One of the best up-and-coming defenders in Serie A is Fiorentina’s Pietro Comuzzo.

At the start of last season, the 19-year-old centre-back was a virtual unknown in Italy, where he was still playing at the U18/U19 level. 

Still, he made a promising impression in his six first-team appearances in various competitions.

The impression must have been a lasting one, too, as he has emerged as a regular starter for Fiorentina this season, already making 15 appearances in all competitions.

His form this season has not gone unnoticed, with Italy manager Luciano Spalletti calling Comuzzo up to the Italy senior squad recently – while he did not feature, the call-up itself is a mark of his ability.

Furthermore, his emergence this season has caught the eye of several clubs, including Serie A giants Inter and Premier League side Everton.

This scout report will provide an analysis of Comuzzo’s style of play at Fiorentina so far in the 2024/25 campaign, looking at his role in Fiorentina’s tactics as well as a series of data analysis segments.

Pietro Comuzzo Player Overview

What you may notice from his radar map in Figure 1 is that nothing really jumps off the page – no real standout qualities that are apparent in the measurable metrics above.

As we examine this scout report, it becomes increasingly apparent that Comuzzo isn’t a flashy central defender. 

He’s not likely to carry the ball out of defence and step into midfield or execute regular progressive passes, for example. 

However, he has given Fiorentina at the back so far this season an element of stability, reliability, and consistency on the ball when it comes to doing the simple yet necessary things.

His defensive stats rank him fairly well, considering his lack of first-team experience. 

Let’s not forget that Comuzzo is part of the Fiorentina defensive unit, which currently boasts the joint-best defensive record in Serie A.

Pietro Comuzzo Heatmap

Comuzzo’s role as the right centre-back in a back four is to provide security in and out of possession, as well as being a short passing option for various other positions such as the goalkeeper, left centre-back, right-back, and a range of midfielders.

If you look at the above heatmap without knowing who it belongs to, you would likely guess a right-sided centre-back. 

Comuzzo’s positional presence is that of a traditional right centre-back; it is rare for him to operate in wide areas or drift to the left side of the pitch.

Pietro Comuzzo Defensive Qualities

Comuzzo's ability to seamlessly transition at an elite level has been impressive. 

His defensive dominance is a key skill in his arsenal, which is part of the reason for the aforementioned transfer rumours.

This scout report repeatedly emphasises Comuzzo's above-average defensive metrics ranking compared to other Serie A centre-backs.

The graph above shows us that the young defender is more likely to make an interception than any other Fiorentina centre-back, which tells you something about his ability to read situations.

Figure 3 also tells us that Comuzzo is consistent when it comes to defensive action – making more successful defensive actions per 90 than many Serie A centre-backs.

The data doesn’t lie – Comuzzo's ability to intercept is a real asset.

Figure 4 demonstrates those qualities as Comuzzo shows some quick thinking to intercept a potentially dangerous through pass from the Como player.

Initially, the Como attacker making the run beyond Comuzzo peels away from the Fiorentina defender, meaning that if Comuzzo had shuffled across to try and mark the runner, the passer would’ve had the chance to play a splitting pass between the two Fiorentina defenders into the path of the Como runner.

Comuzzo was aware of this danger and knew the pass was coming, so instead opted to hang back a second before stepping into the passing line to intercept the through pass successfully – fantastic anticipation and reaction.

Thus far in Serie A this season, Comuzzo has been more effective than any of his Fiorentina teammates at centre-back when it comes to defensive duels – the third-highest engagement rate combined with the highest success rate tells us that he is consistently able to do the dirty work off the ball and protect his goal effectively.

His numbers in both engagement and success are also comfortably above the league average for central defenders – yet more promising news for the young defender.

While Comuzzo doesn’t venture too far forward when Fiorentina have possession, the young centre-back can sometimes be seen rushing into midfield areas to apply pressure and often engage in a defensive duel in midfield areas.

This action usually occurs when the opposition bypasses the initial Fiorentina press. 

At this point, Comuzzo is deployed as he comes in with an element of surprise to disturb the opposition player on the ball.

His strength and technical execution in these duels make him very effective, which is likely why he has been instructed to undertake this defensive role in particular.

Standing around the 6’-6’1” mark, Pietro Comuzzo is not exceptionally tall for a centre-back, but his good positioning and timing allow him to be effective in aerial duels.

As you can see, his engagement is just above the league average. 

At the same time, his success rate is comfortably above the league average and the second-highest among Fiorentina centre-backs.

Pietro Comuzzo Contributing to Possession

As we touched on, Comuzzo is what we’d label a ‘ball-playing centre-half’, but he plays an important and somewhat underrated role on the ball in how he does the simple things in the early stages of possession – he can also be effective at finding the first pass into midfield that allows Fiorentina to beat the initial press.

As we can see from the data above, Comuzzo is highly active on the ball (compared to Serie A centre-backs) and boasts an impressive accuracy rate—of his 46.73 passes per 90, 90.4% are accurate, suggesting excellent reliability in possession.

Fiorentina has averaged 52.7% possession so far this season. 

In several games, they have dominated larger portions of the ball, so shifting the ball forward or into more useful areas is an integral part of Comuzzo’s game.

It is not uncommon in modern football that we see the centre-backs split and push into wider positions when their team has the ball – this isn’t something we’ve seen too much from Fiorentina this season, and it does suit Comuzzo’s attributes.

Being close to his centre-back partner allows them to move the ball on quickly to each other when needed; if the team aims to shift possession from one flank to another, this kind of positioning can be effective.

It must be noted that Fiorentina's centre-back partnership does not usually sit as deep in possession as they do in the image above.

If La Viola have possession with the opposition penned in, expect to see them around the halfway line, with a distance similar to the one in the example above.

We mentioned earlier that Comuzzo could find that first pass, allowing Fiorentina to beat the initial opposition press.

Figure 10 shows an instance of Fiorentina looking to play through the Verona press, which has a high central midfield presence.

While it may have been possible to attempt a lofted ball to an open teammate in the flanks, those passes do come with their own various risks, and Fiorentina are clearly equipped to play through a press.

Comuzzo is able to play quickly on minimal touches when necessary. 

Still, in situations like the one in Figure 10, he knows that patience and timing are vital – he was aware that shifting the ball to the left centre-back or right-back would only invite the opposition to increase their press in a more isolated area, so he looked for an alternative option.

Comuzzo awaited the arrival of midfield support and played a short pass into the highlighted player – and what happened next suggests that this whole sequence of play is part of Fiorentina’s tactics, as La Viola were able to play a series of passes that effectively eliminated the Verona midfield, completely bypassing the press and giving them the chance to launch a dangerous attack.

Pietro Comuzzo Progressive Passes Map

When discussing his radar map early in this scout report, we explained that Comuzzo doesn’t regularly execute progressive passes.

However, they are still a part of his game, even though it is a small part, averaging 5.7 progressive passes per 90.

While many of his progressive passes take shape down that right flank, as you’d expect, interestingly, several progressive passes are going from right to left – a trait that can be effective in transitions, as explained later in Figure 13.

Many of the progressive passes Comuzzo makes are simple in appearance but important in possession progression.

The one above ticks that box – it doesn’t require a great deal of vision to spot the pass out to the right flank, but it serves a vital role in getting Fiorentina into the final third.

There is also something to be said for decision-making here – Comuzzo could’ve easily played a short pass to one of the nearby teammates you see in Figure 12 but saw more value in the progressive pass to the wide area.

There are times when Comuzzo does demonstrate his passing vision, and as we touched on earlier, this trait, combined with progressive passing, can be very effective in attacking transitions.

Figure 13 shows us a moment in Fiorentina’s game against Como where neither team were able to settle the ball down, with the ball going to and fro the two teams.

The ball then fell to Comuzzo, who showed good awareness and the ability to adjust his body position and shape, putting himself in good stead to hook a lofted ball into the left flank for his teammate to run onto.

Some may consider this pass a fluke, but Comuzzo showed several technical, tactical, and psychological traits in turning a moment of chaos into a well-executed pass to a teammate in dangerous attacking space—the pass was executed with his weaker left foot, too!

Conclusion

Pietro Comuzzo’s meteoric rise into Fiorentina’s first team, and his being a regular starter, is a credit to his ability.

When fans hear about an up-and-coming centre-back these days, they often expect a player with ridiculous passing range or the dribbling ability of a midfielder. 

Comuzzo doesn’t currently possess those traits, but that doesn't mean he lacks the qualities of a top-level defender.

At just 19, he has quickly asserted himself as an essential member of Fiorentina’s lineup, playing an important role in their defensive and in-possession tactics.

Although his technical makeup in possession may appear limited, his composure and reliability on the ball allow him to execute simple yet necessary actions consistently.

Expect to see Comuzzo continue to contribute to Fiorentina’s push for a place in European football next season, and speaking of next season, there’s every chance a bigger club swoops in for him.