Sergio Gómez: Real Sociedad’s Versatile Playmaker
Sergio Gómez started his senior career as one of La Masia’s brightest prospects. A transfer to Borussia Dortmund seemed to be a natural step for the talented Spaniard. However, after failing to break into the Dortmund first team followed by an underwhelming spell at SD Huesca the youth international found himself on the way to the Anderlecht in the Belgian league.
It was a somewhat surprising position switch under the tutelage of Vincent Kompany that turned things around for Gómez. He is currently enjoying a breakout start to the season culminating in a call up to the senior Spanish national team, finally looking like reaching the heights expected of him in those early days in Barcelona.
Struggles from Dortmund to Huesca
During his youth career at Barcelona, Gómez’s controlled style of play saw him compared to Andrés Iniesta. Like the Catalan legend, Gómez typically played either as a playmaking central midfielder or drifting inside from the wide position in a front three. It was at the 2017 U17 World Cup that Gomez first drew the world’s attention, scoring a brace from an advanced midfield position in the final and picking up the Silver Ball for the tournament’s second-best player, behind England’s Phil Foden.
Such was his status at La Masia that according to Spanish paper Sport his departure to Dortmund lead to Barcelona drastically increasing the budget for paying their young talent to stop the loss of other bright talents. Dortmund’s then sporting director sporting director Michael Zorc declared they had signed “one of the strongest players of his age anywhere in the world.”
However, Gómez never made an impact in Germany and a loan to second division he struggled to live up to his potential on loan to then second division Huesca. Providing just one goal and three assists for in the Spanish second division far below the standard required to break in at Dortmund. Another loan to now top division Huesca followed, where Gómez managed just five starts across the season in LaLiga.
Signing for Anderlecht and a change of position
Although it didn’t seem so at the time, it was the final two starts of his Huesca spell that rejuvenated Gomez’s career. Fitted into a makeshift left wing back role the youngster’s performances attracted the attention of Anderlecht manager Vincent Kompany who saw a future for the player in defence.
About the transfer Gomez said: “He (Kompany) told me that he had seen my last games in Huesca, that in the end with Pacheta we played with a five defense. He said that he saw me as a fullback and that in that position he saw me more for a big team than as a winger. The following year, so it was.”
Gómez entered the season as first choice left back, starting 47 times across all competitions as part of a back four. Learning on the job, he was quick to show why Kompany had seen him as a natural for the position. Free from the responsibility of the midfield battle, Gómez’s high energy and fantastic technique allow him to take on the role of a modern attacking fullback. He provided 12 assists in the league, a team high for the champions and good enough for joint-fourth most in the division.
He was also in the 98th percentile for expected goals assisted amongst fullbacks, providing the creative driving force from a nominally defensive position. The likes of João Cancelo and Trent Alexander-Arnold have redefined the fullback position in recent times and Gómez’s influence on the Anderlecht buildup and threat in the final third mirrored those two, albeit in a lower quality league.
Driven cross mastery
Gœmez’s high energy, deceptive pace and ability to cross first time with his left foot makes him a big overlapping threat. 8 of his Jupiler League assists came from low drilled crosses or cutbacks, often following overlapping runs or one-twos around the box. He has already provided two assists in this way for Real Sociedad via a cutback to Takefusa Kubo and a drilled cross to the feet of Brais Méndez.
His mastery of this skill is quite a rare weapon with defences often not set for quick low crosses placed between the goalkeeper and last defender. The consistency with which he finds this area means he needs little room in the final third to create a dangerous chance. His engine and the timing of his runs into threatening positions from deep make it difficult for opposition teams to prevent him from creating opportunities.
Transition back to midfield
After his move to Manchester City, where he saw little playing time, Gómez has quickly adapted to being a regular starter at Real Sociedad after his summer transfer. Interestingly, Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil has so far used him primarily as a central midfielder or winger with Gómez immediately being influential as an advanced midfielder. He started just once at left back in his first nine starts for La Real.
In a more advanced role, he is looking like the player that showed such promise at La Masia eight years ago. Perhaps Kompany was premature to say he was unlikely to play at the top level as a midfield player. Through to the third international break of the season, Gómez has the third-most assists (3.37) in LaLiga, only behind Raphinha (3.93) and Alejandro Baena (4.18).
Source: Sofascore
Gómez takes the second most touches per 90 for Real Sociedad after defensive midfield coordinator Martín Zubimendi and has claimed set pieces which were looking increasingly dangerous as the games rolled on.
Versatility
This is not to say that Gómez’s stint at fullback has not developed him as a player. Nor that he won’t continue to play there despite his success in midfield. His defensive work is much improved from his days as a young player which added to his struggles justifying his inclusion in the midfield at Dortmund and Huesca. Of the Sociedad midfielders only the excellent Zubimendi has completed more defensive actions per 90 minutes this season than Gómez.
From central midfield he excels at finding space in wide areas in the final third of the pitch where you might expect to find an inverted fullback, creating overloads on the left side and threatening with his exceptional crossing skill. His ability to play multiple positions to a high level also provides tactical flexibility both between fixtures and during matches.
In October’s 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid, Gómez played the first half as an attacking midfielder before a half time switch to left back. This was designed to cause problems for Atlético’s low block, who were defending a one goal lead. This allowed Alguacil to replace the starting left back, Javi López, with Brais Méndez, an attacking, box crashing midfielder, without losing Gómez’s quality on the ball in the buildup.
Areas for improvement
So far Gómez is excelling at Sociedad but that doesn’t mean there aren’t areas for the 24-year-old to improve if he is to play in midfield at the top level. One surprising area where he seems to struggle is with his long passing. Gómez is such a clean ball striker from set pieces and crosses that the inaccuracy of his longer passing is unexpected.
Martin Zubimendi: The Metronome at the Heart of Real Sociedad’s Midfield
This season he has completed just 43% of his long passes, in the bottom 15% of midfielders. In fairness, as a high-risk chance creator Gómez is penalised compared to safer passers, and his minutes at fullback also effect the percentages as he is often playing low percentage passes-cum-clearances under the opposition press.
However, from watching his long passes, he doesn’t look at ease playing lofted balls which are often under hit. Occasionally he overcompensates for that lack of power and overhits the ball. He doesn’t yet have the ability to switch the play with ease like a Toni Kroos or Trent Alexander-Arnold. This might in part be because of his stylistic preference to play short, honed by years in the Barcelona and Spain youth systems. He should have the technical ability to offer much more in this area so this may be a feature he can add to his game should a system require it.
Another area Gómez might need to improve if he will be playing as an advanced midfielder is his lack of goal threat. In contrast to his high expected goals assisted output, Gómez has put up just 0.02 expected goals per 90 this season. Most of his senior level goals have come via the penalty spot, from which he is a specialist, with the Spaniard scoring just two open play goals at club level to date.
There is some encouragement in this area though as Gómez has a good scoring record from the more attacking roles he has taken up for Spain’s various youth sides. Four open play goals in 19 appearances for the Spain U21 team provide some encouragement he can begin to contribute with goals from midfield, even if he may never be prolific from open play.
Again, his technical talent is on his side here with distance shooting a potential strength given his ball striking ability. He has scored several goals from range for Spain U21. As he adapts to being in more attacking roles, he could learn to get into striking positions more often which would be a big addition to his game.
If these things are improved upon, the Spaniard can become a well-rounded midfielder at the very top level. If not, then perhaps Kompany was correct in his assessment of Gómez’s ceiling being higher as a fullback.
Path to the top
Sergio Gómez is one of those rare players who can contribute across multiple positions with very diversified responsibilities. He has a versatile set of skills and a standout ability to find driven crosses and passes around the box which are valuable both from midfield in half spaces and as an overlapping fullback.
Javi López: The Long-term Solution at Left Back for Real Sociedad?
His start at Real Sociedad has been promising with his midfield appearances perhaps being better than expected and spending his fullback minutes playing like a true specialist in the role. Regardless of where he has lined up on the pitch, he is the player Sociedad have looked to dictate their attacking play.
The risk for Gómez is if his versatility prevents him from specialising in a role and working on the weaker areas which may prevent him from reaching the very top. If he can nail down a consistent position, then his progression should be towards becoming a key player for a top Champions League team and the Spanish national team. Despite being a later developer, he is a player with the quality and mentality to play at the highest level.
By: Luke Petty / @petty_luke
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images