After a dismal start to the campaign that saw them accumulate three points from nine matches, Las Palmas appear to be finding their footing under Diego Martínez, who became Las Palmas’ third manager in five months. Since then, he has guided Las Palmas to their first victory since February, with Alberto Moleiro doubling their lead in a 3-2 win vs. Valencia, before following that up with a 1-0 win vs. Girona, a 7-o win at sixth-tier Ontiñena in the cup, a 2-0 loss to Atlético Madrid, a 3-1 win at Rayo Vallecano and a 2-1 win at Barcelona, before kicking off December with a 2-1 win at fourth-tier Europa.

Las Palmas were bottom when Martínez took charge one month ago — they’re currently 14th in the table, two points above the drop, and they will be counting on Moleiro as they look to build on their impressive start under their new manager. Moleiro has emerged as a key figure not just for Las Palmas, where he has already equalled last season’s goal tally of four, but Santi Denia’s Spanish U-21 team as well, and there’s reason to believe that he could be poised to leave the Canary Islands for one of Europe’s biggest clubs in the near future. Today, we’re shining the light on Las Palmas’ young playmaker and why he could be destined for bigger things.

Name: Alberto Moleiro

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Left Winger

Country: Spain

Age: 21

Height: 171cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Moleiro has spent his whole career at Las Palmas and has been playing in the first team since 2021. It is important to mention that although Moleiro has played most of his career as a midfielder, most recently he has played as a left winger so we will analyze him from this perspective without ignoring his origins.

Goals + Assists

How many goals and assists a player has shows how decisive he is and this for wingers is key as they are offensive players counted upon to have high figures in these aspects. Here, we can see that Moleiro is surpassing his xG by a large amount so although he has scored 4 goals this season, it is unlikely that he will keep this streak. Nonetheless, his xG is by no means a low number, averaging 1 expected goal per 4 matches, more than players like Julián Álvarez and similar to Nico Williams. This tells us that he has the ability to get into goal-scoring positions and considering that his team is in the relegation zone that puts more merit in this stat.

In this image, we can observe that Moleiro’s ability to generate chances is quite poor, with less than 0.1 xA per 90. This tells us that Moleiro is not a playmaker even though his original position suggests that he would be, though this may be a side effect of the position that he currently plays in on the wing and on his team’s performances. Nonetheless, seeing his xG this is not an excuse for his low amount of expected assists.

Crossing

Crosses are a fundamental part of how a winger plays and can also tell us the profile of the winger. If he attempts many crosses that means he likes to stay on the wing, and vice versa, if he doesn’t attempt many crosses that means he likes to play more central and in between the lines.

This image tells us that Moleiro is not the sort of winger who constantly attacks the box with crosses, with less than 1 cross per 90. One factor that affects this is that he usually plays in a more central position meaning that he is not used to being on the wing and therefore his crossing abilities probably aren’t refined. Another thing this can tell us is that he may come inside leaving space for the full-back to move up the wing where he is more comfortable.

Dribbling

Dribbling is usually one of the standout traits of wingers as the ability to dribble past opponents in 1vs1 situations can be very helpful for the team, and they are usually in situations to make this happen.

Thanks to this image, we can say that Alberto Moleiro is a player who attempts many dribbles,  with more than 4 per 90. Nonetheless, his success rate is poor, however, it is important to take into account that this is not his natural position, so it is normal for him to lack efficiency in the dribbling aspect considering these are 1vs1 situations, though, he does have the determination to attempt them.

In the video footage, we can observe that Moleiro is a poor dribbler when isolated in 1vs1 situations as he does not have the explosiveness to get past a defender. Nonetheless, when he is supported by other players such as the full-back overlapping or a midfielder coming over, he makes better decisions and often cuts in looking to shoot or look for an intricate pass.

Positioning

Oftentimes, we see that Moleiro is on the wing, however, he faces many issues when in this position as he is not great with his back to goal, especially in the build-up, when there is a player right behind him he usually loses the ball. Furthermore, his best moments are usually seen when he is more central whether that is because he cuts in from the wing or because he receives the ball there, though, this does not usually occur. This is because he is more comfortable when there are other players near him whom he can combine with as he is great in closed spaces thanks to his agility. 

This chart compares Alberto Moleiro with the rest of the La Liga players in his position using percentiles in different aspects of the game. The percentiles work in the way that whatever the number, he is better than that percentage of players. If it is 70, he is better than 70%. It’s clear that he has better than average numbers in goals and expected goals, as well as in shot-creating actions, but we can observe that he lacks in the creation of goal-scoring opportunities which could be due to his position. Considering the fact that he ranks 74th for progressive passes, Moleiro has ample room to improve in terms of playing the killer pass and setting up the perfect attack.

Nonetheless, he does not participate very much in Las Palmas’ offensive moves being just in the 58th percentile for touches. A player with his ability should be more involved in the possession of his team so that he can use his passing, and his low involvement may be due to his positioning. Moreover, if he were positioned more centrally or if he were allowed more room to come into more central positions he would be able to receive more progressive passes as he is currently below the average in this stat. 

In defense, we can see that he needs to improve as although he is in the 70th percentile for blocks, he is just in the average for tackles and interceptions and below the average in the other stats. Against Girona, he didn’t have any issues because the opposing right-back stayed back and didn’t overlap so he didn’t have to track back whereas against Valencia he did have to track back, and found difficulties defending.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Alberto Moleiro is an excellent player with some excellent technical attributes, however, on the wing, he isn’t able to display his real quality and if managers want to get the best out of him, he should play more centrally. This is due to the fact that he does not have the explosiveness of a winger nor the ability to effortlessly take on defenders in 1vs1 situations. However, when supported by other players, he is able to combine with them and generate opportunities in that way. Furthermore, defensively he has some issues, especially when having to track back and these have led to opportunities for the rival.

By: Juan Fernandez Valencia / @ScoutLaLiga

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images – Getty Images