Alejandro Pozuelo will make his first appearance for Toronto FC on Friday night at BMO Field against New York City FC. It might be one of the most scrutinized and intense debuts in TFC history given the current situation surrounding the club.
Sure, the Reds have won its first two matches of the Major League Soccer campaign, but after the off-season departures of Sebastian Giovinco and Victor Vazquez, Pozuelo will be expected to dominate from the outset in Toronto.
Given what TFC reportedly invested to bring Pozuelo to MLS, that will only add even more pressure onto the Spaniard’s shoulders. However, if he impresses, it’ll quickly be forgotten. Such is the case when a big-money signing performs well.
While he might be wearing Giovinco’s vacated No. 10 shirt, Pozuelo is a direct Vazquez replacement. TFC coach Greg Vanney admitted that while both Spanish playmakers are similar, they do have different qualities that make them unique. There’s also a bit of Giovinco in Pozuelo’s game.
Still, most TFC fans would like to know just how the two players compare with each other.
Using Wyscout data, the radars below show stats from Pozuelo’s 2018-19 season with Genk and Vazquez’s 2017 campaign with TFC.
Upon first glance, it’s seems that Pozuelo has the clear edge in almost every category. Couple that with the fact that he’s arriving from Belgium’s first division – which is very fast paced and energetic – and this will surely translate well to MLS.
Of course, it is slightly harsh to directly compare Vazquez with Pozuelo. The former relies more on his vision, intelligence and awareness. That’s not to say Pozuelo doesn’t utilize these traits, but he’s more dynamic and this allows him to be involved in more facets of a game.
Watch Pozuelo’s (No. 24) off-the-ball movement, then how he weaves through Kortrijk’s defence.
He also likes to drop deep at times and kick start attacks in his half of the pitch.
However, it’s worth repeating that Pozuelo has Vazquez-like tendencies as well.
Overall, though, Pozuelo is more active both on and off the ball than Vazquez, which is perfectly fine. In fact, Vanney might enjoy having an energetic playmaker in his lineup. There will be less of a burden on the other midfielders and it could mean less attention on Jonathan Osorio making secondary runs into the box, for example.
Perhaps the biggest difference between Pozuelo and Vazquez is health. While the latter has experienced a couple major knee injuries, Pozuelo has seldom been injured long term. His only two significant knocks were a thigh strain in 2014 with Swansea City and a groin injury.
Don’t forget that Pozuelo is 27 years old while Vazquez already had some wear and tear when he arrived to TFC at 30.
The real burning question is this: Will Pozuelo form a lethal partnership with Jozy Altidore? It should be an ideal match since Altidore loves to make runs off the ball. Altidore also speaks fluent Spanish, so that should help them build chemistry, both on and off the pitch.
Based on the evidence at hand, it’s easy to picture Pozuelo in Giovinco’s position in these two clips.
Pozuelo could take to MLS like Giovinco did in 2015, but all players are unique. Some need time to acclimatize to their new surroundings. Others are immune to those factors.
But the eye test and analysis are encouraging from a Toronto FC point of view. Now all that that’s left is to put it into action in a Reds shirt.
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