Newcastle United have made their third senior summer signing, as they have finally managed to bring Valentino Livramento to St James’ Park. This has resembled a saga, as progress was slow and Southampton were difficult sellers. However, a compromise was found and the England Under 21 international will be continuing his development in the North East.
This is a strange transfer in one regard, as we are spending a lot of money on a right-back. It is a position that we already have a key player in and we do have some adequate depth. That said, Kieran Trippier will turn 33 next month and with Champions League football this season, we do need to manage him carefully. In Livramento, the club now has a quality back-up in the position and there is more room for rotation.
Livramento comes to the club after a serious ACL injury ruined his 2022/23 season. For the rest of this piece, we will be focused on data primarily from the 2021/22 season, when he had a breakout season for Southampton. There is some risk signing a player after a serious injury, but it will be hoped that his youth coupled with the medical advancements mean that it isn’t a major concern for his long term development.
Source: Statsbomb
During the 2021/22 season, Livramento played a lot of minutes for Southampton. The majority of these came as a right back, with a few matches played as a wing-back. It has been speculated that he can play as a left-back, but he has limited playing experience in this role. One match for Chelsea in a youth game is the only occasion on record that we could find.
A player with Livramento’s ability could be coached to play in different positions, but primarily, he will play as a right-back for us. It is more likely that he is used as a right winger than a left back, as this is an easier transition. This would also give Eddie Howe the option of playing him in the same team as Trippier. It would very much be in the case of an emergency, but don’t rule out the possibility of our new signing playing in a more advanced role.
Source: Statsbomb
As it has been widely commented on that Livramento will be the long term successor for Kieran Trippier, it is useful to compare their radars. There are some key differences between them, which we will look deeper into during this piece. The main ones are ball carrying, one vs one defending and passing ability. Although Trippier is the better and more complete player now, Livramento’s radar is promising and underlines why the club have spent a lot of money on him.
Source: Statsbomb
The above graphic shows how Livramento often looks to carry the ball and has plenty of confidence with the ball at his feet. There is a quick acceleration that allows him to surge past opposition defenders. His recent injury means that there may be some concern about whether he has kept this, but performances for Southampton since his return suggest this shouldn’t be a big worry.
During the 2021/22 season, Livramento carried the ball 862 times and completed 90.4% of these. This is a very high percentage and shows how effective the young full-back is when he is running with the ball. It is only effective to carry the ball if you are able to keep it and that is something that our new signing does well.
Source: Statsbomb
Drilling deeper into Livramento’s ball carries and focusing on just those that progress the ball into the final third. These are the most difficult to complete as teams become more aggressive in their defending closer to their goal. 336 of his ball carries progressed the ball into the final third and these came at a success rate of 86.3%.
This is one of the major differences between Trippier and Livramento. The former focuses on his movement in the final third to get space, while the latter often creates space for himself and looks to run with the ball. Against teams that set up in a deep block, it may be useful to bring Livramento off the bench, as he can add some chaos and pace to the build-up. It provides Eddie Howe with another option.
It is difficult not to be impressed when you watch Livramento’s ball carrying. There is an undeniable athleticism that allows him to move quickly ten yards up the field, as he has a burst of pace that allows him to move past opposition players. There is still an inexperience to his game, that will be ironed out as he plays more matches. However, the talent is undeniable.
Although the physicality required to carry the ball is impressive in itself, perhaps the most impressive thing in the clips is his reading of the game. Throughout his carrying, Livramento is continually scanning what is happening around him, as he tries to make the correct decision. It isn’t a case that he is running blindly with the ball and that is a testament to his football intelligence.
For the #NUFC fans that would like more proof his athleticism seems undiminished, here he is in a foot race with Mitoma at the end of last season. ????pic.twitter.com/ZpDnEt7qJF
— Kev Lawson (@Edit_Kev) August 3, 2023
After a serious injury like the one that Livramento had, there will be obvious concerns about how it will impact his physicality. It is understandable, as one of the full-back’s biggest strengths is his athleticism. In the above video, we can see a clip of him facing Kaoru Mitoma, who is considered one of the most dangerous one-on-one attackers. Kieran Trippier has struggled against him in the past.
Livramento has the pace to catch up to the Japanese winger and the strength to shrug him off the ball. He concedes a corner on this occasion, but he could easily win the ball back or win a goal kick. This shows how Livramento still has the physical attributes to defend against the better players in the division. As his fitness and confidence builds, he should get to even greater levels than he showed pre-injury.
Defending
The above video brings us nicely to his defending. One thing desperately lacking from the current Newcastle defence is pace. The system managed to hide that weakness well last season, but it is something that will get exploited more and more. Livramento has the athleticism to be a major asset to our defence.
Source: Statsbomb
Livramento’s balance and recovery make him a good fit for Eddie Howe’s system. He is capable of pressing high up the pitch to win the ball back, as shown by the above defensive map. If he does press high and the opposition get behind him, he is able to rely on his recovery speed to get back quickly.
Further to this, he is able to get touch tight to opposition wingers, as he knows he can stick to them if they try to get past him. Trippier doesn’t have this athleticism to fall back on and can back off at times. Livramento could be the right play against certain wingers, especially if it looks like Trippier is struggling.
Source: Statsbomb
Livramento’s ball wins can be seen in the above graphic. There is a variety of positions, but he excels at winning the ball back just inside his half. This shows the aggression to his style, as he tries to nick the ball back before the opposition winger has even got into their stride, showing the front-footedness of his approach.
When adjusted for possession, Livramento averaged 5.41 tackles and interceptions per ninety minutes in his last full season. This is a higher number than Trippier’s 4.16, while the new signing succeeds in 18% more of his attempts to defend take ons. The former is definitely more aggressive without the ball, but that comes with some hindrances.
To begin with, there are worries about his aerial ability, as he only succeeds in 44% of his aerial duels. This is an area he will need to work on, but it tends to be something that improves as a player gets more experience and bulks out a little bit.
Despite the obvious strengths that Livramento has defensively, there remains an inexperience that can cause him difficulties. He can be over-confident at times and believe that his recovery pace can get him out of holes. This leads him to committing too soon and allowing the opposition player to get past him or release a pass too easily.
As he gets more experience, he will make these mistakes less frequently and understand when he can be aggressive, but Livramento is still learning. Howe will like his front-footed defensive style, but he will try to hone it to limit the number of errors that he makes.
Attacking quality
Source: Statsbomb
One of the biggest worries for Eddie Howe this season would have been an injury to Kieran Trippier. This is due to none of his other right-backs having the same attacking quality. Although there are some key differences, Livramento is a player that is confident in attack.
The above graphic shows the passing network from Southampton’s draw away to us in the 2021/22 season. On that day, they were the better team and that is clear from the positions of the full-backs. They are in our half on both sides and Livramento was active in the build-up that day.
The red colour shows that Livramento had a high OBV (on-ball value) in the game, as a lot of his contributions were adding value. He thrives when he is in the opposition half and he will enjoy playing in Howe’s system. There will be plenty of opportunities for him to get forward.
Trippier remains a far better player in the build-up play, due to his passing abilities, but Livramento retains a big threat in the final third. When compared to Emil Krafth and Javier Manquillo, he is a significant upgrade and should lessen any pain felt by a Trippier injury.
Source: Statsbomb
Source: Statsbomb
The above two graphics emphasise why Eddie Howe chose to sign another right-back. Trippier, alongside Bruno Guimaraes, is arguably our most important player. It would be a significant gamble to make on Trippier’s fitness that he would play as many minutes in the 2023/24 season. During this campaign, he will turn 33 and he needs to be managed correctly to lengthen his career.
Krafth and Manquillo are both dependable Premier League full-backs, but they aren’t good enough to be starting regularly for a team competing at the top of the division. Krafth is coming off the back of a serious injury and there will be some reliability concerns there, while Howe has never fully trusted Manquillo.
The signing of Livramento should take a lot of the pressure off Trippier and allow Howe to manage his right-back’s minutes.
Source: Statsbomb
One of our key attacking patterns is to go down the right side to create a crossing opportunity for Trippier. Livramento is another right-back that enjoys crossing. He averaged 0.72 successful crosses per ninety minutes. A slight difference to Trippier is how Livramento tries to get closer to the byline before crossing.
The above graphic shows the key pass map for Livramento during the 2021/22 season. There are a number of line breaking forward passes that show the creativity he can have in the middle third.
As Livramento is moving from a relegation-threatened team to one competing in the Champions League, it should be expected that there will be an increase in his key passes and assists. That said, the raw materials are there and the above map show how he can be an able replacement for Trippier in certain games.
He averaged 0.09 xG assisted per 90 minutes from open play during his breakout season. This is the same number as Trippier last season. Livramento won’t being the same set piece ability, but from open play, he can step up when required and cover well.
These are a nice assortment of clips that show the threat that Livramento can bring in the final third. It is noticeable how he does try to get to the byline at every opportunity. This is classic full-back play, but something we can lack at times. Miguel Almiron likes to come inside, while Trippier likes to cross from deeper areas.
Livramento is able to cross from deeper areas too. The different types of delivery show how he judges the game ahead of him and selects the cross he believes will be most threatening. It is similar to a golfer selecting the right club for the best outcome. There are some whipped crosses, some drilled balls across the floor and higher aerial crosses to get over opposition defenders.
Trippier doesn’t often underlap into the half-space inside the opposition penalty area, as he doesn’t have the athleticism to recover if the team concedes possession, This is something we will see more with Livramento and there is one example in the above clips. This crossing position is one of the most dangerous and it will be useful for our team to include this into our patterns of play when Livramento is on the pitch.
Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson will both be excited to work with Livramento. Where Armando Broja and Che Adams were sometimes wasteful, you would expect our two strikers to convert some of the chances created in the clips above. The final clip shows an assist for Anthony Gordon and this is something we may see regularly over the coming seasons.
This signing is similar to the Gordon one in many ways. For a long time, we were never in the running to sign the best young talent in this country. Newcastle weren’t trusted as a club to develop players and it wasn’t an enticing destination.
That has now changed and we are now signing exceptional young talents that can immediately compete for first-team minutes. This safeguards the long-term future of the club and we have a coach that can develop them correctly.
Tino Livramento isn’t a signing that will get the neutrals to sit up and notice, but it is one that shows how far the club has come.
