**How Andrey Santos FIXES Manchester United’s Biggest Tactical Problem — Transcript & Summary | SozAI** Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/andrey-santos-fixes-manchester-united-tactics/ In-depth tactical analysis of Andrey Santos' defensive and creative impact, addressing Manchester United's midfield challenges. ## Key Takeaways - Santos offers defensive reliability and intelligence rather than physical dominance. - His aerial ability is a standout strength compared to similar midfielders. - He is a secure and technically reliable passer, contributing well to possession and build-up. - While not a prolific goal scorer or dynamic dribbler, his creativity and spatial awareness add value. - Santos fits Manchester United’s need for a midfielder who can receive deep and play through pressure. ## What the video covers - Andrey Santos is a strong all-round defensive midfielder with solid positioning and good defensive discipline. - He wins 60% of defensive duels and is active in interceptions, making him suitable for a double pivot role. - Physically, Santos is solid but not dominant; however, his aerial ability is a significant asset. - His athleticism is below average in terms of speed and distance covered, but he compensates with intelligence and competitiveness. - Santos' shooting and goal threat are limited, with below-average finishing and no clear shooting pattern. - Dribbling data shows he is secure in possession but not a dynamic or explosive ball carrier. - Passing is a strong area, with high accuracy, good one-touch passing, and effective switching of play, though not spectacular. - Creatively, Santos excels at breaking lines with passing and has excellent spatial awareness and one-touch through-ball ability. - His European career started at Strasbourg, where he played in versatile midfield roles, showing ability to receive under pressure and progress play. - At Manchester United, Santos is expected to improve build-up play by dropping deep to receive from center-backs and playing through pressure. ## Chapters 1. 00:00 Introduction to Andrey Santos and defensive profile 2. 01:08 Defensive positioning and aerial ability 3. 01:59 Athleticism and physical attributes 4. 02:41 Shooting and goal threat analysis 5. 04:25 Dribbling and ball carrying capabilities 6. 06:04 Passing accuracy and creativity 7. 07:37 Creative strengths and spatial awareness 8. 09:12 Career background and role at Strasbourg 9. 09:53 Chelsea experience and partnership potential 10. 10:34 Fit and impact at Manchester United Answers ## Questions about this video How does Andrey Santos address Manchester United's midfield problems? Santos improves Manchester United's build-up play by dropping deep to receive from center-backs and playing through pressure, adding defensive reliability and passing accuracy. What are Santos' main strengths as a defensive midfielder? His main strengths include defensive discipline, winning duels, strong aerial ability, and intelligent positioning within a double pivot system. Is Andrey Santos a strong attacking threat? While Santos gets into attacking positions and has good movement, his shooting and goal conversion are below average, making him more of a secondary goal contributor. ## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown 00:00 Speaker A The redemption, the resurrection of Fred. Or Brazil's answer to Morgan Schneiderlin. Just how good is Andrey Santos? 00:26 Speaker A Statistically, from a defensive perspective, Santos is a strong all-rounder. The main limitation from a data perspective is probably his positioning. It's solid, it's not exceptional. His clearance numbers are also pretty low, but I don't mind that because it means he's not a player 00:39 Speaker A that's just going to throw that grenade away. The Wyscout data also reinforces the fact that he's a very active defensive midfielder. Wins 60% of his defensive duels, two strong interception numbers, constantly involved, which makes him a good option in a double pivot. From the 00:53 Speaker A eye test, he's got that defensive discipline and intensity. Takes responsibility, tracks runners, recovers alongside his full-backs, and rarely switches off when his team loses possession. There's a seriousness to the way that he approaches the defensive phase. Technically, clean defender, body 01:08 Speaker A positioning is good, got the agility to shuffle across quickly and deal with situations in tight spaces. And he closes passing lanes and blocks cutbacks effectively. And he defends proactively, generally speaking. Aerially also, he's more competitive than you might think. 01:23 Speaker A So, the main limitation is that he's not a physically dominant holding midfielder. He hasn't got that presence, but he is a very useful defensive midfielder. He's not going to be a number six who can do everything himself, but alongside a fellow partner, 01:36 Speaker A he offers that energy, intelligence, and defensive reliability. So, pretty impressed with him overall defensively. 01:45 Speaker A Going out of the left. Santos ball in, little push and header and it all seems. Statistically, Santos doesn't profile as a particularly athletic midfielder. The gradient data suggests that his max speed, sprint volume, sprint distance, and overall distance covered per 90 all 01:59 Speaker A grade below average. Now, compared to someone like Matías Fernández, similar in terms of neither is posting exceptional distance covered numbers, but Fernández has a much greater burst of pace and acceleration. 02:10 Speaker A Interestingly, Santos does appear to be more involved when you look at the eye test. But, one area where the numbers are much more encouraging is in the air. 02:17 Speaker A According to Wyscout data, Santos wins 58% of his aerial duels, competes regularly as well. And when you watch him, his presence inside the penalty area stands out. Finds his runs intelligently, particularly from set pieces. He's not a midfielder who's 02:28 Speaker A going to score double figures with his head, but he does look like he's capable of chipping in because of his movement and timing. And defensively, he's competitive in the air, whether it's defending corners, goal kicks, competing with second balls. He attacks aerial 02:41 Speaker A duels with real aggression, and he judges the flight of the ball well. Now, he's not built like Sergio Busquets. 02:45 Speaker A He's not going to dominate aerial situations through height and reach, but he is a powerful competitor. And he looks aerially stronger than Matías Fernández, who is a pretty capable competitor himself. Now, overall, he's not going to overwhelm opponents with 02:58 Speaker A elite pace or explosive athleticism. He lacks the top end speed of Europe's best box-to-box midfielders, but he is a genuine asset in the air. Physically, he's solid rather than spectacular, but he's a midfielder whose competitiveness and that aerial ability compensate for 03:12 Speaker A the lack of elite physical monster ability. Statistically, Santos' shooting profile looks underwhelming, and the sample size is a factor. There's not enough data around set pieces or unpressured shooting situations. Where we do have numbers, the unpressured shooting output 03:36 Speaker A is below average. So, his finishing quality isn't a high level yet. And his overall open play goal threat hasn't been particularly prominent during his limited Chelsea minutes. Now, when you look at the Wyscout data, which covers his time in France, the picture looks a bit 03:49 Speaker A more healthier. Generates a good amount of xG. So, he does get into the box a lot more than a Moises Caicedo. He's a midfielder who will naturally get forward. That said, there's still a concern about conversion quality. 04:01 Speaker A Now, from the eye test, one thing that stands out is that he looks comfortable, you know, in terms of attempting to shoot off either foot. He's got a good instinct for attacking movements around set pieces, loose ball situations. He's 04:13 Speaker A got a bit of a poacher's mentality. He senses where second balls are going to go. But, compared to a player like Matheus Fernandes, there is one noticeable difference. Fernandes gives you that impression of a midfielder with natural striking ability, generates 04:25 Speaker A power, quality from distance, has certain zones where he can threaten goal, but can also get in the box and score goals. I don't think Santos has an obvious shooting pattern or particular area that he treats as goal. 04:36 Speaker A That's where he constantly wants to get into. That's where he's dangerous. Feels like it's a bit of a pot luck situation. 04:42 Speaker A He'll chip in with goals rather than become a genuine goal-scoring threat from midfield. Statistically, Santos' dribbling profile is surprisingly underwhelming when you look at his ability to carry the ball in high difficulty situations, progress play through dribbling. His grades are 05:03 Speaker A pretty low. Now, the tackle resistance is pretty strong, which tells me that yes, he might not be a high-volume dribbler, but very good security in possession, someone who's not going to take unnecessary risks and lose the ball cheaply. He can protect possession 05:15 Speaker A well. His first touch is pretty solid, too. But, the data doesn't really point towards a particularly dynamic, hungry dribbling profile. And when we look at the Wyscout data, his dribble percentage is very high, which again reinforces the fact that he's secure, technically 05:29 Speaker A reliable. But, once again, not a huge amount of progressive runs. So, overall, looks a bit safe, neat and tidy in possession. And from the eye test, we can see that he's elegant in the way that he manipulates the ball in tight 05:39 Speaker A areas. He does look pretty comfortable. He's got a good technical base. But, there's a lack of overall explosiveness. He's not constantly beating players through acceleration power. He's not eating up yards when he's carrying the ball. So, I think 05:51 Speaker A overall he's a good press-resistant type midfielder. He's not necessarily going to progress the ball that well in terms of his dribbling game. But, overall I think there's more to him than what the stats suggest. 06:04 Speaker A They do have the resources to turn and turn about in terms of selection at Chelsea. 06:11 Speaker A Statistically, Santos is a pretty solid possession midfielder. Good pressured passing, good unpressured passing. When we break down the data further, one-touch passing is a positive suggesting that he moves the ball around quickly. Surprisingly, the switch of play data from gradient perspective 06:24 Speaker A doesn't seem that strong. But, then when we look at his Wyscout data from France, good healthy number of passes, not quite Regista level but similar territory to someone like Enzo Fernández at Chelsea. 06:36 Speaker A The standout element though is that passing accuracy, which is consistently very high. This is not a player that's going to give the ball away easily. And his long pass completion numbers in Wyscout do look respectable. And from the eye test, this reliability does come 06:48 Speaker A through. I think his long passing is pretty good. He's not spectacular. He's not going to have Hollywood vertical game-breaking passes, but in terms of switching the ball either side of the pitch, pretty solid, pretty accurate, does it with good tempo, keeps that ball 07:00 Speaker A moving, switches of play. Particularly from left to right actually, I'd say, looks more effective. There are occasions when he attempts through balls where the execution is slightly off, but when we move to the creativity section, rest assured this isn't really a huge 07:12 Speaker A problem. I think the biggest positive is his comfort during the build-up. 07:24 Speaker A giving me the elite elite vibes in terms of a dictator of tempo, but very, you know, smart, intelligent, and useful midfielder in the deeper phase. 07:37 Speaker A this friendly. Visit Malta weekend. They might get another goal here. Statistically, Andrey Santos' creativity profile is one of the more impressive aspects of his game. His ability to break lines with his passing, particularly from deeper areas, grades extremely highly. Also, his ability to 07:55 Speaker A break multiple lines from deep areas is also very impressive. So, he's got the vision, he's got the confidence to attempt difficult passes that can accelerate attacks. Where the data is less impressive is crossing output. 08:05 Speaker A There's not much evidence of him being a midfielder who drifts into wide zones and puts deliveries into the box. So, not really a Matías Fernández. Now, when you look at his Wyscout numbers again, not a huge amount of crossing data to 08:15 Speaker A analyze. Now, from the eye test, what we can see is that this is a player with a good ability to disguise passes, uses body shape, subtle movements to deceive opponents before releasing the ball. His timing is pretty good, generally 08:26 Speaker A speaking. Awareness in tight spaces is another standard where he executes lay-offs, quick combos. He's got excellent spatial awareness, almost knows where his teammates are without needing to look. And that one-touch through-ball ability are the strongest parts of his creative game. Now, even 08:41 Speaker A when those passes don't come off, there's always a reason behind why they were attempted. He's not really a player who does careless giveaways. That said, I think the only limitation is the lack of variety. He's more of a through-ball 08:53 Speaker A player, not really going to have crossing in his game. Overall, I think his creative foundation solid. Vision's there, disguising ability to break lines from deep is there. The question is not whether he can see the pass, he clearly 09:04 Speaker A can. It's whether he can develop that consistency on volume to turn this into sustained elite level creative output. 09:12 Speaker A In order to understand where Andrey Santos fits in best at United, the story starts at Strasbourg. That's where his career in Europe took off. Playing in systems like the 3-4-2-1, wasn't just used as a holding midfielder, became an 09:24 Speaker A all-action number eight, dropping deep to build up play before bursting forward into the box to score goals. Perfect environment for him, less pressure, more freedom. 09:33 Speaker A Now, at Chelsea, when Liam Rosenior arrived, one of the big issues was the build-up for his teams where wise to Caicedo, they pressed him aggressively and Enzo Fernandez wasn't able to drop deep and help in the way he does for 09:44 Speaker A Argentina where the tempo is slower. And that's where Santos became important for him. He gave Chelsea a second build-up outlet instead of forcing everything through Caicedo. 09:53 Speaker A Santos could also receive under pressure, progress the ball and help Chelsea play through the press. Now, we didn't see that partnership fully develop because Chelsea had wider structural issues, but the signs were encouraging. 10:05 Speaker A So, what does that mean for Manchester United? Well, first and foremost, I think we'll see the box-to-box midfielder that thrived at Strasbourg in patches. So, expect some late runs into the box, the energy between both penalty areas, not a high tempo, but a 10:17 Speaker A willingness to support attacks. Now, the big question mark is without the ball. If Bruno Fernandes and Mainoo are pushing high, Santos will be asked to protect a lot of space. Now, given his athletic profile isn't elite, I think 10:29 Speaker A there's going to be games where that defensive workload becomes a real test, particularly in transition. 10:34 Speaker A Where I think he'll make the biggest difference though is in the build-up phase. For United, years have gone by where they don't have midfielders who naturally want to drop deep, receive from center-backs and play through pressure. 10:44 Speaker A Santos is comfortable doing exactly that. So, he'll give United an outlet when teams look to press high and he'll do something that Ugarte wasn't able to do, which is make United far calmer and more controlled when building from the back. And I think 10:56 Speaker A that, more than anything, is where his biggest impact will be. So, in conclusion, Andre Santos, for me, is a clever signing by Manchester United. He improves their build-up play. 11:15 Speaker A He improves them defensively. I think for the price that he's been brought at, he gives you a lot of longevity. He's only 22 years old, so you're going to get lots of years of service for that price. 11:26 Speaker A The difficulty I have is, in terms of the rating for Andre Santos, do I see him as a a player in the making? Not necessarily. I think he is what he is. He's a very useful player. He reminds me a bit of a 11:38 Speaker A Paredes for Argentina where he's a very good player as a six, he's a solid player as an eight, and he can come into any type of game, whether it's a big game or a small game, and he he 11:48 Speaker A can be a useful cog at that particular moment in time. And I think he's going to be a very useful squad player. 11:54 Speaker A But he isn't that sort of player who over 10 years I can see being the de facto starter for a United midfield which goes on to win the league and the Champions League. But he could be a really important player at this moment 12:05 Speaker A in time for where the club is, and also an important squad player in the long run. He's a bit of a Fred with a football IQ, possibly not with the explosivity of a Fred. So for me, I'm quite happy with the signing, but 12:17 Speaker A ratings-wise, I don't really see him as a potential world-class player in the making. Let me know if you do, if you disagree with any of the takes that I've had in this video. And let me know who you want to see next. Please like and 12:28 Speaker A subscribe, and see you guys in the next time. Bye. [music] Topics: Andrey Santos Manchester United tactical analysis defensive midfielder midfield build-up passing accuracy aerial duels football statistics Chelsea Strasbourg --- This is the markdown twin of https://sozai.app/transcript/andrey-santos-fixes-manchester-united-tactics/ — the same content, without the markup. Published by SozAI (https://sozai.app). Reuse and quotation are allowed with attribution and a link back. Machine-readable index: https://sozai.app/llms.txt · data API: https://sozai.app/api/