Rocco Vata is a right footed 20-year-old left-sided attacker from the Republic of Ireland that joined Watford in July 2024 after coming through the academy at Celtic. At Watford, Vata has been used as a second striker or central attacking midfielder, but has featured mostly as the left sided attacker in variations of a 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 and is often instructed to stay high to act as the outlet for his side.
Vata stands at 1.84 m tall, a slender build with long legs. He has explosive pace and acceleration but still shows excellent levels of deceleration. He has a lower centre of gravity and small turn circle that aid for an impressive show of agility, as well as rapid foot speed making him a significant threat in 1v1 situations. Despite these physical strengths, Vata is not the strongest and currently lacks slightly in upper body strength, which can show when being physically challenged in possession. But, he does attempt to get his shoulder across or use a stiff arm to fend of tacklers.
When in possession, Vata’s biggest strength is attacking his fullback, using his quick feet to complete multiple rapid touches of the ball and quick step overs, often waiting for the tackle to come in before using his acceleration from a stand to burst both inside and out. All whilst showing he can use his weaker left foot to play floated crosses towards the back post or low cutbacks towards the edge of the box.
Vata most frequently attempts to cut inside, drive towards goal and shows confidence in taking shots on from outside the area, capable of creating power and accuracy to find the far corner. Albeit showing mixed levels of success, there is real potential in his ability to quickly shift to create chances to shoot and then finish from the left half space.
Vata is far more likely to attempt to shift or carry and currently displays less of a threat and frequency when passing. He can spot runners breaking in behind, but the line of the through ball often lacks in accuracy, he can play clipped type efforts to spread the play and shows accuracy but can also struggle to create power over a distance due to placed technique. He can also be slow to release his pass, not quite being up to the speed of play at Championship level at times, which results in the initial pass lane being closed. Despite this, Vata has a capable long throw and shows smart techniques to use both the outside and inside of his right foot to complete short quick flicks but can continue to add variation by using his left foot more often. Overall Vata displays a good level of first touch and can react quickly to drag the ball under his control at speed, but he currently lacks in consistency. He can be slightly rushed and lack in composure and concentration, producing a heavy first touch shift or not getting enough on the control.
Off the ball, Vata often looks to stay wide on the left touchline to isolate and create more space to cut inside in 1v1 situations. But, he frequently moves into the left half space scanning well and showing a strong awareness of what positions his fullback takes to prompt his own positioning. He often looks to attack the box from the left, moving inside and to the edge of the penalty box looking for cutbacks but can also stay wide in the shadow of the fullback to break in behind and can be a significant threat due to his levels of explosiveness if used more often.
Despite ability to receive on the back foot, Vata often drops deeper and stays square on with his shoulders facing the passer. This body positioning results in him often playing a first time pass back to the receiver or a similarly safe pass, when a slight angle change could potentially open up more chances to carry or pass forward.
Out of possession, Vata shows intensity to press high using explosiveness but currently lacks in co-ordination and defensive understanding. He is often caught too high or narrow leaving space in behind and can jump to press too early resulting in an easy pass being played through his initial position. Despite quick reactions to get forward, he currently is not as willing to get back as quickly which often leaves his fullback with space and multiple runners to defend.
Despite some rawness, Vata has explosive physical qualities, is a threat in 1v1 situations, can carry and create space quickly, and shows potential to be a threat with his finishing. Further improving on his pass variation, frequency of movement to get in behind rather than just cutting inside, composure, and concentration, whilst continuing to adapt to the speed of the EFL Championship will only improve his game. With this in mind, I hope 25/26 is the season Vata builds on his flashes of potential, and I could see him going on to potentially play for a mid-table to Europe chasing Premier League side in the future.
Target Scouting 