansone on the left wing. Musa Barrow, the team’s striker, plays in front of them and moves to the right and to the left when needed to support the two wingers. This gives an extra passing option as he is also required to press high on the opponent´s goalkeeper.
As already mentioned, Bologna presses high up the pitch in most of their matches. This leads to the following formation by taking a look at the realistic positioning of Bologna´s players. It is striking that the right-winger is the most offensive player at Bologna as well. In the following map from the match against Cagliari, Barrow played as a left-winger and had the freedom to move centrally several times. That is why Vignato will not need to adapt his playing style that much. He can play very offensively and still has the opportunity to move centrally where he can create opportunities at his best.
In this tactic, Vignato could play every position in the offensive midfield as a left-winger, central offensive midfielder or right-winger. However, most of Bologna´s attacks are on their right side or through the centre. That is why it might be a good idea to let Vignato play left to create more chances on this side. Then, Bologna would be more flexible in their offensive game.
Playmaking
Vignato follows the line of creative and offensive players, therefore with a more than moderate basic technique: in reception, his percentages are highly positive, and he has excellent use of oriented control. Vignato is a player who likes to play short, particularly to the closest partner with only one contact: over 70% of all his passes are of this type.
As you can see in the image below, before receiving a pass Vignato checks the space around him. This way, he can see if an opponent is in his near. On the other hand, he can also look for a teammate. Seeing a better-positioned player from his own team, Vignato tries to pass the ball to him with only one contact and therefore with his first touch. This procedure opens up new space and keeps up the pace in Chievo´s game.
Of course, he is not able to play short passes during the whole match. That is why shifting sides is another important ability Vignato can use. His exceptional overview allows him to shift the sides in nearly every situation during the match. In the following images, we have different situations and in each of them, Vignato finds an incredibly good solution thanks to his overview.
In the first action, the side where Chievo has possession is marked by many opponents and there is no chance to break through. That is one of the moments where Vignato shows his ability to shift the side. Looking on the other wing he recognises a big free space for his teammate Lorenzo Dickmann and immediately plays a long ball to him. Dickmann can start to put the opponent´s defence under pressure. At Bologna, the wingers often move centrally. In these situations, Vignato can play this type of pass to the full-backs regularly to provide width.
But Vignato does not only use his overview for smart key passes. Thanks to his speed and brilliant ball control, he can also exploit free spaces himself and can create overload situations as you can see in the image below. Again, this is a quality he will use at Bologna as their wingers drift towards the centre permanently.
Combining this overview with Vignato´s intelligence is what makes him such a big talent. He is smart and reads the game wisely. He knows where his teammates are positioned on the pitch and what move must come up next. As you can see in the image below, Vignato is anticipating very quickly. If there is an opportunity to cross the ball from the half-space, he finds the perfect timing for that. That is why Chievo´s striker is not standing off-side at the moment the ball leaves Vignato´s foot.
In the following situation, Vignato receives a pass which was played in his back. That could be a reason why the counter-attack fails. However, Vignato reacts quickly and uses his ability to read the game once again. By looking on the one side of the pitch, he definitely knows that Chievo´s left full-back will run down the wing on the other side of the pitch.
Therefore, Vignato turns quickly with one contact and shifts the side again. Now, Chievo has a good opportunity to score if they use the 2 vs. 3 situation wisely.
The next image shows a situation where Vignato receives the ball near the midfield line. He notices how the right full-back is running down the wing and is waiting for a long-range pass by Vignato. By playing one perfect-timed pass, Vignato breaks the opponent´s midfield line as well as their defensive line.
Vignato´s passing ability is important for his playing style and therefore, a high percentage of his passes are successful (80,3%). Compared to Bologna´s current offensive midfielders, only Soriano provides a more successful passing rate of 82,4%. Bologna´s right-winger Orsolini has the worst rate (only 61,1%). However, as an offensive midfielder, Vignato will need to do more passes into the penalty box and dangerous areas on the pitch. He only provides 1,24 passes into the penalty box per 90 minutes – that is definitely not enough for a creative midfielder.
Most of Vignato´s passes are more horizontal and are not dangerous enough. His crosses into the penalty area are mostly unsuccessful as you can see in the map below. His passes into the final third (5.16 per 90 minutes) are only average in Serie B. He will have to work on them to provide more in Serie A.
Off-the-ball movement
As already mentioned, Vignato reads the game wisely and because of his intelligence, he might have an advantage over the opponents. As central offensive and creative midfielder Vignato takes part in Chievo´s build-up play. Thanks to his off-the-ball movement Chievo is able to build triangles. Adding to that, Vignato creates an overload in possession. In the image below, Chievo can build-up their game extremely easy from the back using triangles and having an overload (5 vs. 3 situation).
But, Vignato´s off-the-ball movement is also particularly important for Chievo´s counter-attacks. As shown in the image below, Vignato uses an overlapping run to receive the ball in a free space in the opponent´s half. With his speed, Vignato can create a 3 vs. 3 situation together with his teammates.
The next image presents another example of Vignato´s off-the-ball movement supporting his team´s counter-attack. He sees the free space in front of him and immediately starts a run into this space. On the one hand, this action opens up a new space for his teammates, while on the other, Vignato is completely free now and can use his speed to create a goalscoring opportunity.
However, Vignato can still improve his off-the-ball movement as he needs to do more progressive runs. Compared to Bologna´s offensive players, he does not provide enough runs into advanced areas as he has the shortest distance together with Orsolini as you can see in the diagram below:
Technique
As you might already have noticed, Vignato has incredibly good ball control. He uses this for well-timed passes and is able to play those with just one touch. Not many players have such an ability. Nevertheless, Vignato uses this technical ability to dribble as well. But unlike many other technically gifted players, Vignato does not want to show off his skills. He is smart again and tries to find efficient solutions.
In the image below, Vignato attracts 5 opponents. That is why just two opponents have to handle a 4. vs. 2. situation. Thanks to his overview, Vignato can pick one teammate (who is onside) to play the ball to. On the other hand, Vignato has the opportunity to shoot.
In the next image, Vignato again uses his dribbling skills to attract five players. Now, he can easily play an interface pass and run into a free space just 17 meters in front of the opponent´s goal. By getting the ball back, Vignato can shoot from this dangerous position.
In this season, Vignato provides 4.93 dribbles per 90 minutes and 3.3 of his dribbles are successful. This means he wins 67% of all his dribbles and therefore, two out of three. Left-winger Sansone provides 7.47 dribbles but only wins 54% of them. Orsolini has similar stats (6.86 dribbles and 51.7% successful). Soriano provides only 2.74 dribbles and only wins 55.5% of them. These statistics are not good ones for offensive players in Serie A and it shows that Vignato definitely can help Bologna to fix this problem as he has the best rate. As you can see in his dribble map down below, Vignato is extraordinarily good in dribbles on the left wing playing against right full-backs. In these duels, he has a success rate of 100% in 24 dribbles. No doubt, this is a world-class statistic.
Goal contribution
Vignato has all the abilities and the potential that an offensive allrounder needs. He is technically gifted, has an outstanding overview, and reads the game wisely. However, an offensive player´s success is always counted by the goal contributions. So, it is important that Vignato produces something out of his talent.
The following image provides you with an assist of Vignato. In the penalty box are too many defenders. While 8 out of 11 opponents are within the penalty box, Vignato has to find a solution which ideally leads to a goal. Therefore, he uses his overview once again and plays an interface pass to a free-standing teammate outside the penalty box (approximately 19 metres in front of the goal). He can shoot from this distance and scores the important goal which leaves Chievo only one down.
By taking a closer look at Vignato´s xG (0.19 per 90 minutes) and xA (0.14 per 90 minutes), we can see that these numbers are not the best for an offensive player. Orsolini with an xG of 0.28 and an xA of 0.18 seems to be the most dangerous player together with Sansone (xG: 0.34 and xA: 0.15) in the current Bologna squad.
However, in the end it is important to use the opportunities. This season, Vignato scored four goals and assisted three more times. These numbers are similar to the numbers of Bologna´s left-winger Sansone (four goals, four assists). Meanwhile, Soriano (four goals, seven assists) and Orsolini (nine goals and seven assists) have more goal contributions. Of course, the level in Serie A is higher than in Serie B. Nevertheless, Vignato played only 1,836 minutes while Sansone (2,006 minutes), Soriano (2,083) and Orsolini (2,639) have played way more minutes this season. So, Vignato´s stats are quite good but he will have to prove his class in Serie A next season.
Defensive contribution
Currently, Vignato´s biggest weakness is his defensive work rate. He is known for his technique and his outstanding offensive qualities. On the other hand, he will have to work on his defensive contribution. In the heatmap down below, we can see that he is working good in the offence but is rarely found in Chievo´s own half.
As already mentioned, by playing as a right-winger, Vignato is used to being the most offensive player in the team. At the moment, his defensive stats are not good enough as he recovers the ball only 3.58 times per 90 minutes.
However, as you can also see in the map, most of his recoveries are made by counter-pressing. All in all, he provides 5.22 successful pressures per 90 minutes and therefore, he can hold up with the offensive players from Bologna´s current squad. Only Soriano provides more successful pressings (5.57 per 90 minutes). Also, thanks to his intelligence Vignato is not dispossessed often and in this way, he can compensate for his physical disadvantages and weak defensive work rate a bit. He is the player being less dispossessed (1.24 per 90 minutes). To compare: Bologna´s current left-wing Sansone is dispossessed 2.43 times per 90 minutes. Especially in a team like Bologna playing with a pressing line high up the pitch, Vignato is a perfect player providing good stats for this playing philosophy.
Conclusion
As seen in this analysis, Vignato is already a good player but has even more potential. He will definitely improve Bologna´s squad and can play every position in their offensive midfield line. He perfectly fits into Bologna´s philosophy to recruit young talented players. Also, the young Italian is well suited for Bologna´s current playing style. With Orsolini, Soriano, and Sansone, he will face exceptionally good competitors for a place in the weekly starting eleven. With Soriano and Orsolini playing a fantastic season, he might take the place of Sansone next season. On the left wing, Vignato´s successful dribble rate is 100%. He can move towards the centre to create opportunities or to shoot with his strong right foot.
If things go well, Vignato will not stay at Bologna for a long time. The amount of interested European elite clubs will rise. At Bologna, Vignato still can improve his own abilities. When he fulfils his own potential, he will be ready for a move to a big club in one of the top leagues in Europe after two or three seasons. The UEFA European Football Championship 2020 is postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19. When the upcoming season starts early and Vignato can show his abilities in Serie A again, he might be a possible squad member of Italy´s national team in 2021. All in all, Vignato is a name to remember and he is already regarded as one of the most talented Italian youngsters.
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