Alejo Véliz. Tottenham’s new Argentine. A brief scout report.
The Tottenham and Argentina love affair continues with Spurs securing the services of 19 year old Rosario Central striker Alejo Véliz. Here’s a brief report on my findings on his game.
Véliz standout strength is his aerial ability, being 6ft2 it gives him an advantage vs some defenders but his jumping allows him to be a superior threat. He consistently finds the target and corners when attacking headers, generating really good power even when contorting and adjusting his body to crosses. The goal vs Guatemala U20 is a perfect example of all of the things mentioned above. He also is able to consistently win flick ons when GK is playing more route one.
His movement is good he’s not your get in behind striker, he finds spaces in the channels well but doesn’t particularly have the speed and acceleration to pose that much of a threat. I do think moving forward he can easily add a yard or two to his speed, and if he does he will add another feather to his arrow. His movement in an around the 18 yard box was at a constant looking to get the yard separation he needs to get infront of the defender to attack the cross or pass. A nice bit of movement that I saw twice (goal vs Boca and early on vs Uzbhekistan U20), was when attacking a cross he’d run at a slight angle then take a quick explosive step away from that angle moving into a more straighter line it gave him that slight yard that he needed to get to the cross.
His hold up play is okay for now but has it’s inconsistencies. Leverages his body between man and ball well, but sometimes his ball control and touch can be loose. Showed on a few times that his first time passes and flicks can be effective. The loose touches to me is an underlying flaw of his game though, his touches when receiving and dribbling can be very loose and there for the taking. Hope he doesn’t eradicate it completely though as carrying the ball with a more pronounced touch out his body will allow him to be a an even more effective shooter. Haaland is perfect example of this.
His off ball and defensive work rate is without fault. Very aware and active in cutting off passing lanes to midfielders, a willing and intense presser and hustler of the ball, and is adept at winning loose balls using his long legs.
Watching his goals for Rosario the first thing that stands out is the variety of goals. Chips, headers, tap ins, volleys. It’s an array for sure. His composure infront of goal is clearly no question he seems very relaxed and that is reflected in his good shot selection. My favourite goal is his header vs Huracan where he created a lovely amount of space for himself by using clever movement and using the defenders momentum, and then generating a disgusting amount of power in his header from a stood up cross.
All in all I like what i’ve seen from Véliz. It’s a long term signing but and he is still raw but if Spurs give him the sufficient amount of time to grow and develop in the English game Spurs could have a very clinical striker on the books for a small fee in the modern game.
Thank you for reading.
TSS✌️
