Player Analysis: Wilfried Singo, Defensive Sensation of Torino

Wilfried Singo is a 19-year-old Ivorian who predominantly plays as a right-back for Italian Serie A strugglers Torino. The youngster joined Torino’s Under 19 side during the January 2019 transfer window and is currently valued at €500,000 which could prove to be a huge bargain.

In fact, according to transfermarkt.com, the youngster’s transfer value has doubled within one year which gives us a great insight on the huge potential this player offers, with The Scouting App giving him a general evaluation of 6.1 so far this season.

Upon joining Torino, Singo was swiftly introduced to the Primavera 1 side where he juggled between responsibilities as either a right-sided midfielder (on 10 occasions) or a center-back. As a right-sided midfielder, he scored one goal and provided two assists. As a center back, he ended up keeping three clean sheets and showed a lot of versatility overall.

On July 29, 2020, the youngster made his debut for the senior side in an enthralling 3-2 defeat at the hands of Roma. But the greatest takeaway from his first match was that he still managed to score on his debut while operating as a right-sided midfielder.

During the 2019-20 campaign, he was deployed as a right-sided midfielder on three occasions and played as a center back just once.

While he is started out as a right-back in his native Ivory Coast, Singo has too much creativity in his arsenal to be a full back. However, since he grew up playing as a right back, you can tell that he has great pace and ability to make driving runs inside the opposition territory.

This season, the youngster has been thrown in the deep end with Torino struggling to work their way away from the relegation zone. However, he has still managed to make nine appearances and provided two assists.

Key Attributes

  • Pace
  • Strength
  • Dribbling
  • Passing
  • Interceptions

The youngster successfully combines all these attributes that allow him to really stand out for Torino. While the team overall might be struggling, Singo’s ability to take on his opponents and instigate counter-attacking moves from deep into his own half make him a reliable asset.

Here, you can see that Singo has a very straightforward option ahead of him:

As you can see in the second screen, rather than passing the ball to his closest teammate, the Ivorian decides to cut inside and create an opening for himself.

After going further infield, Singo passes the ball to his teammate who has now moved into a more wider position and has a better chance to create an offensive transition.

Long Passes

The youngster also has a tendency to spray long passes in a bid to catch the opposing players by surprise. Due to the fact that he has offensive-minded teammates who are aerially strong, this attribute can help Torino turn a new corner.

In this game against Inter, Singo has enough space to take on Ashley Young but notices a teammate who is in a better position to create an opening.

Rather than going on a run, Singo sprays a cross towards that teammate and if he had won the first ball, Torino might have had a great opportunity to make it 1-0.

Aerial Ability

The youngster averages 3.2 aerial challenges per 90 minutes and wins 72% of such battles. However, our analysis concludes that the youngster’s aerial ability can be a little erratic when it comes to defending, especially down the flank where he does get beaten quite a bit.

Dribbling

However, Singo is quite an accomplished dribbler which is why our scout report expects him to evolve into either a winger or a wing-back in the coming years. The youngster averages 9 dribbles per 90 minutes and boasts a dribble success of 74% which is a very high percentage.

During Torino’s 1-2 defeat to Juventus, Singo made 12 dribbles with a success rate of 75%.

In these two screens, Singo takes on two Juventus players and due to his dribbling skills and close control, puts himself in a great situation. And even though the move did not result in a goalscoring opportunity, it was a clear display of the player’s confidence and ability.

This ability to take on players and not giving them any time to settle into a tackling stance due to his body positioning, makes Singo a really important asset for his team.

Awareness

While it never really gets a lot of attention, awareness and in-game concentration is one of the most crucial attributes associated to any player. The game is always decided by the finer margins and crucial moments.

Not every game is going to be an openly-contested affair and you can see that many games turn out to be cagey encounters.

While his ability cannot be questioned, Singo can lose his concentration at times which can lead to grave consequences for his team. This is especially true in the defensive phase where he has the tendency of ignoring his man and thereby allowing the other team to get back in the game.

This is a clip from Torino’s match against Udinese. The score lines are level at this point and the away side is on the receiving end of an attacking move. If you look closely, there aren’t a lot of options for the Udinese players.

However, one Udinese player notes that Singo is caught in what we call a “no man’s land.” Seeing the small opening and noticing that the young Ivorian hasn’t recognized a threat, he makes an inward run. Singo eventually realizes what has happened but is too late to react. The player ends up passing the ball to another teammate who makes it 3-2 to the home side.

Conclusion

Wilfried Singo is definitely one to watch out for. He has great dribbling ability and his pace allows him to be a real threat on the break. He is also very good at spraying long balls all over the park and thus instigating great attacking moves.

However, as a defender he can be a bit of a liability which is why he is slowly being transformed into a winger.

Similar Players

The youngster bores a lot of similarities to Juventus wing-back Juan Cuadrado. Just like the Colombian, Singo is attack minded and loves taking on players and thrives on the break.

Future Clubs

If he continues to iron out his shortcomings, we can see Singo playing for one of the top sides in Italy. At present, Andrea Pirlo is looking to reduce the average age of his Juventus side and he must have been impressed by what he saw from Singo. Perhaps in the coming years the Ivorian could be a good choice to represent the Bianconeri.