Following some excellent performances with Lazio both in Serie A and in the UEFA Champions League at the start of this season, Valentín Castellanos has shown a lot of development as a striker under the management of Marco Baroni, as well as a lot of maturity and precision in finishing and in movements inside and outside the box compared to previous seasons.
Castellanos has helped Lazio a lot in terms of goalscoring and playmaking.
He is capable of scoring on key occasions, such as in the games against Nice in the UEFA Europa League and Milan in Serie A.
His current form will not only upgrade his value as a striker but also drive Lazio to become much more powerful up front, as they actually have a concrete attacking reference to build on and work on improving for the future.
Therefore, it will be imperative to work around such a valuable forward and encourage him to perform even better, whether that’s by making him become consistent in the roles he masters or by working with him and the rest of the attacking/midfield players to create more attacking situations per game and diversify Castellanos’ goalscoring solutions.
Before delving into the analysis, it’ll be necessary to present the 26-year-old striker who started his footballing career at the Universidad de Chile in 2017 before moving to Torque and playing in the Uruguayan Primera División.
In 2018, he was loaned out to New York City FC and fully transferred to the MLS side until 2023.
Castellanos developed a lot during his time at New York City FC, which was his longest stay at a particular club.
Afterwards, he got the opportunity to join Girona on loan and play in one of the world’s most competitive leagues, La Liga.
During his season at Girona, he scored 13 goals in 35 games and achieved an unprecedented record: he scored four goals for Girona in their 4-2 victory against Real Madrid, making him the first player to score four goals against Real Madrid in a league match since December 1947.
In the summer of 2023, Castellanos moved to Italy, joining Roma’s rivals in Serie A and had a relatively positive first season with the Biancocelesti, even though they finished 7th in Serie A and had some managerial issues as they started the season under Maurizio Sarri and finished it with Igor Tudor.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will
explore Castellanos’ new roles at Lazio this season and his importance to Marco Baroni’s tactics. We will also delve into the players’ significant improvements compared to last season.
Valentín Castellanos Position At Lazio
Castellanos’ recent run of form has also earned him his first call-up to the Argentinian national team, which proves that he is becoming a key striker even for a nation like Argentina, which has numerous strikers playing at the highest level.
In fact, Valentín Castellanos style of play developed a lot in terms of movements without the ball, especially in terms of agility and physical strength, which made him more difficult to beat in duels and aerial duels.
Serie A teams are known for their tiring yet effective physical preparations.
Players who come to Italy often become much more influential in their second year, which has been the case for Castellanos.
The Argentinian striker has shown great progress this season, becoming more grounded and balanced.
This was mainly seen in some of the goals he scored this season, especially his third goal against OGC Nice, which highlights most of the Argentinian’s strengths.
His run without the ball and excellent timing to be ahead of the defenders made this action possible.
It shows that Castellanos is a striker who runs intelligently without the ball, and it is obvious that Baroni worked with Castellanos to improve this aspect, too.
Moreover, this player’s physical resistance and developed agility were remarkable in the following goal action, as he could dribble past a defender after accelerating with the ball before cutting inside and still have the fluidity needed to curve the ball with the required power between two defenders.
This goal encapsulates how efficient Castellanos has become and how, if he keeps this excellent run of form going, he can become even more crucial throughout this season.
In addition to becoming very agile yet more powerful in duels, Castellanos has become a more all-round striker as he has instructions from Baroni to lean on the wings and retreat to contribute to the playmaking more often, helping Loum Tchaouna, Pedro, Mattia Zaccagni and Gustav Isaksen by providing passing solutions more often and contributing with passing combinations as well.
Moreover, Castellanos provides a variety of attacking plans to Baroni.
He often uses him as a striker with an advanced playmaker just behind him, but he can also use Boulaye Dia as a second striker alongside him or use Dia just behind Castellanos to be an advanced playmaker when defending and advance to play alongside Castellanos when attacking.
This last option was already used by Baroni and proved successful against Empoli mainly because Castellanos provides the reference needed upfront, making things a bit easier for the rest of the attacking players.
As a result, Castellanos’ roles at Lazio have become more varied after Baroni took charge of the team, knowing that the team relies on Castellanos a lot in set-pieces since he is one of the best in the air at the moment in Italy.
Lazio also rely on Castellanos in counterattacks since he is very fast and finishes actions extremely well.
If he keeps up the same level of finishing, Castellanos will be capable of scoring many more goals this season and has the potential to finish among the top goalscorers of Serie A as well.
That being said, consistency is needed in this regard, and the alternation of solutions, goalscoring ways and shooting techniques is key to remaining decisive in terms of goalscoring.
Valentín Castellanos Finishing Techniques
Castellanos is a striker who has become very experienced and crucial in terms of goalscoring despite being 26 years old.
This made him indispensable for Lazio, with an xG reaching 0.5 and an average of 3.24 shots per game, with 43.8% of his shots being on target.
The variety in Castellanos’ goalscoring techniques, especially during the last period, is remarkable and showcases the significant work of both the player and the coaching staff.
Body coordination, quick decision-making, and precision in successfully lobbing the ball past the goalkeeper in this goal action highlight Castellanos’ finishing intelligence and mastery.
Also, becoming more efficient in the air using acrobatic moves in complicated situations while being tightly marked can only mean that Castellanos is the striker to rely on to finish actions in set pieces.
His goal against Verona further confirms his developed abilities in terms of volleys.
He was able to score this goal despite the tight disturbance and marking and while being pulled as he was in the air, yet he still put the impact he wanted on the ball using his left foot.
Furthermore, being present on key occasions and having the confidence and personality needed to score against big teams like Real Madrid, Milan and so on also means that Castellanos will soon become an instrumental striker for Argentina as he is becoming a world-class striker.
His movement without the ball against Milan and his ability to spot the free space and attack it to receive an assist and score without hesitation or overcomplication in terms of shooting highlights the player’s adequate mentality and footballing intelligence once again.
Another role that Castellanos has been interpreting extremely well lately is the high pressing on opposing defenders.
Knowing when to press high, when to apply extra aggressivity, and when to economise energy differentiates normal strikers from intelligent ones.
Castellanos plans his efforts according to the situation and knows exactly when he needs to press high to get the ball.
In the following goal action, Castellanos applied high pressing on the opposing defender, forcing him into a mistake, which allowed Castellanos to get the ball and perform a cold-blooded finish at the near post.
Valentín Castellanos’s Contribution To The Playmaking Process
With a passing accuracy rate of 71.6% and an average of 53.3% accurate passes to the box, Castellanos should not be underestimated as a passer.
He often provides useful key passes and has a fairly good vision of the pitch.
This season, he has already started showing signs of progress regarding this aspect.
He can still improve further under Baroni in terms of key passing since he has the abilities needed to become much more efficient in terms of assists, for instance.
The following picture shows one of Castellanos’ most recent assists against Empoli.
He got the ball inside the final third and was able to turn and advance with it before accurately serving his teammate inside the box.
Working on repeating similar actions with Castellanos retreating to receive a pass in the final third and then advancing, whether by dribbling or by exchanging passing combinations, would represent a handy solution to break compact defences and make them lose their references as they did to Empoli’s defence in this action.
Moreover, using Castellanos as a stationary striker can always be helpful for Lazio.
The Argentinian forward is good enough in the air to be first on long passes and provides through passes/potential assists to his teammates who come from behind, exactly like what happened in this goal action last season.
Therefore, preserving Castellanos’ stationary striker role, especially when receiving long passes and crosses, can always help the team in terms of playmaking without removing his other roles, making him a complete and all-around striker.
Conclusion
Valentín Castellanos showed a lot of progress at the start of this season under Baroni.
The latter allowed him to be much more efficient with or without the ball and contribute positively to the playmaking process while remaining extremely dangerous in counterattacks, set-pieces, and when having the ball in the final third as well.
Preserving Castellanos’ excellent run of form will be essential for Lazio to keep their good Serie A start going and keep their attacking performances convincing, as he is the player who provides the reference for the rest of the attacking players in the team.
With more work and confidence, Castellanos can undoubtedly become one of the best strikers in Serie A, and why not on an international level as well, if he gets the deserved opportunity with the Argentinian team in the upcoming competitions?
Comments