Twenty3’s Under 23s to watch: Jesús Ferreira
Jesús Ferreira is enjoying a superb season for FC Dallas.
The 22-year-old has been a consistently excellent performer since 2019, regularly producing mature showings despite his relative youth.
The forward’s talents have been noticed by the United States and he has been rewarded with 20 caps — including a hat-trick in his last outing, a 6-0 win over Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Gold Cup.
Using Twenty3’s analysis tools, we take a closer look at the electric centre-forward and his numerous qualities.
Goal machine
Ferreira has enjoyed an excellent campaign this term, returning 10 goals — the third-most in the league.
His xG stands at just 6.15, however, meaning the forward has overperformed by almost four goals.
This suggests that he has been finishing well from difficult positions, though it remains to be seen if he can maintain that level of production in a higher-quality league.
A tally of just 41 final third passes completed suggests that he is less involved in build-up play and the cluster of shots from the centre of the box in his xG shot map indicate a tendency to stay high and operate within the width of the penalty area.
Former Liverpool and Aston Villa frontman Christian Benteke has carved out a reputation as an impressive centre-forward in MLS — and Ferreira fares well when compared with the Belgian via the comparison radar.
The USMNT striker matches his rival in most key areas, such as goals, shots attempted and key passes and outperforms Benteke in dribbles completed.
Benteke has won more aerial duels, but he stands at 6ft 3in, while Ferreira is 5ft 8in and does not possess the frame to offer the same threat in the air.
Wide overloads
Despite profiling largely as a penalty-box poacher from a goalscoring perspective, the key actions visualisation suggests he does play his part in build-up from time to time — albeit not as a high-volume passer.
The graphic reveals activity in wide areas near the box, suggesting that he runs the channels and helps create overloads on either wing — a valuable asset when trying to break down a defensive structure.
Even in central positions, it is clear that he gets involved in and around zone 14 — notoriously the most dangerous area in build-up play.
This matches up with his heat map from his player overview, which highlights his propensity to occupy the right half-space in particular.
Many top clubs around Europe require their centre-forwards to be more active outside of their goalscoring responsibilities and Ferreira is clearly developing and refining that side of his game this season.
Ferreira is a direct goalscorer enjoying a prolific campaign and, at just 22, he is only likely to get better. If he can continue to round out his skill-set, perhaps it will not be long before a European club comes calling.
All visualisations and Smart Reports in this article were produced with the Twenty3 Toolbox. For more information, please get in touch below.