The anatomy of a dribbler — Vinícius Júnior

Some weeks ago, within a private circle of mine, HP (X: @minimumwidth) raised a point about Vini Jr.’s dribbling: he doesn’t need central access to buy time and space. This observation sparked my curiosity, and in the weeks since, I’ve embarked on an investigative journey to understand this further.

This article builds on some ideas I shared in a previous tweet: https://x.com/MazinMuk/status/1814072285747184111

In the tweet, I alluded to five key contributing factors (six in the tweet, which I have mitigated to five) to Vini Jr.’s lack of reliance on central access. Each of these factors will headline a part of the case study:

• Vini Jr.’s physical profile and frame.

• Vini Jr.’s touch variety.

• Vini Jr.’s touch selection.

• Vini Jr.’s dis-marking movements.

• Vini Jr.’s comfort in initiating duels or reacting to defender movements.

Vini Jr.’s Physical Profile and Frame

• Height & Weight: 176 cm & 73 kg

• Frame: 

• One aspect of Vini’s profile that aids his ball-carrying/dribbling qualities is his ability to accelerate/decelerate quickly. He is also able to adequately do this with a variety of stride lengths and types. This gives him an advantage that helps create separation within a(n approximately) five-meter radius. He can also generate power to accelerate from a standing start and while already in motion.

• Vini is strong at riding backside challenges due to his excellent arm use. This, along with his acceleration, gives him a large circle of control (adopted from BallerBantz in an article by Joel A. Adejola). However, he can struggle with body-to-body contact from the back; he doesn’t possess the same glute strength as Messi or Hazard.

• His upper body, core strength, and balance allow him to ride shoulder-to-shoulder duels.

• Vini seamlessly shifts weight to and from both sides of his body. He can also transfer energy without altering his strides, effectively maintaining his momentum.

• One thing that stands out about Vini is how much of a straight-line athlete he is. For instance, Vini’s range of hip motion can let him down when changing his line of motion—he doesn’t possess the hyper-flexibility that wingers like Neymar and Ousmane Dembélé, which perhaps is why he’s developed this trait.

• Another notable thing about Vini is his comfort in exploding off his weaker (left) foot. Given that he plays on the left, which naturally means his initial explosion would funnel play toward the center due to footedness, having the ability to explode off both legs gives Vini direct access to the baseline without central access.

Vini Jr.’s Touch Variety

• Vini’s variety in touches when dribbling in a straight line is outstanding. With his ability to maintain momentum and effectively ride backside and shoulder-to-shoulder challenges, Vini can approach attacking duels from various situations. He’s also able to create these situations effectively. Compared to a player who lacks variety in approaches and touches in attacking duels, it’s more challenging to force Vini into uncomfortable situations and to the inside.

Vini Jr.’s Touch Selection

• One recurring theme with Vini’s dribbling in wide areas is his ability to leverage his touch selection to impose the threat of accessing the middle of the pitch. Vini’s most effective touch is the outside right, with his body oriented slightly toward the goal. Due to his constant improvements in striking the ball with the outside of the foot, he can now leverage the threat of accessing Rodrygo or Bellingham, making a depth run in the left half-space (presumably Mbappé in weeks to come) or a cross into the far post.

• The most impressive attribute of Vini’s touch selection is that he almost always picks the right touch. This is notable when he attacks the baseline—his second-leg performance vs Bayern showcases this. While most wingers subconsciously force more comfortable touches, leaving the ball unprotected or making the final action challenging, Vini is adept at using his left foot at the baseline when required.

• Vini Jr’s step (adopted from Ahmed Moallin) count is another aspect that aids him. Even when turning or accelerating/decelerating, Vini can maintain close steps to the ball when desired, hiding his intent and the direction he wants to shift toward.

Vini Jr.’s Dis-marking Movements

• These are more of the situations that Madrid creates to platform Vini rather than his dis-marking movements; however, after re-watching some of Vini’s ball-carrying sequences throughout the 2023-2024 season, I have realized how much Madrid uses Rodrygo and Bellingham to engage the defence and push the line up. This, in turn, creates space (approximately 20-30 meters) for Vini to use his abovementioned advantages as a straight-line athlete and attack the byline.

• Though Vini often uses double movements (on an individual level) or counter-movements (on a group level), his physical advantages (explosiveness, ability to maintain and transfer momentum, ability to ride challenges) and intelligent attacking movements allow him to create separation before reception. This separation will enable him to build up enough momentum before attacking the last line, giving him an advantage in straight-line duels. It’s no coincidence that most of his dis-marking movements are double-/counter-movements—particularly if you also consider the threat he offers behind the last line. It should also be noted that Ancelotti’s work to platform Vini in these situations, particularly with the horizontal freedom given to Bellingham and Rodrygo, prevents the last line from engaging on Vini’s movements.

Vini Jr.’s Comfort in Initiating Duels or Reacting to Defender Movements

• The variety of approaches in Vini’s attacking duels is astonishing. He’s comfortable approaching duels from either side with various touches, steps, and strides. This makes Vini’s attacking duels unpredictable, allowing him to dictate the duel. Another aspect of Vini’s approach is the angle at which he attacks defenders. He nearly always approaches a duel right down the middle, keeping both the inside and outside angle (and the potential to recycle play if required) while hiding his intent, enabling him to initiate the duel, if needed, late into the approach.

• Vini’s deceptiveness in stand-still situations, namely due to his physical profile (upright posture, flexible knees, ability to explode off both feet), allows him to generate separation even in stand-still situations. He also has the mental capacity to wait for defender movements if the opportunity to create separation doesn’t arise.

• One thing that gives Vini control over his approaches' unpredictability is his control over his upper body, particularly his posture. This control allows him to hide his intent even in unnatural body positions.

• The speed of Vini’s footwork is also extremely impressive. Of course, this gives him many possibilities with his step count, particularly with the time between each step. However, beyond our typical discussions about step placement in football, Vini’s quick feet open the possibility for late adjustments in duels, allowing him to maintain a straight(ish) line of motion even when required to compromise.

• Vini’s cognitive processing and reading of situations are also imperative. When paired with them, his quick feet allow him to alter his movements in the last second if necessary.

Building a Framework to Spot Future Exhibitors

After analyzing the five significant factors to Vini Jr.’s ability to generate time and space without central access, we are now able to curate a framework to help identify current and up-and-coming footballers who may have similar capacities:

• Physical Profile and Frame

  • Uses their arms well to increase their circle of control. Since central access isn’t craved, they will also need the ability to withstand backside and shoulder-to-shoulder duels to maintain a primarily straight line of motion.

  • The ability to seamlessly shift weight from and to both sides of the body is necessary. Since motion is mainly along a straight line, the ability to maintain momentum, even under pressure, is desired. Furthermore, the ability to explode on both legs helps access inside and outside angles.

• Touch Variety

  • They have enough variety in their touches and a wide range of comfortability to approach duels from various angles. This creates unpredictability, making it difficult for opposition players to force the ball carrier into uncomfortable situations.

• Touch Selection

  • Can leverage the threat of accessing the middle through their touches, ball-striking capacity, and/or passing range.

  • The intelligence to nearly always pick the correct touch, and more importantly, the comfortability to take a variety of touches on both feet, particularly when attacking the baseline.

  • Possesses a deceptive step count and deceptive strides to hide intent.

• Dis-marking

  • Dis-marking techniques depend more on a player's physical and technical traits and a team’s overall dis-marking and lane-creation methods.

• Comfortability in Attacking Duels

  • Can attack duels from either side from various touches, steps, and strides, giving the ball carrier the leeway to dictate the duel.

  • Quick footwork and cognitive processing to make last-second alterations within a duel if necessary.