With the rise of social media and the general availability of football footage and information, it’s becoming normal for teenage players who are almost kids to be qualified as the next big thing before they make a single senior appearance and based on some highlights. At first, the case of Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa (2006, Brazil) seemed one of these.
However, Endrick has proven he’s a special one by being one of the best players in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, usually known as Copinha. This tournament is the best showcase of Brazilian U20 players and one of the best tournaments to spot young talents in the world.
Playing for Palmeiras U20 at the age of 15, Endrick has completed a phenomenal tournament, helping his team win their first Copinha ever. Playing in full stadiums, his performances have attracted the interest of some of the biggest clubs in the world.
It’s La Liga’s giants (Real Madrid and Barcelona) who seem to be the most interested in Endrick, inviting him to visit their stadiums in the last few weeks and starting a ‘Cold War’ to secure the signing of the highly-rated player when he turns 18 in 2024.
In this tactical analysis, we’ve had a look at Endrick’s Copinha to find out why he has attracted this interest.
Player profile
Despite being almost a kid, Endrick already stands out for his physical condition. Naturally left-footed, he stands at 1.75m and possesses very strong lower limbs. His power can be seen both in his top acceleration and change of pace and in the way he resists challenges using his hips and arms. He can sustain his top speed over long distances too, which is very useful when he runs in behind or carries the ball forward. Despite not being super tall, he still does well in the air thanks to his powerful jump.
Technically, Endrick has everything you would expect from a Brazilian forward. His first touch to receive the ball in tight spaces is excellent, he’s skilled and creative in his dribbles and his shots are very powerful and accurate, which makes him a deadly finisher. Still not a mature player, he likes to showboat knowing he’s usually the best player on the pitch, and even if it’s part of his game, it’s something he’ll transform into more useful plays with time.
Regarding his movement, Endrick doesn’t participate a lot in the attacking game as he’s more a finisher than a creator. He can drop deep to use his strength to receive between the lines and combine but quickly returns to an advanced position. He’s intelligent to find spaces between the centre-backs and always ready to run in behind and get to any ball that goes over the defensive line. While his technique and dribbling allow him to drift wide and create from there, he only does it in transitions to create some space but, again, he usually gets back to a central position between the centre-backs very quickly.
Complete goalscorer
Endrick is a very talented player who does lots of things to a very high level but what differentiates him from others at his young age is his scoring ability. Despite being 15 and playing with players up to five years older than him — a huge difference at this age — Endrick managed to score six goals in just 294 minutes across seven games in the Copinha (1.84 goals per 90).
As we mentioned in the previous section of this tactical analysis, Endrick plays most of the time off the shoulder of the last defender so he’s always in the right position to attack passes in behind using his speed to get away from the centre-backs. He’s always very focused and his instinct to chase long passes can transform any clearance into a scoring opportunity.
Being rather small and very quick, Endrick is a very difficult striker to mark and creates things very easily in the smallest spaces. His ability to receive the ball in tight spaces in the box is excellent, combining an excellent first touch — both technically and orientation-wise — with his explosiveness to create chances before rivals can react.
When his first touch doesn’t set up a chance immediately, Endrick still has his excellent dribbling to beat defenders and create his own chances. Once he receives the ball in and around the box, the chances of him finishing the play are very high.
In this map, we can see Endrick’s shots in his last ten games (six in the 2022 Copinha). The first thing we notice is that most of his shots come from high-xG positions, preferably on the right side to finish with his strong left foot. His finishing is excellent from central areas but can improve from wide, mostly on the decision-making side. We also see how confident he is with three shots and one goal from the midfield line in the last ten games.
Endrick finishes with power and accuracy, especially with his left foot. His right is also decent and he’s not afraid of using it when he has to. His finished improved a lot in his last games as he seems more focused on scoring rather than attempting nice showboating finishes that aren’t as effective. He’s still a creative finished and has the ability to score from difficult situations.
Let’s see some examples to understand Endrick’s scoring abilities. In the first one, which was widely reported in media, we see how confident Endrick is. A loose ball falls at the edge of the box and instead of bringing it down and playing, Endrick’s instinct is to attempt a bicycle kick that ends up in the top corner. Here, he shows his plasticity, technique and confidence.
The next one was another of the goals of the tournament. The play starts with Endrick receiving in the left half-space in a counterattack. He beats the first defender by getting the ball forward and using his acceleration and strength. As the second one challenges him, a quick touch is enough to pass the defender and when the goalkeeper comes out, Endrick calmly lobs him.
In the last one, Endrick receives the ball in the box with his back to the goal. He turns and gets central with a quick touch, creating some space to shoot but being challenged quickly by the centre-back. He resists the challenge using his arms and hips, even making the defender fall to the ground. With time to finish, he hits a powerful shot to the far post with his left foot.
Another interesting point about the striker is his aerial ability. Despite not being tall, Endrick manages to win lots of headers thanks to his jump and strength. If he has some space to spring, he can beat taller players both to head crosses or flick the ball.
We can see his jumping power in the next example. Against a much taller defender, Endrick sprints before jumping and catches the ball very high.
In this section of the scout report, we’ve analyzed how Endrick behaves in the box and his scoring abilities, which is the main reason why he’s been chased by some of the top teams in the world. In the next sections, we’ll focus on other aspects of his game.
Contribution outside the box
Even if his main contribution comes from his finishing, Endrick can also produce things and play outside the box. First of all, he has the physicality to receive the ball with his back to the goal, protect it until his teammates arrive and even turn and progress himself. He combines with his good first touch, which makes Endrick a striker who can hold the ball very effectively and create time and space for his team.
Endrick’s physical dominance in youth football means he’s fouled very often, which is another good contribution as he generates opportunities to attack from set-pieces. Given his age, he’s expected to continue developing and shouldn’t have problems translating this into senior football. The next graph shows all the fouls Endrick received in his last ten games.
Regarding his passing quality, Endrick has shown promising signs. His dribbling ability and scoring instinct make rivals press him as quickly as possible and he uses that to his favour, attracting them before releasing the ball to a better-positioned teammate
He also likes to penetrate the rival defence with quick combinations. His speed over short distances is phenomenal and it allows him to leave rivals behind with one-twos. Once he passes the ball, his teammates know he’ll get into the box so they don’t need to think a lot to give the ball back to him and his acceleration does the rest.
Let’s see some examples of his passing ability and combinations. In the first one, Endrick receives with his back to the goal and gets past the defender with a backheel flick to run towards the goal. As soon as two rivals focus on him, he passes the ball into his teammate’s run, who gets into the box unmarked.
The next one shows again his tendency to play quickly and with quality at the edge of the box. He receives the ball from a midfielder and again uses his skill to make a backheel pass to his teammate. Immediately after the pass, he runs in behind before the rival and react and turn, ready to receive the ball again.
But Endrick also has the quality to be the assisting part in these combinations. In the next play, he receives the ball from a running teammate and with a very nice first-touch flick using the outside of his left foot, he gives the ball back and creates an excellent scoring opportunity.
Another aspect of Endrick’s game that stands out is his ball-carrying ability. Playing in a very advanced position, he doesn’t have the chance to show it too often but his explosiveness, strength in duels and dribbling skills make him an almost unstoppable player once he’s on the move.
Endrick exploits his running ability on the ball mainly in counterattacks. His good work ethic means he’s often deep in the defensive phase so he can receive the ball there, dribble past several rivals and progress by himself. He also shows his speed on the ball when rivals play with a high defensive line and he receives passes in behind far from the goal. In these situations, he’s very difficult to catch and even rivals who are off the ball struggle to reach his speed.
Next, we have a good example of how Endrick can escape pressure and establish his team in the opposition half with his running power and dribbling ability. He receives the ball wide in his half and gets past the first player and into the opposition half with ease using his acceleration. Once there, two rivals have to foul him very hard to stop him. Here, he also shows his determination as he could have stopped after the first foul but senses he can still progress more.
As a negative aspect, Endrick tends to showboat in unnecessary situations and provoke rivals with his skills, especially when he’s winning. While this contributes to the spectacle and is very common in Brazil with PSG’s Neymar being a clear example, Endrick could choose better when to showboat to combine spectacle and effectiveness.
The next screenshot is a good example. With Palmeiras winning 3-0 in the final of the Copinha, Endrick attempts a senseless rainbow flick that infuriates his rival. Not that attempting it is bad but this time he wasn’t even being pressed by the rival so it’s completely useless.
Endrick is a spectacular player who contributes mostly in the box but can also play outside it thanks to his directness, technique and speed. In the last section of the analysis, we’ll have a look at his defensive work.
Defensive work
Despite being his team’s star, Endrick doesn’t give up defensive responsibilities and shows a great work rate. There’s still something childish about him when he defends but in a positive way as he really tries to recover the ball and doesn’t just cover his shadow. His speed allows him to challenge rivals before they can control the situation and he’s also strong in duels so has everything to be a good pressing forward.
The next map shows Endrick’s defensive actions in his almost 300 minutes in this season’s Copinha. The dots are defensive duels (blue if successful) and the triangles are interceptions.
We see Endrick has been a very effective presser, recovering up to 11 balls in the opposition half and lots of them very close to the box. But he’s also a hard-working striker who will track back and defend in his half if his team requires that.
The defensive duels Endrick wins in the middle and first third are mostly because of his ability to catch rival midfielders off guard and press them from behind. He’s very intelligent in these actions and combines them very well with his qualities in counterattacks so he can transform a rival attack into a scoring opportunity for his team quite easily.
Conclusion
At 15, it’s difficult to say where Endrick will end up in three years when he’ll be allowed to sign a professional contract anywhere in the world. Even if he doesn’t develop any further, which is unlikely given his age, his current physical abilities would make him a very interesting player at the senior level. He also has the technical proficiency one expects from Brazilian forwards and the scoring instinct of the best strikers the country has produced.
Any team that reaches an agreement with him will surely invest in having someone close to him, overviewing his development, life habits and environment to make sure he’s ready for the big step when he turns 18 on 21/07/2024. If everything goes well, he could reach that date with a handful of senior appearances and goals in the Brazilian Serie A, ready to make it at the highest level.
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