Eduardo Camavinga is a great player. That´s why Real Madrid just payed 31,00 million Euros to sign the 18-year-old. I could just write about him being awesome and that would be a lot of fun but everyone already knows he´s awesome. So instead I want to look into something that´s less clear: What is Camavinga´s best role and position? How might he fit in at Real Madrid? And what can we learn from his career so far?
Part of the reason why people rate Camavinga as one the best midfield talents in the world is that he was used in a number of different roles and positions excelling in pretty much all of them.
He started off as the sole 6 in the 19/20 season in Julien Stéphans 3–5–2. His main role in that system was what I like to call a circulation 6. He didn´t offer a lot in terms of progressive passes or carries. However he was always positioned well and ready to receive passes from his teammates, mainly behind the first pressing line of the opponent. He remained calm under pressure routinely showcasing his press-resistance while supporting the posession of his team with short, accurate passes. One of his most impressive matches for Stade Rennais still remains the Tropheé des Champions ahead of the 19/20 season when Rennais lost 1–2 against PSG. Despite the result Camavinga left an remarkable impression on many spectators watching him for the first time. In only his sixth professional start he completed all of his 57 passes and initiated the first goal of the game. During the following weeks the Angolan made a habit of completing more than 90% of his passes. Even more impressive and important was his impact in transitions when Stade Rennais just won the ball. Using his vision, swift changes in body orientation and fast decision-making he received a lot of passes under pressure, evaded that pressure and found a solution that allowed his team to start a promising counter attack. Especially in a league like the Ligue 1 where the football consists of many transitions as well as (counter)pressing phases the ability to offer solutions in those moments proved to be a very valuable asset.
COVID then put a pause on the Ligue 1 season. When the players returned to the pitches in January 2020 Rennes changed from their 3–5–2 to a 4–4–2 which worked out brillantly for the club from the Bretagne who ended up qualifying for the Champions League. Camavinga played on both the right and the left side of the double pivot. At first his style didn´t change that much while he played as the deeper of the two 6´s. That was only until Steven Nzonzi won his place in the starting eleven. The experienced frenchman took over the deeper role with Camavinga moving up and to the left half space. Nzonzi acted like a more common shaping 6 receiving the ball deep and conducting his team´s possession phases through his large passing range. Rennais needed exactly that when they started encountering low blocks more frequently following their great results.
Coming into the 20/21 season Stéphan opted to change the system again. What was an already asymmetric 4–4–2 looking like a 4–3–3 in some instances became a pretty normal 4–3–3. Most left footers play on the left side of a midfield three. That´s exactly what happened to Camavinga as well however he also got some minutes on the right side. His playing style obviously had to change to accommodate this new position. On already the second matchday of last season Camavinga showed what he might be capable to do as an 8. After drifting to the left wing a perfect one-two with left back Faitout Maouassa put him right in front of Montpelliers penalty area. He then carried the ball up to the six-yard box, beat an opponent after missleading him with a few stepovers and finished an electrifying move with a smart and precise shot in the bottom corner.
Unfortunately that remained his only goal of the whole season. Looking at his data profile provived by fbref.com we can get a clearer picture of how Camavinga reinterpretated his role on the pitch.
He didn´t directly (shot or shot-assist) create a lot of chances. However he expanded his impact on new regions on the field. While his passing remained consistent and was important to escape from tight spaces he started to carry the ball more often, took positions in the half spaces in the opponent´s half where he received a lot of progressive passes and was able to take a leading role in Rennes´ press demonstrating his willingness and intelligence in that part of the game. Contrary as a 6 he guarded the space in front of the box. His defensive style could have been described as rather passive. He engaged in duels but rarely tried to intercept passes. Reminiscent of his calm playing style in possession he just positioned himself well to ultimately win the ball or at least disturb the opponent´s player so he wouldn´t be able to create a goal scoring chance.
Looking at the actions Camavinga mainly perfoms we can take a look at this (obviously hugely simplified) map that shows what he´s able to do on the pitch.
This is a lot. And it is astonishing considering Camavinga will turn only 19 years old this november. He still has more than a decade of time to improve and add to his current abilities. That must be a scary thought for everyone facing him over the coming years. But this graphic also brings another realisation with it: While Camaving is able to do a lot of cool stuff on a football pitch he won´t be able to do all of that in every game. So his coach has to choose which qualities he wants to use for the best of the whole team. Finding that perfect role within a certain system is not easy, especially with players as variable as Camavinga.
A popular example of that is Marcos Llorente who established himself in La Liga as a part of a double pivot with Manu García during a loan spell to Alavés. The two Spaniards acted as a shield in front of the back 4 with Llorente using his elite athleticism to cover a lot of space. When he was forced to take more responsibility in possession phases as an 6 or 8 for Real Madrid and later even at the start of his time at Atlético Madrid he struggled.
That´s until Simeone started to experiment how he could fit Llorente better in Atletis system. It ended with Atleti winning La Liga and Llorente being a vital part of that playing in a role I like to call the Llorente role. This role entails a lot of receptions between the lines in the half space, runs behind the last line of the opponent in the half space and a very goal-oriented approach in offensive decision making (Nicolò Barella is a similar player, just a little more of a creator rather than a finisher like Llorente (and less deep runs)).
Even though Simeone found the perfect role for Llorente the story unfortunately doesn´t end there. During the Euros this summer Spain´s coach Luis Enrique played Llorente as right back. That clearly prevented Llorente from expressing the same qualities that he did for Atleti. Enrique´s system differentiates itself a lot from Simeone´s favoured system so there just wasn´t space for the Llorente role. Instead he opted to bringt Llorente´s dynamism into play through his role on the right side.
This isn´t a case of a player or a coach being bad. It´s just the completely normal process of players being used in many different ways in many different systems. The choice of what part of your players skill set you want to use as a coach is an interesting one though. It depends on the rest of the squad, the state of the league and can even change from game to game.
The pressing-disolving transition-initiating part of Camavinga´s skill set radiates calmness and is perfect against high pressing or great counterpressing teams. However against deeper sitting teams he excelled when teamed up with a more progressive passer (Nzonzi) while he carries the ball and receives passes between the lines.
This whole transfer actually reminds me a lot of the transfer from Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona in 2019. Both of them have huge skill sets and both of them were already used in many different ways before arriving at their current club.
What happened since de Jong´s move to Barcelona might be a glimpse of what could happen with Camavinga in the coming years. De Jong played together with Sergio Busquets in a double pivot and instead of Sergio Busquets as the only six in his debut season. During the last season in the span of a few weeks the Dutchman was responsible for Barca´s build-up as the central defenders of a back three directly after being asked to act as a space interpreter between the lines and contribute goals. Just like for Camavinga we can create a map showing everything Frenkie does on the pitch.
There are two way to look at Frenkie de Jong´s positional journey: Either he wasn´t used in the best possible way a lot of the time or there isn´t such a thing as the best possible way. With players and teams always changing there can only be a perfect role for a certain time and within a certain system. The best possible way to use de Jong in the 18/19 season was on the lift side of a double pivot next to Lasse Schøne dropping back a lot and accumulating carries. During his time at Barcelona the way he was used changed a lot due to Barcelona´s system changing a lot. And while his skill set isn´t perfect for a role between the lines high up the pitch that might have still been the best possible way to use him at that moment considering the other options Barcelona had for that specific role and for every other role on the pitch.
When deciding on how to use a player there always is a trade-off. You basically want to enhance the time your player does what he does best and limit the time your player has to do things he isn´t very good at. However as a coach you also have to think about the whole team and every other player. So the sentiment has to change a bit: You want to enhance the time your player does what´s most valuable to the team. And what´s most valuable to the team can be something different to what the player does best (it´s also highly subjective what a player does best as everyone rates abilities in another way).
Coming back to Real Madrid´s move for Eduardo Camavinga the real question is where can he be the most valuable to his new team and in what scenarios?
Using Camavinga´s skill set in a way that highlights his understanding of positioning in build-up phases and problem solving under pressure could provide help for Real Madrid against teams that like to press with a lot of intensity. Next to someone like Toni Kross who´s able to to pass to every spot on the field Camavinga could initiate transitions that Madrid have been consistently good at during the last few years because those transitions tend to make it easier for their wingers and strikers to showcase the best parts of their skill set. The big question that would come with Camavinga being used as a circulation 6 instead of Casemiro is how he would do defensively. As a six Camavinga is only used to guard to space in front of a back three/five in a medium to low block while Casemiro runs around the whole pitch to cover for his teammates to prevent dangerous counter attacks. Camavinga has the athletic abilities to cover the same amount of space but is he able to fulfill the many tactical requirements for that role? I don´t know. We never saw him play in that role so he could be great at it or horrible but with him being not even 19 years old there is at least the strong possibility that he can only get better in that role if he´s allowed to learn how to play it.
His ball-carrying abilities could also become immensly important to a midfield that apart from Fede Valverde (who does his carrying in different spaces and situations than Camavinga) lacks those qualities. Camavinga could act as another way for Madrid to get the ball through the pitch using his carries. This new option to progress the ball could be vital for a team that has been very predictable in the way their build-up-play looked in the last few years.
A way to get Camavinga in more offensive positions where he can use his excellent orientation and quick changes of direction would be a role high in the half spaces where he could also bring needed intensity in the pressing and maybe even organize this pressing. In such a role he could even improve on becoming a goal threat.
There are up- and downsides to every role I can imagine Camavinga playing for Real Madrid. There might even be a Camavinga role that he´ll be able to create. For now the only thing I can say for sure is that he offers a lot of possibilities for Madrid to improve certain aspects of their game. With Toni Kroos and Luka Modric getting older, a lot of games coming up and the future of Madrid´s midfield unsure I´m 100% sure Camavinga will play in a lot of different roles over the next years. And that´s a good. We´ll have to look at everything he does, how that changes while he´s still developing and then re-evaluate how he could help Madrid the most on a game-to-game-basis.
Camavinga´s outstanding skill set and versatility is a curse and a blessing at the same time. It´s obviously great that he can do so many things on a very high level. But the question as to how he could be used in the best possible way will always remain while the best possible way to use him will consistently change.
That might be frustrating if you wanted the ultimate answer on Camavinga´s best role and position however these ever changing relationships between player´s skill sets and the way they are used are part of why football struggles to become boring and always creates new exciting scenarios.
