Rafel Obrador – one of the best teenage left-backs in Europe by @FabricaMadrid

Rafel Obrador Burguera – 18 Years old (24/02/2004)
Team: Juvenil A (U19)
Height: 1,80 M
Preferred foot: Left
Position: LB
Strengths: pace, acceleration, technique, crossing, dribbling, ball control, positioning, intercepting, dynamism, football IQ
Similar type of player: hybrid of Álex Grimaldo & Theo Hernández

Playing style:

• complete full-back who brings both offensively & defensively
• player with great pace, acceleration & change of pace
• player who is able to outflank and outpace his opponent to make good crosses
• very comfortable on the ball
• player with good technical ability & agility for a player of his size
• he is often a solution for his teammates and is a perfect full-back for modern football
• he is able to nullify the opponent’s pressure thanks to his technical ability and his playing intelligence
• he has a good football IQ: he anticipates opponents’ actions well, is able to find his team-mates with precise passes and often makes the right choices
• he is able to dribble past his opponents thanks to his technical ability & thanks to his first acceleration
• he likes to run forward with the ball
• he has the ability to cut inside to combine with his teammates or to find them with his passes
• tactically gifted with a good understanding of the game : he knows how to take advantage of the space left by his winger (when the winger come inside) & how to make an over-lap or under-lap and provide width in the attack
• he use very well his pace to stretch the opposition defence by holding the width on the touchline & he can also move in to more narrow positions to link in with his teammates
• good crossing skills: he has a good crossing range & he is able to create different types of crosses according to the time and space available to him – he’s able to find his teammates in specific areas and in the best conditions to score
• good positional sense, reading of the game defensively and he possesses a good recovery pace
• good timing and game reading ability when going forward: when the team gets the ball back, he knows exactly when and how he should be incorporated into the attack / he choose when is the correct moment to support and hold or to overlap his left-sided winger
• defensively, he is often well positioned, anticipates well and is good in ground duels
• Despite being an attacking minded full-back, he remains good defensively: he defends with his head, he rarely throws himself and defends a maximum standing: he only uses slide tackles as a last resort
• it is very difficult to dribble past him in 1V1 situations, because in addition to his pace, he is intelligent and has strong supports that allow him to quickly change position and adapt according to the choice the opponent makes
• pretty good in aerials duels thanks to his height (1.80 M)

Improvements:

• he still has room for physical improvement (physical build and strength)
• sometimes he may anticipate too much and be surprised by the opposing striker, but this is rare & he still has room for improvement defensively (especially when he plays at a higher level)
• although he has a good crossing skills, he can still do better in certain situations

Description:

Rafel Obrador is a 18-year-old left-back who joined Real Madrid in October 2020 from Mallorca, where he made his La Liga debut last season at just 16 years of age making him one of the youngest players to make their debuts in LaLiga. Real Madrid had been following the player since he was at Alevín (U11 – U12) and had tried to sign him in the past. Last season (2020/21), Obrador was registered with Real Madrid Juvenil B (U18) team and also made his debut with the Juvenil A (U19) against Aravaca (21/02/2021).

Obrador is a very complete left-back who has all the qualities that a modern full-back should have in today’s football. He masters many aspects of the game and doesn’t seem to have any real weaknesses – at least none that are very detrimental to him or his team. He is very good technically and very comfortable on the ball: he is one of those full-backs who have no problem getting rid of an opponent’s pressing by using the dribble & his technical ability. In the team’s build-up phase, he brings a nice ball out thanks to his vision and the precision of his passes. He is often clean / fair in his play and makes few mistakes, both in his decision-making with the ball and in his defensive interventions. He is not afraid to take risks when trying to dribble away from the opposition, but he does not overdo it and knows when not to take such risks: if he finds himself in a situation where he has to clear the ball, he has no problem doing so.

Physically, his speed is his greatest quality. He knows how to take advantage of his good acceleration to gain meters on his opponent and to make long runs with the ball to find his teammates by passing or crossing. This physical quality often gives him an advantage over his opponents. His speed serves him both offensively and defensively – it is very difficult for the opponent to pass him in defence using speed. In addition, it also allows him to make good defensive coverages and make up for it if he gets caught in a bad position (which rarely happens). He also has good stamina and is able to put in a lot of effort throughout the game.

His defensive positioning is good and he analyses well what is going on around him before making a defensive intervention or before taking risks offensively.

To conclude, Rafel is a great talent who I really don’t find any major flaws in (at least in the games we’ve seen of him so far with La Fábrica). He has great potential – with Miguel Gutiérrez and Rafel Obrador, Real Madrid have great talent at the left-back position. Obrador has the potential to make it to Real Madrid first team. He’s an amazing talent and he should be a starter for Castilla next season. Sky’s the limit for him.

📊| Rafel Obrador with Juvenil A (U19) this season:

✅27 games
⏱2182 minutes
⚽️1 goal
🅰️6 assists
🎩23 chances created
🔀4.2 successful dribbles per 90 (67%)
💪4.9 recoveries per 90
❌5 interceptions per 90
🤼‍♂️2.1 tackles won per 90
⚔️63% of duels won