Hugo Camberos and his flexibility for Óscar García

Foto from MSN

Thought: Whilst tactical analysis mainly focuses on the collective, sometimes we can better understand the tactical ideas of a coach by zooming-in on one player’s role, and how they impact the collective

Hugo Camberos has been a revelation in the Liga de Expansión in the previous year. At just 17-years-old, Camberos played in over 1,000 minutes and showed an impressive performance level.

Hugo Camberos, concept analysis in the Liga de Expansión

It seems that Óscar García is convinced with Camberos, and has handed the young winger starts in 4 of Chivas’ 5 Liga MX games this season.

However, until now, Camberos doesn’t have a clear role in García’s system. Chivas’ head coach has shown a preference to adjust his tactics in different matches at the start of his time in Guadalajara, and Camberos has been a key piece given his adaptability.

García has asked a lot from such a young player, however, head coaches often look to make the most of the flexibility of less experienced footballers, and their ability to learn and adapt.

By visualizing heat maps of Hugo Camberos’ touches in his 4 starts this season, we can see his differing roles and positioning. Exploring these roles can give us an idea of García’s tactical approaches in each match, and the importance of Camberos to bring his strategies to life.

Camberos vs Santos Laguna- Attack a defensively weak full-back

The heat map versus Santos shows a traditional, and dangerous winger. Offering width on the right flank, but with depth in more central areas, arriving in dangerous positions in the half-space and the penalty area.

Tano Ortiz surprised with Luis Vega, a wide attacker from the Santos U-23 squad, playing as a left-back in this match. Chivas tried to exploit Vega’s defensive weakness, focusing their attacks on the right-wing, and Camberos had the freedom to frequently attempt dribbles. Whilst the Mexican didn’t have great efficiency (1 of 6 dribbles attempted were successful), Camberos won a penalty (fouled by Vega).

Camberos vs Necaxa- Create a back-5 when defending

Facing Necaxa’s 3-4-3, Óscar García took the decision to adjust his out of possession structure. On paper, Camberos started the match as a right-winger once again, but his heat map shows fewer actions in the final 3rd and more in his own half, more like a wing-back.

He did the defensive work, but suffered in some duels, winning just 1 of 5 attempted tackles. Also, Camberos had to cover the right-back role for a moment, after an injury, and in this moment Pavel Pérez beat him in an aerial duel in the box, to level the match.

Camberos’ per game data from fotmob. We can see his box arrivals vs Santos, but lack of precision, and the defensive work against Necaxa.

Camberos vs León- Occupy the centre

García started with his two teenage wingers (Camberos and Jonathan Padilla) for the first time after the Jornada 1 victory, but occupying different zones. The wingers moved inside, attempting to pin León’s full-backs in the centre, and open up space on the flanks for Chivas’ full-backs to attack.

On the left-wing, the idea worked fairly well. Chivas’ only goal of the game came from the left, with full-back Mateo Chávez assisting Jonathan Padilla in the first half. But with José Castillo, a more defensive full-back, playing on the right, many times Chivas didn’t occupy the right-wing, in order to exploit space created by Camberos. Player profiles impact match strategies.

Camberos vs Querétaro- Left-winger

Hugo returned to a wide position against Querétaro, but after the first few minutes, García switched Camberos’ wing, to put him on the left for the first time in Liga MX. There may have been a plan to exploit Los Gallos Blancos’ 36-year-old right-back, Omar Mendoza. Or to create a dangerous combination of Camberos and Mateo Chávez.

However, Querétaro were able to double-up versus Camberos at times and the winger didn’t generate much ball progression. The majority of his passes were played backwards, and he only managed a single touch in the box.

Whilst Camberos hasn’t yet shown the high attacking output that he produced in the Liga de Expansión, his role changes may have impacted his rhythm and productivity. However, as of now he’s earning valuable minutes for his personal development, learning different roles, and helping Óscar García to carry-his tactical ideas.

Thank you for reading, if you’d like to contact me regarding any questions, comments or to consult my services, you can contact me on:

• Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/tomh36.bsky.social

• Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-harrison-a682a2175/

• Twitter/X - https://x.com/tomh_36

También, se puede leer este artículo en Español- https://cambiodejuego.beehiiv.com/