Henrry Díaz: an anomaly for venezuelan football

 

When we look at the regular defensive midfielders in the Venezuela national team during the current CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, there are four names that have been the most constants: Tomas Rincon, Yangel Herrera, Jose Martinez and Cristian Casseres Jr. All have played a total of 41 matches and 2,417 minutes.

So, ¿What do all these cases have in common? While the players mentioned possess great ball skills, the reality is that they all stand out more for their physical attributes, with the ability to win duels and the stamina to cover a lot of ground. They are footballers characterized by their skill to disrupt the opposition's play rather than create for their own team.

Henrry Díaz doesn't excel in these areas. On the contrary, his footwork and his football IQ are, by far, his greatest strengths. The ecosystem and development of venezuelan national football prevent the production of midfielders with these qualitiesand it's worth detailing the two most relevant reasons why this happens:

1-     1- Emphasis on grit, phisicality and less focus on possession: historically our football has been characterized as a defensive one and focused on forming teams with players who stand out more in grit, in order to generate chances and win the ball in the most logical way possible: through physical power.

2-     2- Infrastructure and uneven terrain: local footballers grow up on uneven and hilly pitches, which cause unexpected bounces and reduce reaction time before the ball reaches the receiver. These conditions reduces their ability to control, direct and pass the ball with, above all, confidence.

For this and much more, a talent with the characteristics of the Monagas Sport Club midfielder is an anomaly in Venezuelan football. It's no wonder he's nicknamed "The Magician"; his tactical intelligence, his vision and impeccable technique are unique and deserve to be examined in detail.

Genesis of the construction

Oswaldo Vizcarrondo's U-15 and U-17 of La Vinotinto teams were characterized by their offensive, proactive style of play, which focused on initiating attacks from the back with clean passes, avoiding direct play as much as possible. Henrry Díaz's participation was key to this approach.

The Maturín native was the midfielder who dropped deep to initiate transitions. His constant movement and ability to scan space made him an ideal passing option for the center-backs and the goalkeeper.

For its part, its characteristics allowed the team to quickly position itself in the final third, without needing to execute long sequences or possessions. Been that said, one of its greatest strengths is that, thanks to its resources, it easily breaks through opposing pressure.

First of all, his vision on the field, combined with his accurate passing, was vital in pushing the team forward. Henrry isn't a player who relies heavily on long balls (he even said it in a interview), although ironically he was the Venezuelan player who completed the most long passes in the South American U-17 Championship with 2.7 per game.

Instead, he tends to link up with teammates through short passes in tight spaces. His mentioned mobility, based on the classic "pass and move" style is vital for advancing the ball along the ground. He once again stood out as the Venezuelan player with the most completed passes, averaging 27.5 per game with 80% accuracy.

His ball control is another of his greatest strengths. He has remarkable sensitivity in his first touch and can make progressive drives of up to 20-30 meters without the consequence of poor control when breaking lines and dribbling past one, two or even more opponents.

The images show a sequence where Henrry Diaz receives the ball near the first line, eludes the defender (and his support players) until he reaches an attacker in the final third with a diving pass.

Furthermore, being a lightweight player with a low center of gravity, he has great ease in turning and changing pace. This lightness, combined with his body deception, allows him to evade opponents. As a result, he was the third-best dribbler on Oswaldo Vizcarrondo's team averaging 3 dribbles per game with a 67% success rate.

Diaz drops back to the defense to offer himself as a passing option and manages to hold off the defender by absorbing the pressure, turning and gaining space to drive clearly.

Influence in the final third

The dynamic style of play of the Venezuelan U-17 team allowed Henrry Diaz to move beyond being a static midfielder, limited solely to organizing and protecting the ball. It's worth noting, that this dynamic allowed his footballing instincts to shine.

In this way, he was a key player in the final third, arriving from the second line to immediately reach the edge of the penalty area. However, his mobility and ability to play on different profiles allowed him to develop his game in various channels and areas of the field.

Henrry Diaz links up with Williander Muñoz and, through a one-two, gets behind the defender to execute a shot with his weaker foot.

True to his philosophy of playing a ground game and avoiding long balls, Henrry Diaz relies on clean passing. He averaged close to one key pass per game (0.8), but demonstrated his ability to thread passes through the defense and put his teammates in favorable positions, even with many opposing players around him.

It's also common to see him weaving and drawing defenders in from different sides of the penalty area. With his already mentioned dribbling skills facilitated by his ball control, he manages to focus the attention of opposing players who mark him, but they still find it difficult to take the ball away from him.

Henrry Diaz between four opposite players.

Defensive task

Standing at 1.67 meters tall and weighing 64 kilograms, he isn't a footballer with an imposing physique. However, his tactical intelligence allows him to win possession as he stood out as one of the best ball-winners in the U-17 team. He recovered the ball 9.7 times and won an impressive 16.5 duels per match.

He`s always attentive to provide support to the marker of his team (whether the winger or the nearest midfielder) in order to cage the ball holder and regain possession either through himself or through the teammate with whom he creates the defensive superiority.

His use of numerical superiority does not diminish his proficiency in 1v1 situations. Due to his size, he doesn't usually win duels through physical contact (anyway, for his size, he has great strength), but thanks to his excellent reading of the situation, he uses his body (at the right moment) to cross it and gain the possession.

The image shows Henrry temporize the ball carrier until he finds the right moment to step his body in front of the carrier and gain the position over his opponent.

Many of his recovery opportunities lead to unfavorable situations where he is overwhelmed by the opponent. However, his creativity, intelligence, great use of his body and ball control helps him to shield the ball, often leading to frustration from the opponent, who then resorts to fouls.

Henry, after winning the ball, proceeds to shield it with his back to goal, stepping on the ball and turning to evade his opponent. Finally, the defender resorts to a foul pulling his shirt.

Drawing fouls is one of Henrry Diaz's greatest strengths in 1-on-1 situations. His elusiveness draws fouls and his size allows him to take advantage of his opponents' (usually) greater weight to fall and receive the call. He averaged 4.5 fouls per game in this area.

Nevertheless, sticking with the physical aspect, it should be noted that he is a player who shows signs of fatigue midway through the second half. This makes him one of the main options for substitution in the final stages of matches. This may be due to his constant movement, as the word "static" is an antonym to describe his style of play.

Conclusion

“The midfielders dictate the team’s style”, said renowned ESPN panelist, Diego Latorre. This statement perfectly encapsulates the senior national team’s direct and high-intensity style of play, which is also perfectly apt given the players they have in the center of the field.

La Vinotinto coach himself, Fernando Batista, mentioned it in an interview with DSports: “The characteristics of venezuelan players encourage a direct style of play.” The best example of this is Yangel Herrera, a box-to-box that wins a lot of duels, especially aerial, thanks of his height, explosiveness and great heading.

Currently it's not a surprise to see Henrry Diaz included in Monagas Sport Club's matchday squads. However, he has only made three official appearances with the first team, accumulating a total of 11 minutes of playing time.

It can be deduced that, beyond the technical development (which is already remarkable and has an encouraging margin for improvement) he will be able to have more minutes when he manages to find sufficiency against footballers who have much more aggressiveness and more physical development.

Fortunately, he's at an institution that trusts in young talent and whose reserve team competes in the FUTVE 2 League, so this competition can be a stepping stone to prepare him for professional football before establishing himself in the elite of venezuelan football. In fact, he played the full 90 minutes against Marítimo on May 10th.

Like Telasco Segovia and David Martínez, Henrry Diaz is an anomaly in Venezuelan football due to his skill with the ball at his feet. However, unlike those two, he possesses the ability to support the attack from zone 1, dribble through zone 2 and influence play in zone 3. There is no other Venezuelan midfielder who can dominate all three areas of the pitch.

If I had to compare him to a current footballer, his characteristics and physique closely resemble those of PSG's portuguese midfielder, Vitor Machado Ferreira, better known as Vitinha. It's also no surprise that his idol and role model is none other than Andrés Iniesta.

As long as his progress continues, "The Magician" is a beacon of hope for the future of the Venezuela national team. He offers an alternative style of play to the vertical football that the national team typically employs, a style that sometimes seems to be their plan A, B and even J plan during games.