Young Football talents are an exciting thing.
Every week we focus on a future talent to come out and have a piece from the football world.
Julio Enciso
Age: 17
Club: Libertad (Paraguay)
Position: Winger, Attacking Midfielder, Forward
Nationality: Paraguayan
Market Value: 800.000 € (Transfermarkt)
Why follow him? Enciso is one of the most promising players figured in Babascouted so far; he made his first-team debut not too long after his 15th birthday, scoring in the Copa Libertadores before turning 17 while showing some exciting skills throughout the term.
Watching Enciso playing last season, again and again, I needed to remind myself he is only 16 years old. If he was a few years older, I could have easily ruled him off as a talented player with many shortcomings, maybe too many. But when watching kids that age, it is important to be less judgmental and assessing the potential, building on his strengths and improving the rest.
His strengths are quite obvious; very good technical skills combined with good physical attributes for his age, and it is safe to assume he will get stronger and faster. He often used these skills to take on defenders, showing excellent ability to beat defenders in 1x1 situations, protect the ball, and get out of tight areas. He is very much forward-thinking, trying to take on opponents every time, cutting inside from the left, where he usually plays at, to take a shot on goal with his right.
I have not seen enough regarding his passing game yet, nor his ability to be a more versatile wide player playing down the line and/or running in behind. The data suggests it was the case in other games I haven’t watched, too. He will also need to improve his decision-making, as he tends to overdo things such as dribbling attempts in the middle third, exposing his side when losing possession.
Although we usually don’t like to see players overdoing things, this lad’s confidence in his game, taking on opponents and threatening from a distance, is something positive in my mind.
Less overdoing things, adding more versatility to his game and improving his off the ball game are things many good players his age need to work on. Most players don’t have, and he does, is the combination of technical skills and physical attributes, along with his confidence to use these, making him such exciting potential.