HalfSpaces usmnt Scouting Report: Andrés Perea

Scouting Report: Andrés Perea



Up until a month or so ago, I (and most of the USMNT community I assume) had no idea who Andrés Perea was. I had watched a couple Orlando games, but that was to keep an eye on Chris Mueller and then eventually Daryl Dike.

And then came the news that he was going to be in the national team camp prior to the El Salvador match in December. Ears perked up, but he couldn’t play yet and maybe he was just checking things out. Cool. Cool.

Finally, he is called into January camp, files a one time switch to the US from Colombia (not a bad team btw), and is rumored to be an option to back up Tyler Adams at the #6.

I guess it’s time to pay attention to this guy.

Intro

At 20 years old Perea is 6′, 160 lbs. He is right footed and plays all over the field for Orlando City (in the center somewhere generally). He played about 1,200 minutes for Orlando this season and has joined permanently after initially being loaned from Atletico Nacional in the Colombian league.

If you haven’t read one of these before here’s the general idea. I’m not an expert on Andrés Perea. Obsessive Orlando City fans know his game better than I do. I sat down and watched three of his matches very carefully. The games I had available this time were Orlando vs Nashville, Montreal, and the New York Red Bulls. As much as possible, I tried to focus on only Perea.

Against Nashville and Montreal he played in a defensive midfield role, while against RBNY he was more of an #8. Events or patterns of play that repeat over those three games are what I try to pick out. (I was going to watch Orlando v. Columbus as well, but since I live in Ohio apparently that game is geo-blocked on ESPN+ for all of eternity.🙄) Here’s what I came up with:

Strengths

Good on the Ball

He’s not quite Darlington Nagbe, but Perea does not lose the ball. His teammates can give him the ball in tight spaces and he almost never coughs it up. (There were two almost lost and one ball lost in three games) He is clever on the ball and able to turn out of tight spaces. This popped up over and over in these matches. Here’s a couple examples:

He doesn’t have the burst away/glide by thing that Nagbe has, but he keeps his wits about him and wiggles out of trouble regularly. That’s a nice trait to see in a #6.

Michael Myers’ Walk/Trot

Michael Myers doesn’t run. He calmly walks along behind you and when you trip up…you’re done.

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Perea doesn’t often seem to be running all out – he has this steady trot – but then he’s in position right in the middle of where the attack would like to go. I suppose this is a roundabout way of saying he is positionally disciplined. He wasn’t being pulled around by forwards/attacking midfielders. He protected zone 14 (top of the box) and tracked runners into the half spaces.

Orlando loses the ball here. Perea tracks back, blunts the counter a bit, and then takes up his position shielding the backline

He sort of reminds me of James Sands in this aspect. I’d like to see Sands get a shot with the USMNT at some point btw.

Getting a Foot on It

There are some players that manage to get a piece of the ball. McKennie does it. Tyler Adams is great at it. Andres Perea has a little bit of a knack for it as well. It isn’t usually a controlled thing, but he is able to get there a little sooner, stick his leg out an inch further, etc. than the opposition expects. Chaos is the defender’s friend.

I really don’t know how he got his foot in there and pulled the ball away. Perea didn’t end up with the ball and calmly stroll away with it…but he made a mess of Nashville’s possession and Orlando got the ball. Give me a dude that will win an ugly fight for the ball any day.

Go, go Gadget Leg (old people will get this ref)

Room to Improve

Cautious

Mr. Perea does not pass the ball forward very often. In the one game he played a more offensive role (vs NYRB)…he was invisible. In the entire match, I found three things worth taking notes on. To be fair, he played a really nice square ball on a counter that should have led to a goal, but the overall performance still wasn’t great. Perea looks for huge windows if he’s going to risk passing the ball forward, otherwise he’s perfectly happy to bump it back to the center backs or out wide to a fullback.

He doesn’t carry it forward often either. In the clip, below I’d love to see him advance it longer and draw a defender or two before he dishes it off. Take a look:

Obviously, one can’t know what the instructions are from the coach, but his inclinations with the ball appear very risk averse.

Not Dangerous in Attack

Perea isn’t going to threaten the defense with his passing or shooting. As I discussed above, he isn’t predisposed to playing killer passes. However, even when he is in position to shoot or play a dangerous pass…it doesn’t go great (from what I saw, at least).

Put the clips together in the right way and you could make Messi look bad, so take it for what it’s worth, but it looks to me like Perea’s offensive game could use polish.

Where Does He Fit In?

I’m not sure yet, but it definitely looks like the USMNT is searching for Tyler Adams’ understudy. The previous versions of the #6 that have played under Berhalter (Bradley, Trapp, Yueill) can’t do even a passable impression of what Adams brings to the table. Perhaps Perea can.

I would guess we are going to see Johnny Soccer get more looks and who knows who else will break through from the youth ranks. Finding a capable backup to Adams is an important task if the midfield is going to continue to be set up to press and cover acres of space. Let’s see how Perea looks against T&T in his first “interview.”

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4 thoughts on “Scouting Report: Andrés Perea”

  1. As an Orlando fan that watched all 1200 minutes, I would say he is a guy that covers ‘acres of space’. He has twrrifkc technical ability, so it is hard to say of his lack of offense was ability pt coaching design. Pareja gets a lot of of young players by clearly defining roles. It will be interesting to watch him in that regard. But he is one of those guys that always seems to be in the thick of things defensively or as a safely valve for other players. He covers lots and lots of ground. I cannot wait to watch him continue to develop.

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