Thiago Brizuela is a 17-year-old attacking midfielder playing for Liverpool Montevideo’s U19 side. He started in all 6 games for Uruguay, playing 427 minutes at the U17 CONMEBOL Championship. Brizuela contributed 3 goals and 1 assist, helping Uruguay to a 6th-place finish. He has previously represented Uruguay at the U-16 level.

Brizuela stands at 1.80 m (5’11”) with a slim build. Looking at him, he doesn’t look like anything special, but I was surprised by how he was able to physically impose himself in duels. The Uruguayan is much stronger than he appears, showing excellent strength and balance in shoulder-to-shoulder duels. Physically, he stood out in comparison to his peers on the pitch. He demonstrated he was comfortable receiving with his back to opponents, shielding off opponents when receiving passes, and knew when to pass and when to turn away from pressure. He has a good engine as well, being involved in a high amount of ground duels and covering a good amount of ground throughout the tournament. Overall, he has good speed being able to get away from his opponents over short and longer distances.

Brizuela typically operated as an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1, but he was also deployed as a second striker or left-sided central midfielder in some games. Brizuela usually likes to operate higher up the pitch, rarely dropping deep to receive or help in build-up. He usually looks to position himself between the lines to receive and turn quickly. Uruguay looked to play in transition throughout the tournament, so it was common to not see Brizuela involved for large periods of the game. Whenever Uruguay was on the counter, Brizuela looked very dangerous, picking out his wingers usually or carrying the ball from box to box before playing a pass or taking a shot from distance. He was comfortable playing passes off both feet, showing strong technique on his medium to longer-range passes. He is an excellent ball carrier, carrying the ball at speed, and, combined with his strength, making it difficult to dispossess him. His dribble can get stuck between his feet sometimes, but overall, it wasn’t a major issue, especially taking into account the pitch not being the best. Brizuela is also comfortable operating in tighter spaces. His ball control, combined with his quick footwork, helped him escape tackles and play out of pressure on multiple occasions. Brizuela’s biggest strength is definitely his shot. He has a venomous shot from range, striking the woodwork 3 times throughout the tournament and scoring 2 free kicks as well. He has a very quick release with little to no follow-through using his instep, generating a lot of power on his shots and catching keepers off guard, not giving them a lot of time to get set. Two areas where Brizuela has room for improvement are his decision-making and creating separation. Occasionally, Brizuela looks to take on a player when he has an easy passing option, but this usually occurs closer to the attacking third. In scenarios near the box, whenever Brizuela looked to get a shot off, he struggled to create separation from his opponents due to not taking a big enough touch, leading to his shots being blocked easily. He looked rushed, trying to get them off quickly instead of being patient or looking for a better option.

Defensively, Brizuela was part of the front 2 when his team dropped into a 4-4-2. He was tasked with either marking the opponent’s pivot or cutting central passing lanes. He showed good positioning and commitment when executing his defensive duties, helping his team make it difficult for teams to play through them centrally. Brizuela was very good at pouncing on loose balls in the midfield third and converting them into attacking opportunities for his side. His work rate was good overall, putting multiple tackles in and helping close down opponents whenever possible.

Brizuela already made his debut with Liverpool’s first team in the Copa de la Liga AUF against Albion in a 2-0 loss. Despite being only 17, I don’t think it would be surprising to see him make the bench more frequently for Liverpool in the near future, or even come on in the final minutes in some games.