The 19-year-old Matías Soulé is a diamond in the rough and is seen as one of Juventus’ brightest prospects, having signed a new deal until 2026. The youngster has gone from strength to strength in the last seasons since joining Juventus from Velez Sarsfield’s youth in 2020, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing.
However, once he did get going, Soule wasted no time in showing the Bianconeri his quality, registering five goals and five assists in the under-19s leading to him being promoted to the Under 23s side going into the 21/22 campaign. He took that form emphatically into Juve’s Serie C side, scoring seven goals and registering five assists in 32 games across all competition last season, including scoring in both 3-1 UEFA Youth League wins over Chelsea despite being on the pitch for a combined total of 20 minutes.
His form led to him being named in Massimiliano Allegri’s squad for the first time in September in a 2-1 defeat to Napoli. Two months later, he managed to make his debut for Juve in a 2-0 away win vs Salernitana. Soule made two appearances for the first team last season, some feat given the pedigree of players in front of him such as Paulo Dybala, Federico Chiesa and Juan Cuadrado.
This season, he already played in four Serie A games and twice in the UEFA Champions League. The international stage also presented opportunities as well. Soule made his debut for Argentina’s U-20 side in March in a 2-2 friendly against the USA and has even been a part of training camps recently with Lionel Scaloni’s first-team squad.
This Matías Soulé tactical analysis provides an in-depth scout report of Juventus’ Matias Soule and examines the 19-year-old’s playing style and characteristics. In addition to understanding how and where Soule plays, this analysis will also identify the style of tactics where he is most likely to thrive. Is he the next player to make his way into elite football under Massimilano Allegri?
Matías Soulé Player Profile
The hierarchy of left-footed Argentinian stars looks set to obtain another generation in the form of Juventus right winger Matias Soule. Hailing from Mar De Plata in Buenos Aires, the wide man’s technical ability, willingness to run at defenders and trademark of cutting in on his left foot has drawn comparisons with the likes of Angel Di Maria and Dybala, a player which Soule regards as a hero given his similarities with the former Juventus star in being able to function as an attacking midfielder or second striker.
His best playing role is when he is used as a wide playmaker. Wide playmakers are regularly involved in possession with frequent reception of possession in the halfspace. They have a moderate level of chance creation and can come from wide areas with a high number of chances also created in central areas. This type of attacker does not perform a high number of crosses or dribbles into the middle of the pitch although they can produce a moderate amount of chance creation from central areas.
As you can see in his heatmap below, Soule plays on the right wing most of the time but likes to cut inside and receive passes in the half-spaces.
Matías Soulé Attacking Phase
Matias Soule is a good dribbler who maintains high acceleration and speed when moving with the ball at his feet. At the same time, Soule stays aware of his teammates and does well to keep himself from trying to dribble out of every situation. He tries to pick the right moments to display his skill with the ball. In the map below, you can see his successful and unsuccessful dribbles.
The youngster is excellent at escaping from pressure and is a threat to get by multiple defenders with progressive runs. One big advantage he has is his very good first touch and game intelligence. In the image down below, he moves inside into the half-space and attracts five defenders.
Soule operates well in tight spaces with his smooth control and ability to improvise with defenders closing him down as you can see in the following situation. The youngster receives the ball in the half-space with his back to the goal and with three defenders near. Thanks to his first touch and awareness, he can dribble into a more central area with lots of space.
Currently, he gets fouled very often. One strength is his body positioning in duels in combination with his intelligent movement.
However, Soule has a very slight physical profile at this point. Therefore, he will not get some of the foul calls that he currently receives at higher levels that are more physically demanding.
Additionally, he provides the occasional spectacular moment with his left foot on shots from distance. Therefore, he is also an offensive set-piece threat and can take direct free-kicks.
As you can see in his shot map below, he does try to shoot every time there is an opportunity for him to do so – even from outside the box. In the following situation, he uses his smart movement and positioning in attack. He provides a passing option in zone 14 outside of the box even before his teammate receives the ball. That is how he makes life easier for his teammates.
Another situation where he proves his game intelligence and smart movements is when Juventus are on a counterattack. Instead of staying wide, Soule is in the half-space again and supports the attack. He stays in one line with Milik who is on the ball. It is difficult to defend these situations since Soule can attract a defender so Milik can shoot himself. On the other hand, Milik can choose between a pass into Soule’s foot as well as a through pass into Soule’s progressive run.
In the last two seasons, he provided 155 attempts with an average xG of 0.07. He slightly underperforms his overall xG of 11.47 by 2.47 (=9 goals). But, as of now, he is still poor when attempting to use his weaker right foot. So, he is quite one-footed at this point.
Another area to improve is his passing. Currently, he lacks precision in his passing. He is better when on the receiving end of combination play rather than when he attempts to initiate the attacks.
Matías Soulé Defensive Phase
He picks his moments well when moving forward. Generally, the Argentinian maintains the team shape in defence and attack and is not too adventurous. Thanks to his game intelligence, he is aware to work defensively and positions himself good from a tactical point of view. In the following image, Soule needs to cover Benfica’s winger since Juan Cuadrado moved up to the right wing.
For his type of his player, Soule works quite good in defence and tries his best to improve at this point. In his ball recovery map, we can see how hard he works defensively which is not a matter of course for a typically young playmaker.
However, Soule can be dominated in aerial duels due to a lack of size and strength. He needs to be more efficient and effective in defensive duels and when attempting tackles. At the moment, lots of his tackles are unsuccessful or lead to fouls against him.
Since he is very slight at a young age, this lack of physical strength means he can be muscled off the ball easily if defenders can challenge him. On the other hand, he also struggles in defensive duels.
Conclusion
Soule has gradually progressed since moving to European football and continues to improve as he gains more experience.
It’s looking likelier that he could feature more prominently for Juventus this season. Dybala left on a free transfer, with a move to rivals AS Roma.
Tottenham made Dejan Kulusevski‘s loan move to North London permanently and Federico Chiesa is still recovering from an ACL injury picked up against Roma in January.
With all three right-wingers out of the picture, Soule should be given the chance to show he can be more than just a bit part player next season, with his attitude and humble family upbringing standing him in good stead to become a star of the future and potentially replace Dybala.
If he won’t get that playing time, he should consider a loan move. But Juventus should try to bring him on the pitch more often instead of loaning him to a weaker Serie A club or Serie B club since Soule definitely has the quality and potential to play elite football.
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