Bryant Ortega, the 21-year-old one step ahead Liga FUTVE — scout report
Deeping-dive into one of the most exciting Venezuelan promises.
Venezuela has shown the world that they have big football long-term talents. Their performances at U23, U20 or U17 categories are proof of it. Also names like David Martínez (LAFC - 2006), Telasco Segovia (Casa Pia - 2003), Kevin Kelsy (Shakhtar Donestk - 2004), Jon Aramburu (Real Sociedad - 2002) or “Tuti” Andrade (Fortaleza - 2005) are some cases of former Liga FUTVE players who are showcasing their talent.
In that order, Liga FUTVE has a lot of emerging talent pushing towards the senior national team, just like Renné Rivas (Caracas FC), Carlos “Pipo” Vivas (Deportivo Táchira) and Bryant Ortega (Caracas FC), who were called up for the last Vinotinto’s international friendly matches vs Italia & Guatemala. Despite they didn’t play those matches, they started in a training match vs Houston Dynamo.
Bryant Ortega — player profile
Bryant Ortega is one of the most exciting Venezuelan promises. Althought he is still playing in Liga FUTVE, his talent is undoubted. Ortega, born in 2003, is an energetic and dynamic midfielder. He has become a very complete player after his experience playing in different roles and contexts in Leo González and Ricardo Valiño’s hands. His amazing performance at CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic 2024 is the main reason why he was called up by the senior national team.
Bryant made his debut with Caracas FC in September of 2021 vs Monagas, but only played 1 minute. His first real test took a place after his promotion in 2022, when he had 25 appearances at the first team. Then he established himself as a crucial midfielder for Caracas’ first team in 2023 (32 matches) and now he is one of the stars of the team.
Mentally, physically and technically, Bryant is one step ahead of Liga FUTVE’s players. He likes to accelerate the rythm of matches when he is on the field. His constant off-the-ball movements makes him a guy who stands out in a high influence zone — being able to drop deeper to receive and carry or moving between lines. His tempo with the ball is versatile after his recent experience at the Pre-Olympic, so he is capable to adapt to different heights in the central channel.
Bryant as a press-breaker
His main virtue is his ability to act under pressure with his firsts touches. At Caracas, usually Leo González uses him as an attacking midfielder — sometimes receiving with his back to goal and trying to break compact low blocks. He has good peripheral view and his constant scanning of his surroundings, in adittion to his velocity to act gives him a fantastic comprehension to use differents skills receiving the ball. He (almost) always uses the correct technical gesture and gets advantage upon receiving, and after he acts quick because of his vertical instinct.
However, the 21-year-old is not only a great resource in the final third. At the Pre-Olympic, Bryant confirmed he can assume responsibilities in build-up structure, well he was the unique pivot in Ricardo Valiño’s shape — Leading the possessions dropping in between the two centre-backs to retain or receiving with his back to goal and turning faster with the ball because of his low center of gravity (he is 1.76m height) and his quick footwork.
When he was not an attacking midfielder or ‘8’, Bryant had always been accompained and intercalating heights in a double pivot. He had never been in the axis alone until the Pre-Olympic. It was a fruitful challenge to him. He learned how to be more patient without the ball to protect the team in defensive phase/transitions and he improved his passing-range.
“I have been as a double-pivot at Caracas, always accompained. The Pre-Olympic was an exclusive (and nice) challenge. I didn’t expect I would be that great. Mainly, I improved defensively” — Bryant Ortega.
Improved passing-range and ball-striking — Confidence to complete through balls and strengthen relationships
His versatility to progress in every single zone of the pitch makes him a wildcard for all managers he has had. Mainly his long-passes are outstanding. He can complete through balls attacking spaces in behind in attacking transitions or in organized attacks, exploiting his confidence to complete difficult passes to skip the rival pressure and progress in a direct way.
Bryant’s ball striking is the best in Caracas. He’s who takes set pieces. His right foot is as accurate as in live-ball actions, chiefly in corner kicks. Also, this ball-striking virtue is sporadically a threat attacking second-balls shooting from long distances and essential part of his passing-range making switches when he drops in deeper.
When Bryant plays more advanced than in the Pre-Olympic and he has partners who are protecting him in case of losing the ball, he’s a very brave and risky (but effective) man making passes in attacking transitions. When there is space behind the opponent’s defensive line and the attackers run in, Bryant is so much accurate to lead counterattacks and create danger through his long-balls or carries.
In adittion, Bryant is capable to strengthen easily his in-possession relationship with other guys on the field making constant rotations or constantly pulling away to move the ball and then create positional advantages. His natural dynamism is looking for create spaces to receive or moving the opponent out of key spaces. He combine this reading of the game with aggresiveness denoted in his movements. It’s as cerebral as instinctive. And his amazing stamina is helpful to enable this and repeat efforts without troubles.
Ortega’s ball carrying, registered trademark
When the pressure is not disturbing inmediately and there is vertical space, Bryant exploit his imposing ball carrying to progress faster, sink the opponent’s block and usually win fouls — conscius of his enviroment, waiting to hide the ball as the opponent tries to recovery. His chronic intention to move forward, his powerful lower body and his good technique to keep the ball close to his foot are the characteristics that makes his ball carrying an amazing resource to progress, and a registered trademark from Ortega in Liga FUTVE.
“I think I am a very dynamic midfielder. Restless. I don’t like to be in one single place. My football doesn’t allow it to me. I like to find spaces; if I have not space where I am, I keep moving” — Bryant Ortega.
As stated previously, Bryant’s stamina is one step ahead Liga FUTVE, so this topic and his proactivity to find spaces let him exploit his ball carrying succesfully.
Defensive development
Along with his physical development, Bryant has increased his defensive level. Mainly in positioning to protect zones, also improving his press-effort management — running less, recovering more. He has become catious in defensive phase, he has won effectivity anticipating marks and reaching out the possession of the opponent withouth making fouls. Although he is aggresive when he loses the focus and he become susceptible to get yellow cards.
Nevertheless, Ortega’s body is not sufficiently corpulent to impose in open-field, but he can calculate the tempo succesfully running back to hold up the dribbler. Include (althought rarely) making difficult tackles he calculates carefully the distances and reach the ball almost perfect.
His body, low center of gravity and few musculature makes him weak in aerial duels. So he needs to be balanced in that topic.
His mentality, a double-edged sword
Something why his fouls are really dangerous is because Bryant is a very emotional player. So this is directly related with defensive and passing topics. When he is frustrated, he loses fluidity, makes constants fouls to slow down the match and he become inaccurate with the ball or he loses involvement volume. But, the reason why his mentality is a double-edged sword is because when he is totally focused his intensity and impudency increases a lot, creating harder chances from difficult angles or numerical inferiorities.
Conclusion
In a tournament where build-up structures are very underdeveloped and the rythm of matches is frequently slow, Ortega enhances game models and makes differences. In the current development of his profile, Bryant’s main abilities and his recent experience at the Pre-Olympic invites to think that his ideal position will be in a double pivot, accompained by someone with a defensive profile, letting Bryant to attack forward constantly and “fly” on the pitch when his vertical instinct is activated. A profile like him is not usual in Liga FUTVE, and his technical virtues are really good looking for a potential senior national team resource, just when Bocha Batista’s team depends a lot of exterior channels, and the attack volume from central channel is their main lack.
As stated previously, the 21-year-old is capable to adapt to different roles. So his versatility would be really valuable if any South America team take interest on him. Also, economically Bryant is a fantastic oportunity. And his next step to keep growing as midfielder aims to leaving Venezuela to compete in an intenser football and see how his talent is going to impact in the next level, because in Liga FUTVE, as aforementioned, he is one step ahead.