[THREAD] Player Spotlight: My analysis of Grêmio midfielder Matheus Henrique.

Starting off with a basic statistical look into his profile.

Here’s how he stacks up in the factor analysis I performed for center midfielders.
His performance in the analysis was similar to:
Diego Demme (Napoli)
Miralem Pjanic (Barcelona)
Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo)
Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea)
Fred (Manchester United)
Arthur (Juventus)

You can look further into the factor analysis here: https://public.tableau.com/profile/sam.gustafson#!/vizhome/FactorAnalysisCenterMidfieldersinEuropeNorthAmericaandSouthAmerica/Dashboard3.

In terms of all-out, in depth scouting, I picked four matches to go back and zero in on Henrique.

First was Grêmio’s Copa Libertadores semifinal 2nd leg vs. Flamengo (10/23/19). Grêmio lost this match 5-0, so I wanted to see not only how Henrique handled the high pressure environment, but also how he reacted when things were going very poorly.

Next was an Olympic qualifier for Brazil U-23 against Colombia U-23 (2/3/20). I felt like this would provide an intense, hostile environment, and a chance to see Henrique with a group of extremely talented players around him - like he could have at a big club.

The third match was a league fixture against Palmeiras (11/24/19). I figured I had to include at least one normal league match, and this was the most recent one available on @footballia (massive shoutout to them) - https://footballia.net/players/matheus-henrique-de-souza.

Lastly I watched Grêmio’s home fixture in the Copa Libertadores against Internacional (3/12/20) because I thought it would be interesting to see Henrique in a match with no goals. Little did I know there EIGHT (8!) red cards given after the 88th minute.

I mainly relied on the first two matches for the clips I’ll provide later because 1. I don’t have unlimited Wyscout access and 2. The vid I put together was already quite long, then the last two for more specific positioning/off the ball stuff.

Positioning: Here a few positional trends that I picked up on with Henrique. Starting with how he often forms a nearly flat double pivot with Grêmio’s other deep midfielder (here it’s with Maicon vs. Palmeiras, Jean Pyerre vs. Internacional).

This is true both in and out of possession. Here are a few examples in the Brazil U23 vs. Colombia U23 match, where he was partnered with Bruno Guimarães (Lyon).

Another example against Colombia plus one against Flamengo, where it didn’t happen as often due to how Grêmio were using Henrique defensively (more on that in a second).

The Internacional match.

Finally, the Palmeiras match. This is usually when his team are defending closer to midfield or trying to break down a deep-lying opposition.

When defending deeper in his own half or building out from deep, Henrique likes to drop in to be the point of a triangle with the two center backs.

More instances of this triangle.

Lastly, a bit of a tactical/positioning tweak I noticed with Henrique against Flamengo was how he mainly stayed tight to the opposition pivot (Gerson) when defending. Especially in the first half, Henrique kept Gerson almost entirely in check, allowing him little progression.

A couple more examples.
Later in the second half, with Grêmio panicking and bringing on attackers, Henrique had to drop deeper and couldn’t continue this matchup anymore. It felt really clear to me that this allowed Gerson so much more time and freedom.

Now, time to get into what I believe are his strengths and weaknesses. I put together this rough vid (), but I’ll also take you through a few key moments with some super fancy Wyscout drawings :)

We’ll start with a play that showcases Henrique’s excellent body orientation and first touch.
To start, Maicon has pushed forward to the left here, leaving Henrique deep as the lone pivot with an abundance of space.

Grêmio center back Geromel, however, waits too long on the ball and plays a poorly weighted, bouncing pass into Henrique. This puts Henrique under heavy pressure from a surging midfielder, but he recognizes the space available for his first touch.

He stays calm, lets the ball roll across his body to his right foot, and leaves the defender in the dust. This opens an opportunity to drive at the Flamengo back line.

As he carries the ball forward, he forces two defenders to step to meet him, thus leaving a Grêmio forward unmarked with acres of space in behind. Henrique knocks it ahead, but an awful first touch takes the forward away from goal.

Here we have a clear example of one of Henrique’s few weaknesses on the ball. Sometimes, he can be so nearsighted and pragmatic with his passing, that it actually doesn’t help the team win possession.

When receiving this ball, he could easily take a touch out to the right and play the wide man or play back (this is also disregarding the first time switch that he could play across the field).

Instead, Henrique opens himself up to the left. Here, he HAS to look for that looped ball to the left back. He definitely has the technique for it, but instead he plays the ~5 yard square ball to Maicon, who has players ready to close him down from all directions.

A Flamengo defender does get a touch here and they very nearly win the ball, but Henrique gets away with it in this case.

Next up is probably my favorite play I saw from Henrique. He receives a short pass and has a Colombia defender charging in at him. With a quick croqueta to the left, Henrique beats him easily.

Once again, he has space to drive into. Plus, he sees the run of Dodô out wide.

As he’s being closed down, Henrique opens his body up for the pass out wide. But, instead of playing the traditional ball between the left back and left mid, he recognizes the left back being pulled out wide and slots it between the left back and left center back.

And just to prove that Dodô did in fact get to that ball and play it across (it was just ahead of Antony, though).

The last in-depth action is the biggest defensive lapse I saw from Henrique, which helped lead to a Colombia goal. The play starts out not very threatening, with all three Brazil players out there seemingly matched up.

While that ball is being played out to the wing, however, Henrique fails to recognize that he has to drop deeper and get goal side of his man, who now has a clear angle to receive a pass in behind.

That Colombian #10 floats up a cross to the back post, where a forward rises up above his marker to head it in. I don’t think this goal can be entirely pinned on Henrique, but it’s one he easily could’ve prevented.

That’s all for analyzing Henrique's actions, now time for what I think of him as a player and what kind of system I think he should be playing in.

First off, if I had to compare Henrique to one player whom I’ve watched very extensively it would be Arthur. It’s the lazy comparison - both short, technical Brazilian center mids out of Grêmio - but he really is reminiscent of the Juve man.

Where the two differ I would say, is that Henrique is less limited physically and defensively, while he doesn’t quite reach Arthur’s technical level.

With this comparison in mind, I would say that Henrique needs to be in a midfield where he isn’t the main ball winner, but also isn’t the main advanced creator. So, I believe a team that plays a 4-2-3-1 would suit him.

I think for him to be one of the interiors in a 4-3-3, he would need someone in the mold of a De Bruyne or De Paul as his counterpart, who surges ahead more and provides that killer pass. Otherwise, it would really just be good for dominating possession.

Then for defensive systems. I believe Henrique would suit a high pressing side. While he isn’t a dominant ball winner himself, he has the determination, positional awareness, and ability to stick to an assignment (ie Gerson) in order to be successful.

Developing under the right manager would really help that as well (hopefully he doesn't end up playing for someone like Valverde).

In short, I think he’d suit a team where he can be the more technical, offensive side of a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 or the deeper interior in a 4-3-3. Definitely fits a possession-based system, and can press if asked to do so.

Additionally, I think his better physicality would allow him to make the transition to Europe with more ease than we’ve seen from Arthur. I don’t think you’d see him burn out physically the way Arthur did at Barcelona.

Well, that’s all from me. I’d definitely recommend watching this guy some more if you like technical midfielders. Plus, based on my criteria, what clubs do you think should look into him?

If you’ve made it all the way down here, thank you! I really appreciate it! Feel free to drop any feedback or questions you have.

PS: Did you need to see 12 pics of me highlighting a double pivot? Definitely not. I just hate making claims without evidence lol