Inter completed the move of Valentino Lazaro, paying €21.5m to Hertha Berlin. The 23-year-old enjoyed a great run of form with the German team last year with good statistics and Inter managed to buy the most talented Austrian footballer. He signed a four-year-contact and Antonio Conte will have a player in his hands whose biggest strength is his versatility.
This tactical analysis and scout report will analyze his style of play and why he is the most talented player to come from Austria since David Alaba!
Lazaro was dubbed as the next Sadio Mané. He started his career from at Grazer AK 1902 and after that, he has gone to Salzburg. He played in Salzburg’s first team at the age of 17 and then he started to be in the first eleven. On 18 July, Hertha spent €10m to complete the move of Lazaro and some days before he became Inter’s player.
He most recently played as a right-back but he can also play as a central midfielder and winger. He is a set-piece specialist and his game is based on his offensive style of play. He is a very fast and intelligent player, but also skilful. He sometimes forgets to get back in his position in the defensive line, opening space for the opponent.
Statistics
In his first season at Salzburg, he played with the under-16 team. He mostly played as a box-to-box midfielder or winger. He made 19 appearances and scored five goals. After that, he has gone on to the first team and participated in preseason. Of course, everyone saw his talent and he finally played five games in the Austrian Bundesliga at the age of 18.
The following season was the boost for Lazaro. He played in 16 games, one of them in the Europa League and in the following season he made 32 appearances. He scored four goals and made assisted nine times, showing that he is an offensive player. The coach, Adi Hütter, used him in many positions as right back, central midfielder and winger and Lazaro showed that he can easily play in every position the coach asked him for!
He played in 22 matches, scored two goals in the 2015/16 season but the next season was the best of all! He made 46 appearances, scored seven goals and provided 10 assists in all competitions and everyone started to talk about him. A lot of European teams targeted him.
At Hertha, Lazaro played 65 matches, scored five goals and made 13 assists. Two great seasons were enough! Inter showed an interest in the Austrian in the past January and finally completed his move some days ago. He also played 19 times for Austria national team.
His positions
Lazaro’s best position is still unknown. He is a player that every manager wants to have in his hands because he can play in many different positions. During the last years, the Austrian played as a right-back or a right wing-back. He played a lot as a right midfielder when the coach of the team used a 4-3-3 formation. He takes a role like a box-to-box midfielder and plays either left or right.
The 23-year-old was also used as a winger, he can play as an attacking midfielder or secondary striker. He can play all these positions with pleasure because of his skills and good tactics. Also, he is a footballer who plays a lot with his mind and he has the ability to break the opponent’s defence with his passes.
Offensive tactics
Valentino Lazaro is an offensive player. He either plays as a full-back or a winger, provides a lot of assists and makes crosses in the opponent’s box. He has also the ability to go one-on-one and dribble past his opponents. He has got great control of the ball and can create dangerous situations because he is a good freekick and corner kick taker.
He can also create space for his teammates with his movement. It’s quite often that more than one player marks him.
The Austrian also likes to play on the left side because he wants to go in the middle, close to the centre forward and shots.
Valentino Lazaro also likes to move a lot in the pitch and create overrides, helping his teammate who is on the ball. He has got acceleration, sprint speed and agility which helps him to be more offensive.
1vs1 ability
There are not a lot of players that have the ability to go 1vs1 and dribble their opponents. One player who can easily do this is Valentino Lazaro. He is a skilful player with good control of the ball and he can dribble his opponents in every single way.
Some of his skills are the sprint speed, his acceleration and agility. Those skills make their opponent’s life difficult and they can’t take the ball from his feet. When Lazaro is going 1vs1 he receives a lot of fouls, sometimes close to the opponent’s box. He is a fast player who can use both of his feet and that confuse the players who mark him.
Defensive tactics
Lazaro is also good in his defensive tactics. However, he sometimes forgets to get back in his position. This happens because the Austrian is offensive and the teams are trying to attack with the most players of the first eleven and this causes spaces for the opponents.
He is good at positioning and marking. Lazaro follows the opponent who he currently marks when he is in the right place at the right time.
He does have a few faults in his defensive duties. He is not aerially proficient making biggest wingers and strikers a problem for him to mark.
Goals and assists
As already mentioned, Lazaro is a very offensive player. He is an important part of the attacking play of his team and helps a lot with his crosses, the free kicks, the corner kicks and also with his key passes.
Lazaro also likes to shoot when he finds the space and he has scored some outstanding goals like in the image below.
He has played 217 professional games and he has scored 26 goals and provided 37 assists. He takes part in the team’s goal in every six games average.
Conclusion
As this analysis showed, Valentino Lazaro is a player who can play in each position the coach would ask him for! He is a key player and he is participating when his team is attacking. He can create spaces and dangerous situations when he is going one-on-one and he knows how to dribble past any opponent.
He can score goals and provide assists, is a good freekick and corner kick taker and he also likes to play a lot in the opponent’s half. He can pass the ball to his teammates and also help the team to move the ball into the last third, he has good stamina and he will develop his defensive abilities under Conte.
Lazaro could be a key player for Inter this season and he can do what the Italian coach would ask him for.
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