An analysis of Diogo Jota
Here's my analysis of one of my favorite players currently; Diogo Jota. Spoiler alert: He's very good.
In the 2019/20 season, Liverpool’s front three had a combined 81 goal contributions among them in the Premier League alone. Considered to be one of the best attacking trios in world football, if not the best, under Klopp this Liverpool side had turned into an intensely-pressing, unforgivable, and insatiable machine. It’s the same front-three that terrorized England as well as Europe, that this 23-year-old Portuguese is giving a run for their money in contention for the starting spots. In this newsletter/article, we analyze Diogo Jota and take a look at the different dimensions he adds to Liverpool.
“Mentality Monsters”
Diogo Jota was born in Masserolos, Porto. The Portuguese forward played for the Gondomor and Pacos de Ferreira youth teams, after which he was signed by Atletico Madrid for whom he made zero appearances and went on two loans, one at Porto and the other at Wolves. It’s at Wolves where he really started fulfilling his potential under Nuno Esperito Santo, leading to his £41 million transfer to Premier League champions Liverpool.
It is quite fitting that this is the team that was often called “mentality monsters” that Diogo Jota is looking to break into. As his ex-manager at Pacos de Ferreira told The Athletic, he had told a Portuguese website in 2016 that Jota would be the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo. Four years later, when he messaged Jota to congratulate him on his move to Liverpool, within a few seconds he replied with the old article hailing him as the successor to Ronaldo.
His ambitious mentality is never a doubt, from playing for multiple youth teams on the same weekend to leaving a guaranteed first-team role at Wolves to fight for a chance to start at Liverpool. However, the admirable thing is that these are not empty ambitions. He scored hat-tricks for both youth sides in one weekend once, and now at Liverpool, he scored a hat-trick against Italy’s Atalanta. What separates Diogo Jota from other ambitious players, is the execution.
Roles and positions
Initially, this section was called ‘Role and position’ which in afterthought didn’t make much sense when talking about the versatile Diogo Jota. AS Klopp himself said, Jota can play anywhere in the front-three. At Wolves, he was initially the left-winger in a front-three when Wolves were playing in the Championship. However, in the Premier League he has played alongside Raul Jiminez in a front-two. These two formed an excellent understanding which was instrumental for Wolves’ success.
Jota prefers to play more centrally than down the wings which explains why he thrived in the front-two. This doesn't make it any less impressive that he can play on either wing, as well as a striker. In the second half of 2018/19 was when Jota had his eureka moment. Wolves switched from their usual 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 and this gave Jota an incredible boost in performance showing his ability like never before, providing 10 goals and seven assists in 23 appearances.
At Liverpool, he has played in all three positions already. His ability to make the runs that resemble the ones that Salah and Mane make has already been apparent. As the striker, he has been expected to drop back, but not as much as Firmnho does. He is very comfortable playing with his back to goal, which helps a lot when combined with one of his most impressive characteristics—his two-footedness.
According to FBRef, Jota has used his right-foot, which is his predominant foot, 66% of the time. This is quite impressive, and it contributes immensely to his versatility. Apart from his ability to cut in from the left, he can also play superb passes with his left foot. Up next, we take a look at two examples that showcase his ambidexterity among other attributes.
Ambidexterity
In the example above, we see Jota pick up the ball just in front of Liverpool’s box, after which he immediately dribbles forward, changes his body’s orientation to slow down Gravenberch, explodes past him, and plays an exquisite cross towards the middle of the pitch from the by-line. So what exactly was impressive about this apart from the cross?
Firstly, the fact that at the very start, he shifts the ball across to his left using his right foot, and he only dribbles with the ball to his left from then onwards. Because of his comfort in using either foot, he is able to maintain possession, and not give room to Gravenberch to tackle him. Secondly, the quick burst of pace he displayed made the most of his and his marker’s momentum. Many players try to nudge the ball forwards and sprint past, which isn’t always as efficient. The composure and decision-making here were spot-on.
In the above video, we have another example of his ambidexterity. After a pass inside the box from the right, he receives it with his left foot to bring it under control and then strikes it with his right. His ability to play comfortably with both feet is a result of intense practice, as he sometimes used to purposely play only with his left-foot during his youth career. Here, another aspect that is very impressive is his balance as he stands solid on his feet even after shifting the center of mass from one side to another so rapidly.
Off-the-ball
Up next, we have an example of something that is non-negotiable for this Liverpool side. Intense pressing. Being an advocate of gegenpressing, Klopp demands a high work-rate off-the-ball from his team.
The following example shows an example of Jota’s pressing. While cutting out the passing lanes, Jota advances which forces Ajax’s defender to have to change his decision abruptly, which led to a wayward pass. Within an instant, Jota is snapping at the heels of the defenders as they chase the ball. Sweeper-keeper Onana comes off his line, but Jota intercepts the rash clearance before the ball takes flight which makes it shoot off towards Ajax’s goal. It’s only due to the pace of Ajax’s defender that Jota doesn’t gain possession right there.
In the video below, we see an example of Jota’s understanding and intelligence.
This example is explained through annotations in the video. It’s highly likely that if Jota wasn’t a newcomer, he would’ve received a pass in the box, and knowing Jota, it would have been a shot on target at the very least.
As the modern game evolves, forwards have to be as good off-the-ball as they are with the ball at their feet. Luckily for Liverpool, Jota satisfies this requirement thanks to his footballing intelligence and understanding of the game.
Attacking contributions
Jota may be versatile, ambidextrous, and smart. But as a forward, you have to be a goal-scorer to justify being the center of the attack. In this section, we take a look at his finishing and shooting.
Given below is an image showing the positions of the shots on target, goals, and saved shots from Jota in the Premier League for Liverpool. As we can see, the majority of these are from within the box. Though he isn’t a ‘fox-in-the-box’, the Portuguese is very good at quickly pivoting on his heels and striking the ball. This is an attribute that allows him to play as a striker, which excellently complements his comfort in playing with his back to goal and involving more players into the play.
Jota, once he is familiar with his teammates, is an excellent player at quick one-twos as well as link-up play. The following video is an excellent example of his chemistry with Jiminez. Though he prefers to operate in a front-two, if he is able to form a good connection with the Liverpool forwards, this is a player who could comfortably have 30+ goal contributions per season.
Now, we have another video which I have tried explaining through the annotations. The strength Jota shows to hold-off the defender while keeping an eye on the goalkeeper’s positioning is a recurring characteristic of his play. Especially the latter. The young Liverpool player is always scanning his surroundings and is aware of his teammates as well as the opposition, and it doens’t hurt that he shows-off a composed chip to round-off his hat-trick here.
Conclusion
Diogo Jota is still very much an unfinished product. He has immense potential, though his current ability is quite impressive as well. It is no surprise to see the 23-year-old knocking at the door of the starting XI already at Liverpool. In the next few years, I expect Jota to be a key player at Liverpool and as mentioned earlier, this is someone who could have 30+ goal contributions each season, and that’s considering his average growth trajectory. Excellent ambition, combined with versatility, talent, and intelligence makes Portugal’s Diogo Jota someone who every team’s defenders will possibly fear for the coming decade.
This was my first article with video analysis! I hope you liked it. Please let me know how I can improve. Thanks and hope you enjoyed this article :)