The final part of the search for talent in Paraguay (for now) is about Libertad player Julio Enciso. The 17-year-old is already a Paraguayan international and showcased his talent in the Paraguayan league for Club Libertad. The previous part was about Roberto Fernandez. This series will be continued soon and be slightly changed up.
Julio Enciso has a good first touch. He usually receives the ball well when there is no opponent near him. When he receives the ball with his back towards the goal with an opponent putting pressure on him, he sometimes loses his balance as he is not the most physical player. Enciso’s short passing is sufficient, sometimes he fails to put the right power on the ball when linking up with his teammates in the tight spaces. His long passing is very inconsistent. While his chipped passes over a longer distance are quite good, he fails to put the right power on his through passes over a long distance quite often. His technique when playing passes over a longer distance is quite inconsistent, too.
Most of Julio Enciso’s goals come from close range, but he has also scored a few goals from distance. His finishing is quite inconsistent. With both his right and left foot, he occasionally fails to hit the ball cleanly and his aiming is not always great either. A few goals of his were also thanks to bad goalkeeping from the opposition’s goalkeeper and one of his shots was deflected into the goal. Enciso’s crossing is questionable. Especially on his left foot, his crosses are bad. On his right foot, he can control his crosses well when he chips the ball, but not when he hits the ball with more power. His weak foot is something Enciso can work on, too. His close control when dribbling is very good, he controls the ball well even when he changes directions quickly.
Julio Enciso has played in various positions for Club Libertad. He either plays as a right-winger, left-winger, striker, second striker or attacking midfielder. When playing in a central role, he likes to drop deep and position himself between the lines. He does well to scan and turn the right way when receiving the ball in this position. His tactical understanding can be worked on. I think that playing in various positions has not helped him to understand his role in each position. He sometimes seems very uneasy playing in a certain role and does not know where to move.
Enciso’s anticipation in the box is very good. He has scored various goals after having good movement in the box and anticipates well in these situations. His movement when Libertad have numerical superiority in the final third is very bad. An example can be found here. Instead of making a run in behind to either receive the ball or drag Roberto Fernandez with him to open up space for Ferreira, he closes that passing line and closes the space for Melgarejo.
Julio Enciso is decent in putting pressure on the opponent. When the opposition side is building out from the back, Julio Enciso makes sure to close the centre before aggressively putting pressure on his opponent, forcing him to play a long pass or a pass to the full-back. Enciso’s vision is quite good, he spots his teammates in space quite well but often fails to reach them as his through passing over a longer distance is not great.
Julio Enciso’s agility is very good. He is capable of changing directions very quickly when sprinting and is very good at putting his opponents on the wrong foot and beating them. His burst of acceleration is really impressive and his speed over medium/long distances is good as well. I would say that his physical ability, apart from his strength, is his greatest asset which he can exploit more if his movement and tactical awareness would be better. Enciso’s balance is okay, but it is hindered by his strength in the duels as it is not great because he often gets pushed to the ground in the duels. Enciso does not often complete the full 90 minutes and sometimes seems tired after 75 minutes. However, he has been improving this already, completing the full 90 minutes in his recent matches. Against Olimpia, he showed that he is still capable of taking on opponents at full speed in stoppage time. His work rate is good.
His confidence is good, he always takes on multiple opponents even after losing the ball before. His decision-making can be worked on as well. Enciso sometimes tries to shoot from a very long distance, while history has proven that he is not great at long shots yet and that he should only try to shoot from the edge of the box or from in the box.
Future projection
Julio Enciso has a lot of aspects that he needs to work on before he can make a move to the top 5 leagues. I would advise him to stay in Paraguay until at least 2023. I think his next step should be the MLS or Brazil before moving to Europe. His best position is left winger in an inverted role in a 4-3-3 or left striker in a 4-4-2.
Must be worth a try