Angel Gomes is very much part of England’s exciting new generation of footballers. From his style of play, to his international background and experience, he represents what could be the embodiment of the FA’s stated aim: for England’s teams to dominate possession intelligently.
Gomes was born in London in 2000. His Angolan-born father, Gil, was a Portuguese Under-21 international. After the Gomes family moved to Manchester, young Angel began his own journey into the professional game, training with Manchester United’s youth system from the age of six. In 2017 he made his first-team debut at Old Trafford, as a substitute for the club’s record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney. Gomes was aged just 16 years and 263 days old, making him the youngest player to represent Manchester United since Duncan Edwards in 1953.
He made nine more appearances over the next three seasons, but in search of regular first-team football he signed for Lille in 2020. The French club immediately sent him on loan to Portuguese side Boavista, where he recorded a hat-trick of assists on his debut. After returning to Lille in 2021, he made his Champions League debut that September, before blossoming under the management of Paulo Fonseca the following season.
That campaign ended with him winning the Under-21 European Championship with England, in a team led by head coach Lee Carsley. And it was Carsley who gave Gomes his senior international debut in a 2-0 away win against the Republic of Ireland, in September 2024. Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have provided technical and positional analysis of this exciting midfield talent…
Technical analysis
Angel Gomes is a right-footed central midfielder. He is a versatile player capable of operating in a deeper playmaker role, as well as in more advanced midfield areas. Technically proficient, he looks to receive possession regardless of the pressure he is under. He possesses the ability to combine, or to use his low centre of gravity to evade opponents.
With his frequent scanning, he builds a picture of the pressure and space around him. In doing so, he can decide whether to receive and bounce possession to retain the ball, or shift his body weight quickly and accelerate to escape defenders and exploit space. He is able to assess the direction of pressure, manipulating his body weight and shoulders to unbalance defenders with his initial movements, before quickly shifting in another direction. This sees him draw his opponents in, before exploiting the space they have vacated.
He orientates his body well, often opening his hips to receive on the back foot, which quickens his passing following his first touch. In addition, he can receive on his front foot to play passes around the corner (below).
Double pivot
At Lille, Gomes has often played as a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 – the same role he played in his first senior start for England. In this position, he has had an exceptional record for retaining possession. For example, in the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season – among midfielders who had played more than 1,000 minutes – he ranked sixth for number of accurate passes.
In a double pivot, he is comfortable under pressure during build-up play. He can disguise and use opposite movements to create space to receive – and, with his sharp bursts of acceleration, he is often able to create sufficient distance from defenders to be able to receive and turn.
Against pressure, he positions his body well to protect the ball, receiving on the front foot and using his body as a barrier to restrict the defender, often drawing fouls against overly aggressive markers. His decision-making in these situations has certainly been impressive; he recognises when to bounce possession back to a teammate, using minimal touches to exploit a narrowed opposition shape after having provoked pressure (below). He is also skilled at knowing when to use his low centre of gravity and agility, to take multiple touches and draw in opponents, before turning and accelerating away from pressure.
In this deeper role at Lille, he has often had the flexibility to drop between or outside his central defenders, almost into a false full-back role. There, he can see the game and choose better passing options. That also means his team can overload any opposition that play with a front two, creating better angles to play around and then back inside a front pairing. In the example below, when playing for England, he dropped between John Stones and Ezri Konsa, finding Jack Grealish to play through Finland’s compact 4-4-2 block.
He is especially adept at disguising his intentions on the ball. Gomes uses his eyes to look elsewhere, opening his body shape to create passing lanes by shifting opposition defenders away from his intended recipient. He will then quickly reverse and play well-weighted passes through and into the space created.
He prefers to receive with the opposition’s block ahead of him, when he is in a deeper position on the left side. From there, he is skilled at playing left-to-right diagonals, switching play to exploit space (below). He can also play this pass from right to left, but has played it more frequently from the other side. Similarly, he is not afraid to play longer passes over the opposition when the space opens up – against a high back line, or in attacking transition where space can be exploited. He remains selective on when he attempts this, however.
Attacking midfielder
Gomes has also proven effective in attacking areas, having played as an attacking midfielder in numerous games for Lille, Boavista and in his few appearances at Manchester United. In more advanced areas, he has been able to use his creativity and flair more directly to create chances. Indeed, during the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season, he registered the most assists (8) of any player in Ligue 1.
As an attacking midfielder, he looks to receive behind the opposition’s midfield line and in congested areas. Because he can receive and manipulate the ball under pressure, he often draws opposition players towards him, creating space to play into others – either through quick combinations or to runs in behind. In the example below, Gomes received, turned to evade pressure, then cleverly disguised a pass in behind to Lille teammate Jonathan David. By using the outside of his right foot, he prevented the opposition from anticipating his action. This led to a goal.
Out of possession
Without the ball, Gomes is capable of pressing with tenacity and intensity when required. He does this more as an attacking midfielder than in his deeper role, with the latter position having greater responsibility for protecting central spaces. He has shown himself to be particularly effective with counter-pressing, where he is able to use his dynamism and agility over shorter distances. This can be pinching to regain loose possession before opponents can react, or slowing down the opposition’s transition – sometimes by fouling – to restrict counter-attacks against his team.
At 5ft 6ins, Angel Gomes cuts a diminutive figure on the pitch – as have some of the best ball-playing midfielders in football history. He may not be up with that kind of company yet – but, while he still has plenty to learn, he is definitely making his mark.
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