<span;>💥Academy Baller…
<span;>Estêvão Willian🇧🇷
<span;>Club: Palmeiras
<span;>Nationality: Brazil
<span;>Position(s): RW, AM
<span;>Preferred Foot: Left
<span;>Height: 5’9”/176cm
<span;>Age: 16
<span;>Strengths: dribbling, ball manipulation, ball-striking, vision, IQ, spatial awareness, pace, decision-making
<span;>Development Areas: strengthEstêvão is as good as youth talents come.
<span;>Blessed with a natural ability to come up with game winning moments.
<span;>Watching him just begs the question, just how good can he be?
<span;>The answer, the best.Estêvão’s dribbling is so unpredictable.
<span;>Every time he receives the ball he does something different.
<span;>That level of variance creates uncertainty for defenders.
<span;>Uncertainty creates more opportunities to beat players.Ball manipulation and dribbling of this level give him excellent retention of the ball.
<span;>So often Estêvão judges how far to carry the ball within his limits, if there’s a pass option on he’ll find it or he’ll drive into the space.When carrying the ball, Estêvão demonstrates vast stride variance.
<span;>Constantly changing his gait, alternating to fix opponents then quickly gliding past them. So unpredictable. Makes him deadly in 1v1’s in central areas or wide.The Palmeiras star has amazing ball-striking. Manages to generate so much power despite a slight frame due to such a good shooting technique.
<span;>His ability to shift the ball with the drop of the shoulder enables him to get shots off.Free-kicks are another opportunity for Estêvão to show off his brilliance shooting from distance.
<span;>So much power and accuracy on free-kicks near the edge of the box to get the ball over the wall into the top corners.Estêvão loves to cut inside to shoot with his deadly left foot. But he’s unpredictable.
<span;>He knows that defenders know he’ll cut inside and uses that to fake-to-shoot as he’s coming inside only to take on players and shoot across goal in a clear one-on-oneThe Brazilian RW has high IQ and good spatial awareness.
<span;>He’ll roam around finding the gaps in between the lines, pulling wide to isolate the fb, he’ll find somewhere to await a pass in space or when on the ball he’ll create space for himself.With electric pace and rapid acceleration, Estêvão can create separation from a defender in a flash.
<span;>Adjusting his stride length and body orientation to shift his centre of mass and explode forwards away from his marker.
<span;>His dribbling mechanics are special.Combinations are a big part of his game. Give and go passes and 1-2’s to beat the press and get in behind defences.
<span;>Once he’s in behind, he loves to play cutbacks into the box for higher quality chances. Despite having match winning ability, he’s not selfish on the ball.Estêvão has the Neymar/Ronaldinho-like ‘entertainer’ gene. Flicks, tricks, step-overs, weaving in and out of several players. You’ll never watch him and be bored that’s for sure.I recently saw Estêvão make a 17min sub appearance vs Ponte Preta. Look at the level of impact at only 16. The ball manipulation to create space to shoot, taking on players.
<span;>Clear to see physicality is lacking but he’s special technically.A technical genius. Estêvão does some audacious stuff on the football pitch but manages to pull it off. That just sums him up though. The balls to try something brilliant and the skill to back it. Estêvão Willian has a skinny frame. He works really hard off the ball defensively to win it back and put in tackles, but does struggle in duels.
<span;>Definitely less physical than his fellow Palmeiras academy graduates Endrick and Luis Guilherme.There’s truly a special generation coming through at Palmeiras right now.
<span;>Estêvão Willian, Endrick, Luis Guilherme the main stars with guys like Riquelme Fillipi, Thalys, Vitor Figeiredo, Wesley Lima, César Rodrigues, Vitor Reis and many more.“Messinho” covers every need in a modern-day elite winger.
<span;>2-way dynamism, top decision maker, excellent weight of pass, game winning ball-striking, ambipedal shooting/crossing, electric pace, elite understanding of space, high IQ.Estêvão could become an interior
<span;>Utilises his…
<span;>-central 1v1 prowess
<span;>-ability to roam spaces in pockets
<span;>-play killer final passes
<span;>-take on players
<span;>-shoot from distance
<span;>But in order to thrive here, he needs to improve his ‘La Pausa’To really level up and take his game to another dimension, if he was to add more ability to consistently take control of the game and dictate the pace of play.
<span;>Slow it down more often, he’s a very high intensity winger. But as an interior he’d need to do this more consistently.Estêvão is a superstar. You can picture him in the future stepping up with big game moments in UCL knockout stages, title deciders, World Cup.
<span;>Free kicks, screamers from 30yards, mazy runs taking on half the team.
<span;>Top teams want that and are queuing up.Estêvão is a superstar. You can picture him in the future stepping up with big game moments in UCL knockout stages, title deciders, World Cup.
<span;>Free kicks, screamers from 30yards, mazy runs taking on half the team.
<span;>Top teams want that and are queuing up.In the past all of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, PSG, Manchester United, Arsenal, Man City have been linked with him.
<span;>But he has to choose this next move wisely.
<span;>Barcelona have Yamal, Chelsea have Páez (both also 16).The obvious choice and probably the best move for him is Real Madrid.
<span;>With his teammate Endrick already going there and compatriots Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo Goes joining straight from Brazil to become key players, it makes so much sense.
<span;>They also lack a left footed pure RW.That being said, other clubs will battle and put their hat in the ring. Chelsea for sure will do and considering their other RW options Palmer & Páez could move centrally, they may look to put him at RW.
<span;>But their direction as a club is uncertain right now, not the best move.
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