Born in Rome, Pellegrini joined the AS Roma academy in 2005 at the age of 7 and was in the academy for 10 years before making his first team debut for the senior squad in the 2014/15 season at the age of 18. That was Pellegrini’s only first team appearance for Roma before he departed to Reggio Emilia and joined Sassuolo for a fee of just over €1 million. Two good seasons for the Neroverdi followed, before Roma executed their buy back clause in the original deal selling Pellegrini to Sassuolo, paying a fee of €10 million to bring him back to the Stadio Olimpico and reuniting him with former manager Eusebio di Francesco.
Since then, Pellegrini has gone on to make over 100 appearances in his second spell with his boyhood club, becoming an important player in the last couple of seasons for manager Paulo Fonseca. He has also attracted the attention of Italy manager Roberto Mancini, with 15 international caps to his name for the Azzuri. This following scout report will examine exactly what this promising 24-year old Italian offers to Roma’s midfield.
Positional overview and fit in Fonseca’s side
Since becoming manager of AS Roma, Paulo Fonseca has deployed his side in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Pellegrini playing as one of the two more advanced midfielders. In this position, Pellegrini is given more license to roam, and therefore be more involved in the play deeper in midfield. From watching Roma matches, you can notice how (1) Pellegrini is always on the left side of midfield and will only occasionally roam to the opposite side, and (2) when Roma are in their shape during build-up phases, Pellegrini will sit in between the midfield two and the attacking two, with the other attacking midfielder (usually Carles Perez) joining the striker up top to form a two-man partnership. This allows Pellegrini to operate in the space in between the lines, but he will also drop deep to receive possession, and drive forward into the box with and without the ball. His high energy, ball winning tendencies is also something the Fonseca appreciates, with Pellegrini one of the first names on the team sheet for the Portuguese manager.
Vision and off the ball movement
A couple of key traits that midfielders have to have is their vision when they are on the ball, and their movement without it. These are both strengths of Pellegrini, with him being one of the best creative midfielders in Serie A over the last two seasons, as well as making right movements and runs when he is not in possession.
Pellegrini’s vision with and without the ball show the type of midfielder that he is capable to developing into. When out of possession, Pellegrini will consistently look over either shoulder to see where the opposition players are. This is frequent on throw-ins, both for Roma and the opposition. He will also look over his shoulder when calling for a pass, to make sure that he has enough space and time to turn and find a teammate. When in possession of the ball, Pellegrini is a great outlet for putting balls into dangerous positions in the final third. According to UnderStat, in the last two seasons, Pellegrini has a KPper90 of 2.42, which smashes the league average of 1.37. With the other attacking midfielder normally joining the striker up top in attacking moves, this puts most of the creativity burden from deeper positions directly on Pellegrini, which is something he excels at. His xA90 and A90 of 0.33 and 0.25 respectively are also higher than the league averages the last two seasons (both 0.13).
When it comes to his movement out of possession, Pellegrini is a player who like to make smart runs in behind, not just for the sake of making a run. This was in full effect in Roma’s last match, a 4-3 win against Spezia. For Roma’s first goal, Pellegrini noticed the Spezia defender get impatient and go out of position to press the Roma player in possession. This allowed the space to open up down the Spezia left, which Pellegrini took advantage of. He was able to receive the ball and drive into the box, playing a slick pass across the 18-yard box for Borja Mayoral to tap into the net. These are the kinds of runs that Pellegrini is capable of making on a weekly basis, and it shows how he combines these two abilities in the perfect way.
Range of passing
Another aspect of his game that he is strong at is his passing. In Serie A so far this season, Pellegrini has a pass accuracy of 83%, which is very good considering he has attempted almost 700 so far this season. He also averages about 46 passes/90 minutes, to partner with his roughly 70 touches per game. Pellegrini does not always attempt passes through the air, most of his passes are ground passes, but he has the ability to switch play and play balls over the top in behind the defense. Pellegrini is patient on the ball, and will not force a pass if he does not have to. If no options are available, he will recycle play and not attempt to be the hero and play an impossible pass. His calmness on the ball shows between his pass accuracy and his decisions he makes with the ball at his feet, and even so, there is still room for him to improve in this regard to get even better.
Strength and defensive work rate
Even though he is deployed by Fonseca in more of a #10 role, Pellegrini is an all-around midfielder, and has the ability to play as a #8 or even as a #6. Though Pellegrini is a taller, lankier midfielder, he is not afraid to dive into challenges with opposition midfielders. In fact, so far this season in Serie A, Pellegrini has won 57% of his tackles attempted, which is not too shabby considering he is being deployed as an attacking midfielder. Also, he is not afraid to go into 50-50s with an opponent, winning 58% of his duels so far this season as well. Pellegrini is an all-around high energy midfielder, and there is no drop off at all in his energy and work rate when he has to perform defensive duties.
His strength on the ball is also something that he occasionally excels at. He has shown moments of strength on the ball when he is able to bounce off opponents when driving forward towards the 18-yard box, but he also can sometimes go down a bit too easily trying to win a foul. Not to take this away from his strength on the ball, but one weakness I see in this aspect is his tendency to sometimes go down too easily when he feels light contact.
Leadership qualities
Despite still only being 24 years of age, Pellegrini is a leader on the pitch for Roma. Whether that is him barking out order to teammates to get into the right positions or show for a pass, Pellegrini has the leadership qualities to soon be a future captain for his boyhood club. In fact, in Roma’s last match against Spezia, with Edin Dzeko out, Pellegrini was given the captain’s armband by Fonseca, and he put in a captain’s performance. His all-around game was put to the front, with everything from dribbling, passing, chance creation, defending, and goal scoring all showing why Pellegrini is such a great all-around midfielder. These qualities, along with his leadership qualities, will all get better with age, and future captain for AS Roma looks very much in Pellegrini’s future.
Conclusion
Lorenzo Pellegrini is one of AS Roma’s best midfielders. Roma have to do everything that they can to hold onto Pellegrini for the foreseeable future, and build the squad around him. Being a boyhood Roma fan could help strength the allegiances Pellegrini has to the club, and he could very well become the next Daniele de Rossi. While he is not at this level yet, there is no doubt that Pellegrini has every opportunity to become this type of player in the future. Also, with is performances continuing to get better and better, there is no doubt that more calls from Roberto Mancini will be coming in the future, and most likely, a spot in the Italy squad for the postponed Euro 2020 this summer.
Brandon's Scouting Network 