Ángel Alarcón – ‘El Killer’ from La Masia by Piotr Guziński
Ángel Alarcón is currently one of the most promising players in La Masia and one of the best young strikers in Spain. At Espanyol, he was one of the most promising talents and impressed during the MIC final, where he faced… Barcelona. Angel scored a goal in that match and was constantly creating havoc in the penalty area. Alarcon joined Barcelona the same year and started playing for cadete B, where he scored 22 goals and won the league with the team. In cadete A he scored 16 goals and won the league title again. Even though the season ended early due to Covid-19, the striker has impressed enough to receive a direct promotion to juvenil A. Angel has already played for Barca B this season and is one of the best players for juvenil A. The forward is part of a great 2004 generation that also includes Pablo Paez Gavi, Diego Almeida, Ilias Akhomach, Aleix Garrido, Arnau Casas and Toni Caravaca. We’ll take a look at his profile and playstyle below, and what he can improve.
Profile, position and style of play
Alarcón is a dynamic and mobile striker who can score goals from almost anywhere. He can play any position in the attack line. Angel is a forward who impresses with off-the-ball movement, intelligence, positioning and acceleration. His runs behind the defenders’ backs always create a big danger. He often starts his actions in his own half and thanks to his speed and balance he easily enters the penalty area. He also likes to go inside and try to hit from a distance. He also helps with building the action and is creative. As I mentioned earlier Angel this season is one of the best and most important players in juvenil A. Alarcon scored 7 goals and won 4 penalties. In addition, he has 3 assists.
His physicality at such a young age is also impressive. Angel makes good use of these conditions and can play with his back to the goal. He also makes great use of his body and gets fouled quite often. His perfect runs into the penalty area (or near the penalty area) often mean that the only way to stop him is to commit a foul. In this way, he has won a penalty several times this season. Angel has a killer instinct in the penalty area and makes good decisions under pressure. His first contact with the ball is at a good level. It is worth noting that Angel likes to finish the action with first-time shots. He doesn’t need too many touches with the ball to shoot well and create a danger. He is not a striker with phenomenal technique or a born dribbler. His strengths are determination, strength, agility, pace and coordination. He is versatile, he can finish actions with both feet and can hit powerfully from distance. He plays mostly on the left-wing this season, but many of his advantages are evident when he plays as CF.
In La Masia, Angel has already played 66 official matches, scoring 56 goals. These numbers can be impressive, and in addition to goals, Alarcon has a lot of assists. The forward also played for Spain’s U-15 and U-16 teams, where he scored 8 goals in 14 games. Top numbers, top talent. I would compare his style of play to David Villa or Timo Werner.
Room for improvement
Angel has a good finishing, but I think this aspect could be on a better level. In this campaign, he missed several times in simple situations and otherwise, he would have had over 10 goals now. In the defensive aspect, he is doing well. He shows his determination to get the ball back and works well at pressing, but still could be better in that aspect. He also rarely scores goals with his head. With these physical conditions, this is an aspect that he surely has to work on.
Next season & predictions for the future
Angel will likely receive a promotion to Barca B for the next season. Some reports recently wrote that the Spaniard is about to do preseason with the first team. It would be great news and a clear indication that the club is betting on him. Of course, he can remain registered as a juvenil A player. In that case, I bet that Angel will regularly play in Barca B, and in the U-19 team he will get minutes in the UEFA Youth League and in the most important matches. Alarcon is a really complete striker and I am certain we will talk a lot about him in the coming months. He still has to work on a few aspects, but I’m sure he will make progress. Currently, I would rate his potential at 9/10.