While striker Joshua Zirkzee, who went on to be crowned Serie A Best Young Player for the 2023/24 season, left Italy to join Manchester United, one of the other leading young talents has made a move to Serie A royalty in Roma.
Matías Soulé recently joined Daniele De Rossi’s Roma from fellow Italian giants Juventus, but the Argentine spent last season on loan at Frosinone – and he utilised that loan period excellently, showing Italy’s big clubs just what he is capable of.
Frosinone were eventually relegated to Serie B, but that did not stop Soulé putting on a show, contributing 11 goals and three assists in Serie A.
His explosive attacking abilities saw him rank high for several key metrics in comparison to U21 Serie A players – probably a huge attraction for Roma, who reportedly faced competition from English and Italian clubs for Soulé’s signature.
This Matias Soule tactical analysis and data-led, player-focused scout report will provide insight into Soulé’s abilities and his style, with the analysis reflecting on why the 21-year-old could be a good match for Roma’s tactics.
Matías Soulé Player Overview
We mentioned that Soulé ranked high in several metrics in comparison to U21 players in Serie A, but the same can be said for his statistics in comparison to Serie A RWs of all ages.
While his defensive engagement is low, especially when it comes to defensive duels, his involvement in possession and contributions in the final third could give Roma a different kind of edge in attack in the 2024/25 campaign.
As you can see, last season, while on loan at Frosinone, Soulé posted high percentiles for key attacking metrics such as dangerous passes, progressive passes, and dribbles – his goal contribution percentile is not to be dismissed either.
Interestingly, he also posted a high percentile for received passes per 90 – while playing as an attacking winger for a team in a relegation battle, yet to rank highly against other RWs in terms of ball engagement says a lot about the importance of Soulé in Frosinone’s attack last season.
Matías Soulé Heat Map
Roma deployed a variety of formations last season, but their most common was the 3-5-2 – it would be interesting to see Soulé adapt to be successful in this role as his defensive responsibilities at Frosinone were minimal.
Frosinone’s most common formation last season was the 4-3-3, although they did utilise the 3-4-2-1 in some fixtures.
As you can see from Soulé’s 23/24 heatmap above, he does offer the presence in his own half while also offering a variety of width to his position, as opposed to just staying wide.
Matías Soulé Goal Threat
Roma will be hoping to improve on their 2023/24 campaign, in which they finished sixth for the third consecutive season – in fact, they haven’t finished in the top four since 2017/18.
While they must become stronger defensively, their attacking output last season was positive – they averaged 1.56 goals per 90, the fourth-highest in Serie A.
With an attacking threat already established, De Rossi will be looking for new signing Matías Soulé to make his Roma side even more formidable in attack.
A threat in both goalscoring and chance creation, Matías Soulé recorded an expected G/A of 16.6 last season — Serie A’s eighth-highest in comparison to all players within in the league, while being the best record of any U21 player.
The same can be said for his actual G/A contribution of 14 — no U21 Serie A player was able to get near that number, and he even ranked in the top 20 against all Serie A players.
Matías Soulé Shot Map
As we touched upon in the intro, Matías Soulé contributed 11 goals for Frosinone last season – more than any other U21 player in Serie A (and ranking among the top 20 for all players in the league).
While five of those goals were penalties, he would still be the highest-scoring U21 player in Serie A last season without them!
His shot map above demonstrates how much of a threat he can be inside the box, while also giving us some insight into his long-range attributes.
Last season, Soulé averaged 2.25 shots per 90 – again, higher than any other U21 Serie A player: these key attacking statistics all point towards a player who is playing ahead of his years and is potentially ready to lead a team to their best league campaign in years.
Matías Soulé Shot Assists
Scoring goals wasn’t his only imposing asset in the final third last season – his chance creation was likely a huge green flag for Roma.
While three assists is not a notable piece of data for a winger, his xA of nearly double his actual tally suggests that he is capable of creating chances on a fairly consistency basis – and with all due respect to Frosinone, Soulé will have higher quality teammates getting on the end of his crosses and final passes.
Matías Soulé Passing Range
In his short career so far, Matías Soulé has also been known to play in the number 10 role, and after assessing his passing data from last season, we can see why!
His percentile registers from the last campaign, when it came to passing metrics, hinted at an impressive passing range, and when you dive deeper into the individual statistics, the notion is confirmed.
The pass map above gives you some insight into Soulé’s ability when it came to progressing possession via passing – plenty of dangerous passes into the box from a multitude of locations.
Last season, he averaged 6.03 progressive passes per 90, which saw him rank among the top 10 U21 players in Serie A. He matched that impressive tally with a remarkable accuracy rate of 80%.
Soulé also excels in other passing metrics – 2.2 deep completions per 90 (highest vs U21 Serie A players; sixth overall in Serie A), 1.5 smart passes per 90 (highest vs U21 Serie A players), and 0.91 key passes per 90, which sees him rank in the top 10 among all Serie A players (highest vs U21 players.
One area in particular that Roma will benefit from is Soulé’s tendency for a through pass.
Last season, Roma averaged 6.43 through passes per 90 (second-highest in the league), while Soulé attempted 1.66 per 90 – Serie A’s third-highest register, the highest of any U21 player in the division.
Matías Soulé Ball Progression
As you would expect from a young and exciting winger who has just joined one of Italy’s most prestigious clubs, Soulé has shown signs of being a talented dribbler.
In fact, Soulé could just be the player to add another dimension to Roma’s attacking tactics – last season, Roma recorded the third-lowest attempt for dribbles, making just 18.18 per 90.
Soulé’s presence, one would assume, would be sure to boost that if De Rossi allows him the freedom to do so – the Argentine youngster averaged an exciting 7.78 dribbles per 90 (highest of any U21 Serie A player; seventh-highest total), with an accompanying success rate of 45.86%.
That consistency in terms of being direct and attacking on the ball could give some full-backs some real problems—if De Rossi is prepared to tweak his tactics to allow for that injection of intensity to his team’s approach.
This map demonstrates Soulé’s ability within ball progression by carrying the ball himself — 3.35 progressive runs per 90 is the fourth-highest of U21 Serie A players, and as you can see, he has shown a capability of executing that skill in an array of positions.
Soulé carried the ball into the opposition box a total of 179 times last season in 3356 minutes of Serie A football for Frosinone – that’s 4.8 penetrating carries per 90, which indicates a serious attacking threat, mainly from the right flank.
As the visual above shows as well, Soulé is able to perform these runs from deeper zones, signalling his intent early on and displaying the ability to carry the ball over large distances to take his team forward quickly.
Conclusion
For a reported fee of £21.9m, Roma have secured one of Serie A’s most exciting prospects, and he’s already equipped to make a significant contribution at a high level.
With Matias Soule style of play, he could be the player to help push Roma back into the frame for Champions League football over the next few years – and he could even become a hugely sellable asset for the club.
If he shows even more promise, Europe’s riches will likely come knocking, willing to pay a big fee.
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