Player analysis: Renan Lodi at Nottingham Forest 22/23
Nottingham Forest has confirmed the signing of Atlético Madrid full-back Renan Lodi on a season-long loan.
He is used in the left-back position. Lodi's contract runs until the summer of 2025 with Atletico Madrid.
This tactical analysis will explain how Lodi gained confidence in the technical framework to become a perfect choice for Forest.
Defensive positioning
Renan Lodi has a very special task in Atletico Madrid’s defensive tactics but his positioning in the backline always takes into account the distance between him and the heart of the defender closest to him.
He also offers depth in Simeone’s rigid 4-4-2 system, with great awareness of the opposition’s winger that plays in front of him. Adding to that, Lodi follows a particular pattern of tactics to shut down the attackers.
As we can see in this shot above when Mohamed Salah positioned himself high up the pitch, Lodi decided to get closer to the interior but also keep an eye for the resurging Trent Alexander-Arnold in the Liverpool clash.
Perhaps it was this unique positioning that boosted his interception and his quick feet along with the audacity to engage the ball-carrier to make an intervention. After that, he turns defence into attack making him an excellent fit for the team.
Here we see Lodi watching a Villarreal player and as soon as he recognised the right moment, he engaged him in a duel, intercepting the ball before it can be advanced further up the pitch.
And this is extremely beneficial to Atletico Madrid, because of the team’s playing style. It means they can regain possession in the middle third or, at times, even higher and then immediately push into the final third of the field.
It’s also important to note that he is really secure in possession and good at simple passing. Thanks to his intensity and vitality, Lodi always becomes a solution for his teammates. Therefore, he moves around the whole pitch to receive a pass. With good positioning when he passes the ball and moves immediately afterwards, he can help his team both: attack and keep possession when trying to stabilise play.
He also has a great understanding of the winger in front of him, and they often switch places automatically. To fill the void, they cover for each other or simply double down on the attackers. That is due to the speed of his reaction, his great impulse towards the competitor carrying the ball and his excellent reading of the game.
Here in the picture, we find Alexander-Arnold in possession of the ball. Lodi and Thomas Lemar work together to mark both Merseyside players before they can advance into the danger zone.
This great cooperation and knowing when to push forward and when to fall back is one of the great strengths of both the individual players and the team’s tactics.
Offensive abilities
Renan Lodi has distinctive abilities on the offensive side as the Brazilian full-back has emerged as a great asset during the matches of Atletico Madrid, through his high speed and distinct capabilities in isolated 1v1 situations.
Renan uses his speed to penetrate and move forward either with or without the ball, as he enjoys great mobility on the left side.
Here we see him receiving the ball and using his dribbling. That is why he is able to enter the box of the opposition and then shoot at Leverkusen´s goal.
This ability gives his team the advantage when dodging the opposing players, as it gains a lot of space. Besides, it has more than one option to pass the ball.
In addition to him directly posing a threat via dribbling or shooting, he can also serve the ball to his teammates once he surges down the flanks by crossing up.
The image above shows their second goal against Levante which was assisted by Lodi. He can send crosses both from the wider and the deeper areas of the pitch. Therefore, we can see another example below.
Renan takes charge of the left flank and uses his pace to get beyond the wide defender. Then, he dribbles into the danger area from where he can deploy another piercing pass into the box. The following two images show that same tendency perfectly.
He also takes the left side to move freely up and down the pitch. Furthermore, he tries to become a link between the lines and appears with speed to turn defence into attack.
Lodi’s rush on the left side has a dual impact on the player himself and his team, as he can become an asset but there are still weaknesses to his game. This, we will analyse in the final part of this tactical analysis scout report.
His weaknesses
Renan may have some weaknesses through his performance that appeared with Atletico during the last period, among those are the air duel, as he succeeded in it by only 33%, and this is not only due to his height of 70.07 Inch, but he has a problem in choosing the timing to engage the opposition.
Another problem with Renan’s performance is his weakness in 1-vs.-1 situations as he often loses the duel isolated with his direct opponent.
This can happen because playing at a high level and in a team like Atlético with strict defence laws is not easy.
In addition, he rushes forward with the spaces concentrated behind him, as happened in this shot in front of Leverkusen at the beginning of the match. He leaves a pocket of space by moving forward, which made the space empty on the left side of the Atletico defence.
Among his weaknesses of Renan also defensive duels and is sometimes inconsistent with his success, registering a 40% success rate in 2021/22in La Liga so far. But, those numbers vary from really impressive to really poor from match to match.
This may be due to his extreme enthusiasm, which leads to a lack of discipline at times. That is one of the most negative points in Lodi’s performance.
Lodi has a lot of offensive ingredients. These always appear when he moves to the middle of the opponent’s court while he is carrying a ball, he is very dangerous.
Conclusion
He was distinguished in his first season 19/20, and he played many matches, but in the last two seasons, he was excluded from Simeone's accounts and awaits what he will present in the English Premier League.