Basics
Name: Patricio Damian Tanda
DOB: 5.4.2002
Club: Racing Club
Height: 176 cm
Dominant Foot: Left
Experience
Played 37 matches for the Racing Club Second team, totally close to 2400 minutes
Played 5 games for the senior Racing Club team, with a total of 270 minutes
Spent half a season on loan at Ferro Carril Oeste, but only made 5 appearances with a total of 225 minutes.
Never played for an Argentine youth team.
Report
Patricio Tanda is a very talented and tradition deep lying playmaker with a little bit of extra going forward. Throughout the season Racing Club II have use a few different systems and formations. In most cases he is a double pivot or single pivot. He played in a 4 4 2, that turns into a diamond shape, with one player staying back protecting the back four and one player roaming between opponent’s defense and midfield. He also played in a 4 2 3 1 and 4 3 3 this season. He is most comfortable as a holding mid but has shown some flashes of doing damage close to the opposition box, especially when Racing Club play with 3 midfielders. When he gets closer to the goal, he can run into the box, or shot outside the box with a powerful left foot, or dink an imaginative through ball over the defense, usually towards a winger making run into space.
Tanda is also the captain of the Racing Club II. He goes about his captaincy with a consistent vocal presence. Even when he’s without the ball, he will instruct his teammates where to pass and how. He gesticulates and communicates constantly with his teammates. Never saw anyone get into verbal scuffle with him, which means the rest of the squad respects him, taking his words to heart.
Racing Club is very direct in its build up. This means they usually have Tanda close to the two central defenders, looking for space to receive the ball and try a long ball forward. He is left side dominant. The right foot is only used for the simple passes. But the left foot has amazing range and precision. Every single game there are at least a few passes where you go wow. His ability to turn and kick a long pass, 40 50 meters long to a overlapping winger or fullback is jaw dropping. There is simply so much feel and technique to the pass. Naturally, given the large volume of long passes he must attempt the success rate isn’t as high as one would expect, the same is true about his overall passing numbers. If Racing Club played a more patient, possession-oriented style I think his passing numbers would be elite or at least close to an elite standard.
The biggest reason for that is his combination of decision making, composure and balance. Watching him you get the sense that he is a step ahead of the action, always thinking what will happen after the pass has been made. You never see him make an obviously bad pass directly to the opposition. He is well versed in switching flanks and does so often connecting with their right full back. He can maintain this ability even when under pressure, and even in duels when a bigger player is all over him, which I credit to his above average balance. He regularly produces line breaking passes every game.
I think his defense is the weaker part of his game, especially his positioning. That isn’t to say that his positioning is bad, far from it. But there are times, especially when the opponent launches a long ball forward where he is just a step more forward than where you would want him to be. He gets a lot of yellow cards, but that is more a system thing than a player thing. He often breaks up counterattacks with professional fouls and gets booked that way.
And now to the little bit of extra.
His maximum vertical jump of two feet is impressive. He gets high up there. This makes him a threat in set pieces. When they have an attacking corner, Tanda will either challenge the keeper, or attack the near post. His anticipation helps as well, thanks to which he did score a goal after a wild ball bouncing sequence after a corner. He is also the man who guards the central part of the six-yard box on defensive corners.
Some of his counter press flashes have been very intriguing. He can be very aggressive, in your face and thanks to his balance its hard to shake him off if the opponent isn’t a masterful technical player. His off-ball ability doesn’t only show itself with the way he finds space to receive the pass from the back line. He an also find space in front of the opposition defense, in the traditional No 10 space and either shoot or try through passes from there. In lineups where he is one of the 3 midfielders he has shown the ability to make a third man run into the box.
What To Consume 