Marco Asensio

There is a big chance that the 19-20 y.o will be in the first team this season. Has anyone followed him ? What type of player is this kid ?

Killing it on loan. 3 assists against Betis

From what i have seen and interpreted, Marco Asensio has an interesting player profile; some might get confused into thinking that he's some sort of offensive forward/winger because of his particular movement style (and because of the misleading "messiesque" goal he scored in a 2nd division match) but if anything he's shown to be an attacking midfielder with similar traits as James or Ozil (noteworthy left foot and advanced playmaking ambitions).

I think his attributes as primarily an attacking midfielder are best exemplified by the characteristics of his  acceleration/running speed/passing/vision/game interpretation/etc.

He has the sort of physical attributes (e.g. height (5 ft 10), speed, strength) characteristic of other comparable players such as Ozil, James, and Isco, and this clearly conditions the types of roles he's most apt at playing at.

I haven't seen and analyzed his matches but these are observations i gather from watching some of his highlight videos...

His left foot is noteworthy enough that his teams apparently designate him as corner and free kick taker but in terms of his actual passing skill and variety, i believe i still haven't seen very high level examples.

As long as he garners and maintains good concepts of work ethic and player movement, i can see Marco maybe playing at Madrid some day (as he keeps evolving elsewhere), if not necessarily as an all an out elite starter.

He also seems to have noteworthy dribbling/ball handling, but it shouldnt be overestimated.

I've also noted that like James, he rarely uses his right foot in any capacity.

Some observations/questions



@ 1:39, does he head that ball sent to him because he's not confident about control it with his right foot?

@ 3:30 he sends the sort of expansive long ball that he is capable of doing but does he show throughout his match highlights the ability to engage in more intricate on-the-ground passing?

@ 3:54 he does use his right foot well to expand play

Between 3:50 and 4:10 he seems to show some nice examples of some his particular strengths as a player.



@ 2:04 does he refuse to even pass to the left whilst his team is losing near half time because the situation makes it difficult for him to use his preferred left foot for an arguably simple pass?

Go ahead and try to consider his strengths and weaknesses for yourselves.

good post. He's a talent. I hope he doesn't languish around with the hopes of making the Madrid squad and get buried on the bench and waste his time... he should go to a club on loan in a top league ASAP and hone his skills.

Good player. I like him a lot.

Bill, it's your boy. You should chime in lol.

Wth. dude looks exactly like me. Found my doppel ganger i guess?

Anyways, looks pretty good on the videos. But yeah. that guys face is freaking me out.. its like looking at a mirror

From what I've seen he is neither a midfielder like Isco nor a forward like Jese. He's some kind of a hybrid. Nevertheless, he's a great talent, best u20 in Spain at the moment

I agree with you Sports and MTO to a certain extent.. He is an AM. The only way we bring him back is if we play with AMs in our formation. As long as they insist on BBC, there is no spot for him yet alone both James and Isco. Que Peña is all I can say. We can only hope they finally give up on Bbc and play a formation with One or two AMs. I would be ok with him coming back as the reserve Am if we play both James and Isco in starting configuration.

Who says you need to break the bank.

Perfect replacement for James next season and can even replace Cristiano

Cyborg wrote:Who says you need to break the bank.

Perfect replacement for James next season and can even replace Cristiano

He's best on the right

I get the sense that club very much wants to give Asensio, Vallejo (plus they haven't given up yet trying to get Ceballos) a shot at first team next season. For Asensio, the club will likely need to sell off James or Isco, maybe both. But he's not an CM nor is he a winger. The bigger question is what formation will club play next season.

There are a lot of youth / canteras possibly in the mix next season. Besides Casilla, Nacho, Dani, Jese, Lucas, there is the possibility of the above mentioned three plus Morata and possibly Majoral, although he stays at Castilla if they make the promotion to adelante.

I highly highly doubt we back up positions with kids again next year.  It bit us in the arse last year and it's happening against this season... we need experienced backups.  Kids can go get experience somewhere else like Morata and then come back if they prove themselves.

sportsczy wrote:I highly highly doubt we back up positions with kids again next year.  It bit us in the arse last year and it's happening against this season... we need experienced backups.  Kids can go get experience somewhere else like Morata and then come back if they prove themselves.

This...filling the team with bench players who won't play until someone gets injured is a ridiculous policy that i never understood. i think competition should be promoted, not guys who won't get any minutes.....unless the clubs is going to give those youngsters minutes, which i doubt

Like i said a few years back when Mou was over-rotating... the starting 11 should play 2/3 to a max of 3/4 of the minutes by design. That leaves plenty of time for the backups and they should be quality as well. That 2/3 - 3/4 scale will naturally decrease due to injuries.

It has to be consistent rotation too... meaning that it happens from matchday 1 through the end. If you rotate heavily to start the season and then overplay the starting 11 later on, you're defeating the point of the whole thing.

That said, you should look at the schedule and pick the game where you want your best 11 to play... and then figure the rest out around those.

Of course, we really don't have the luxury right now due to injuries. But since we're out of La Liga and CDR, it should allow us to manage things to emphasize CL.

i actually don't think mourinho over-rotated; the only constant rotations he made were at cf , left-back and sometimes a move to give modric minutes. barring injuries/suspensions or a clasico were he wanted to play 3 defensive mids; cr, ozil, di maria, khedira, alonso, ramos n pepe (till varane) always played...and close of the season, they'd all be exhausted, especially alonso who was a focal point on that team.

Asensio's presentation. You can tell that he really wants to be here. Good luck to him, hope he grows and eventually takes over from Ronaldo

This kid has star quality written all over him. Great great talent. Already better decision making than Isco despite being 4 years younger

If Zidane really wants to keep this boy and wants him to develop, can he please stop playing him on the left. He is almost like a Jese on the right - make vertical runs and cross..we know he is more than this.
We would never get to see the best of him if he annoyingly insists on playing him there.

How does spain produce fine midfielders but not forwards as of late?

Asensio impresses me a great deal.

Villa and Torres aside, there have been no spanish good/great forwards . It's was all about great midfielders..

LeBéninois wrote:Villa and Torres aside, there have been no spanish good/great forwards . It's was all about great midfielders..

Raul? Morientes? Butagueno?

futbol_bill wrote:

LeBéninois wrote:Villa and Torres aside, there have been no spanish good/great forwards . It's was all about great midfielders..

Raul? Morientes? Butagueno?

I mean recently , the last 10 years. Since 2006 we saw the rise of incredible talented midfielders but Torres and Villa were the only two great strikers and it seems that they won't be replaced soon.

Is asensio a midfielder ?

Much more of a winger/forward to me.

I'll give credit to Bill on this one. Since last summer, he's been saying that Asensio is a talent and deserves to get a first team look. I wasn't convinced.

Kid has special talent. But I hope he doesn't get buried once CR and Benzema come back.