Kenji Cabrera is a 22-year-old player currently playing for FBC Melgar in the Peruvian Primera División. He frequently occupies the left-wing position, playing as an inverted winger, though he occasionally alternates this role with that of an attacking midfielder.
Kenji stands at 1.74m, but his greatest strength is his powerful lower body, which he uses to perfection. This is evident both in situations where he plays with his back to goal in the opposition’s half, aiming to retain possession, and during offensive transitions where, despite receiving one or two challenges from opponents, he maintains stability. This allows him to thread diagonal passes into the final third, behind full-backs or centre-backs.
With ball possession in his own half, he is a player who tends to drift centrally into midfield, offering himself as a passing option. He then quickly carries the ball forward into the opposition’s half, facilitating his entire team’s transition. When in possession in the opponent’s half, Kenji provides maximum width, consistently being a passing option on the left flank, hugging the touchline. From there, he always initiates diagonal runs looking for the striker for a subsequent lay-off or one-two, or clear 1v1 situations, where Kenji is vastly superior. This is due to his excellent change of pace, which allows him to easily beat opponents by always cutting in diagonally. He then typically looks for a diagonal pass behind the defense, which he executes with high precision, generating many successful finishing opportunities for his team.
When deployed as an attacking midfielder, he is a much more involved player, engaging in quick combination play with his teammates. He has the capabilities to grow even further in this sense and become a more present player in creating advantages, especially in the final third, given his technical quality and quick change of pace.
Another great offensive detail to highlight is that he is a key player in set pieces, capable of delivering from any type of free-kick and from different areas of the pitch, whether direct free-kicks or wide free-kicks, as well as corners, which he usually executes with his weaker foot with great power and precision, creating very clear goal-scoring opportunities.
Without ball possession, in his defensive aspect, he is more of a passive than active player in counter-pressing. However, in situations where possession is lost very close to his zone, especially when acting as an attacking midfielder, he often intervenes and intercepts with great success. This demonstrates that he also possesses great qualities, not only physical, to grow through the demands of defensive work, not just in counter-pressing but also in high pressing against the opponent’s build-up. Tactically, he is a player who defensively performs defensive recoveries correctly, positioning himself adequately and being very intelligent in knowing when to step up to press. Here, his good reading of the game must be highlighted. Although he may appear to have a passive positioning on many occasions, he controls the opponent’s body language, anticipating the next play and often intercepting and recovering the ball from the intended recipient.
This season, Kenji Cabrera has made a leap in quality, becoming his team’s reference player in both the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. He has demonstrated not only a superior level but, above all, a significant room for improvement and even greater growth than shown so far. Therefore, competing in a more demanding and higher-paced European league in the future, such as Belgium or The Netherlands, could be the best option for a player who possesses the technical and physical qualities to become a game-changing player.
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